The StepsThe price one pays for drinking can be calculated in many ways. The one that concerns the person drinking is the price she / he pays for it. Shelling out a few dollars here and there may make it seem like it is a relitively "cheap" habit. For only a few bucks a person can buy a relitively large quantity of alcohol. If the brand you buy is a cheaper one, the quantity can be even larger.
But if you look at the long term costs it becomes more expensive. If the average "Joe beer drinker" stops to think about it, the dollars add up quickly. At about $5.00 a twelve pack, if "Joe" buys only two twelve packs a week, that's ten dollars a week. Thats $520 in a year. This means that in twenty years of his adult life, "Joe" will spend over $ 10,000 on beer.
That's $10,000 that could have been spent alot more wisely. Food, clothing, and shelter are just a few of the areas that the money could be invested in. Of course the education of oneself or your children could be greatly enhanced by that amount of money.
Then there is the human price one pays for the use of alcohol. It most always puts a strain on relationships with those close to us. This is in many forms, from the emotional pain inflicted to the lost trust.
The trust lost by family members who can no longer count on someone to complete a task or show up at a family function. Once embarrassed by an alcoholic, most people will have a lower level of confidence in that person. This is understandable and once established, can take a very long time to correct. cost of a dwi - legal fees, insurance rates, etc. of the person charged with DWI can be astronomical. The cost of paying for these, can cause even further loss trust from family members
The costs to businesses who have someone who is an alcoholic, and causes an error in production or the planning of a project. Poor buisiness decisions - The quality of work, and the productivity lost due to absentiism, profits go down and costs go up.
The consequences of a DWI can harm a business even more. Once a person has lost their license they may be forced to miss work, or quit entirely. The company can always replace this person, but then there is the costs of advertising for a position, hiring and training of a new employee.
There is sometimes a tendency to spend recklessly when drinking - spur of the moment purchases- the attitude of "what the heck, its only money. You cant take it with you.
Costs to society as a whole include higher insurance rates for everyone, taxes needed for treatment programs - health care costs for liver, kidney transplants, all these eventually get passed on to society as a whole.
The ongoing costs of incarcerating prisoners who have abused drugs / alcohol and need to be confined for long jail terms.
Who profits? Liquor companies - Yes. The earnings that the liquor industry enjoy are evident by the large sums that they spend on advertising campaigns, T.V., print media, professional endorsemants, sports events, music events. T.V. broadcasters are makeing some profit as liquor companies must pay large sums to have ads on at major sports events, movie advertisements, and professional endorsements. The sad thing about many of these is that they tend to glamorize drinking, and are aimed at primarily younger people.
This opens up another topic - the moral aspect of glamorizing a potentially dangerous product.
Do the liquor stores profit? Obviously they must or there would not be many such establishments. However, you must wonder at the costs involved for insurance rates for liquor stores in certain geographical areas. How many people have been hurt or killed during robberies?
Restaurants and bars usually have a higher price for a drink than if the person were to purchase the same quantity elsewhere. It may not be their only source of income, but they are making a profit.
So, who then should have the responsibility of paying for the consequences of an alcoholics actions? The producers of the product? The marketers of it? The people who serve and sell it? Or the person who is consuming it?
It seems we must all share in the costs of this situation , as unfortunately, there appears to be no solution in the near future.
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