Experts
have found out that experimenting with alcohol could start with kids as young
as fourth grade! 10% of 4rth graders have drank more than a sip of alcohol and
7% have drunk full adult sized drinks. Beverages ranged from beer, wine, wine
coolers, to stronger spirits.

Most children
who try alcohol take their first sip or drink down a full drink between 5^th
and 6^th grade. Sixty five percent of adults in this country are
drinkers, and many television advertise or have images of drinking. Even magazines are killed with alcohol
pictures, so its no wonder why kids that young drink. Early drinking increases
the chances of alcoholism because their brain is still developing. It also
results in problems such as violence, teen pregnancies and car accidents.

Some treatment
centers have clients in for recovery as young as fourteen years old. Kids usually
start experimenting, not misusing or abusing. But the longer the experimenting
with alcohol continues the more likely children can become addicted. 9.8% of
fourth graders said they’ve had more than a sip of alcohol, 16.1 % fifth
grades, and 29.4% sixth graders.

September is the
National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery month. It’s to promote the hopeful
and healing message of recovery. Fear of job loss, humiliation, cost and
insurance barriers present obstacles to those who need treatment. So this month
could be helpful.

Alcoholism is a topic that receives a lot of attention
but is not understood realistically. Most people think that alcoholics are
jobless homeless people and although there are many of those, that is not the “typical
alcoholic”. In fact the typical alcoholic is a middle-class person who works or
goes to school, has a family and attends worship services on Sunday. Alcoholism
is a medical disorder, its not defined in terms of how someone feels or thinks
but in terms of the pattern of behaviors related to alcohol consumption. It’s a
medical condition that can medically be treated just as illnesses would. Did you
know that treatment for substance use or disorders are just as effective as
treatment for other chronic conditions such as high-blood pressure, asthma and
diabetes.

Investing
in treatments for substance use disorder is just as good as investing in a
safer healthier community. Alcohol is responsible for increased violence and
crime, decreased worker productivity, and deaths and injuries resulting from
drinking and driving accidents. And drinkers aren’t the only ones that pay,
everyone splits the bill. For every $1 spent on treatment, $7 is saved in
social costs.

Alcoholism
is known as a family disease. Every individual with a drinking problem disrupts
the lives of at least 4 other people. It’s important for the family and
everyone else to get involved in recovery. When a person in the justice system
finds treatment the outlook is remarkable. Re-arrest rates drop from 75% to
27%. Treatment has enormous effects in reducing the cost burden of the
community.

Treatment
works!!

There is a full scale campaign in progress
to change the public perception of drug addiction. People usually think of it
as “moral failing” but it’s more of a brain disease. Last spring HBO aired a
series that advertised addiction as a “chronic and relapsing brain disease”. A new bill is even going on, to change the
name of “National Institute of Drug Abuse” to “National Institute on Diseases
of Addiction”. And the name of “National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism” to “National Institute on Alcohol
Disorders and Health. This bill is called the Recognizing Addiction As a
Disease Act of 2007.

This bill explains that when the
term “abuse” is used in connection with diseases of addiction, it increases
personal shame and social stigma. Those are both barriers to an individual to
seek treatment, and that’s not good. Addiction should be known as a brain
disease, because “drugs change the brains structure and manner in which it
functions. These brain changes can be long lasting and lead to harmful behaviors
seen in people who abuse drugs.”