O Demon alcohol -- sad memories I can't recall

"He's an alcoholic -- give the man a hug."

This was the oft-uttered introduction to a new client used by a counseling colleague at the recovery facility at which I worked a few years ago. What he meant by the statement was that in a facility that had become increasingly focused on the woes of those seeking help with addictions to illicit street drugs and other shit, the plain old alcoholic was, relatively speaking, a cakewalk for the addictions counselor's task.

I thought of this in light of very recent statistics about our 'legal drug' that have just been released. Stats the point out that alcohol-related deaths in our society have increased by 20 percent in the years since 1992. Well, as Gomer Pyle would have said: "Surprise-surprise-surprise." Yep, bit surprise that this 'legal' drug (I reiterate) that is pushed by governments, merchants, and media advertising to a degree that would make a major illicit dope dealer cringe at his ineptitude compared with the professional prowess of the booze-pushers.

It's arguable that there are only two things about alcohol that sets it apart from other drugs, including marijuana -- despite what pot's advocates would have you believe -- is that people don't necessarily drink alcohol in order to get high. In fact, most don't. Non-addictive imbibers appreciate a cool beer on a hot day, or will ecstatically marvel over the bouquet of a fine vintage. About eight out of 10 drinkers don't drink to get loaded. The only other thing about booze that makes it different is that, for adults at least, it's legal. But, such realities notwithstanding, alcohol still directly or indirectly kills, via related illnesses or accidents, more of us than all other drugs combined.

Alcohol-fueled MVAs are, for the young, a leading cause of premature death. In the workaday world, on vacation, and even at home, alcohol takes a huge toll in accidental deaths. As for its role in other deaths, there is sufficient Grim-Reaper potential in booze that it should give society much more pause than it does. Cirrhosis, which knocks off enough people that it qualifies as one of our leading causes of death, is a particularly horrible way to die. Believe me, I've seen it. You don't want that to happen to even somebody you hate. Usually the person dies, generally in a comatose state by that point, of a massive hemorrhage in the gut. The lead-up to that premature death is horrendous. By the way, in booze-addled England, girls as young as 15 are currently being diagnosed with cirrhosis.

When I was addictions counseling we had a client who was dying of cirrhosis. He was brain-addled due to alcoholic dementia, or "wet-brain", in the parlance, which symptomatically resembles Alzheimer's. We had to run this poor sonofabitch into hospital every few days so he could have the abdominal fluid that built up within him (making him look like King Kong's mother in the last stage of pregnancy) drained off. He knew he had only months to live, that it was indeed end-game for him, but he was determined he would die sober -- a bit late in the game, albeit. Whether or not he died sober, I do not know, but he only lasted three months after he left us. When he was in residence he looked like a ravaged man of 75. He was 43-years-old.

Cirrhosis is directly caused by alcohol abuse (women, by the way, are nearly twice as susceptible to cirrhosis than men due to their normally lighter body mass), but other illnesses not necessarily tagged to booze can also have a huge alcohol connection. Stroke and heart attack take many lives in this country, and a lifetime of two-fisted drinking can certainly be seen as part of the mix. Likewise, there is a correlation between alcohol abuse (combined with smoking) and throat cancer, and there are possible connections between alcohol abuse and liver and pancreatic cancers.

But, this isn't a temperance lecture. The majority of adults handle alcohol with the respect it deserves, and consumes accordingly. You'll note I said "adults." For young people the over-consumption of beverage alcohol is an entirely other matter, and it's a behavior that is outrageously downplayed in contemporary society. That's not only unfortunate, it's outrageously irresponsible. My particular gripe with societal and official soft-peddling of alcohol consumption is the hypocrisy.

Smoking, which is a highly unhealthy practice deserving of the censure it gets. Smoking is, of course, the governmental and health services crusaders' cause-célèbre. Yet, there is so little uttered to decry our other major killer drug -- booze. Smoking has been outlawed by all airlines. Fair enough. Why hasn't alcohol? How many incidents of so-called 'air-rage' have been alcohol fueled? Most of them. Yet, no sooner does the seat-belt light go off on virtually all flights, than out comes the drinks trolley. Combine those offerings with the two hours your seat-mate has been sitting in a departure bar prioto takeke-off, and you have a recipe for some unpleasantness.

Smoking is assailed from all quarters (this is emphatically 'not' defensece of smoking, by the way), banned virtually everywhere, packaging compulsorily must include the horror messages and pictures, and yet access to booze is liberalized. Outlets are permitted to increase, bars are encouraged (you'll note I didn't say 'permitted') to stay open later, and television advertising is wide-open with all sorts of colorful sceneof frolickingng young people pervading, with not one ad showing somebody puking on her shoes, being sexually assaulted, or being pulled out of a smoking car wreck.Where are the warning labels on bottles of alcohol? Why aren't there pictures of rotted livers, or skid-row winos? How about a bloodied couple bashing each other with their fists late on a Saturday night?

Why do governments reap huge revenues from alcohol sales, yet provide the merest pittances (if anything at all) for alcoholism treatment and recovery? Why does society, including officialdom still harbor the mental myth that alcoholics are rum-soaked derelicts picking through dumpsters and living under the bridge? In fact, alcoholics are among those making the decisions, passing legislation, sitting on judicial benches, and sometimes sitting across from you at the dinner table in your comfortable suburban home. The majority of drunks are a long way from the dumpster.

As I said, my observations are based on my own experiences, including working with otherwise decent people who, by dint of their abuse were left just as tragically addicted and dysfunctional as any crack or meth-head.