Alcohol, the monkey on Your back - 1997
originally an HL handout - co-written by Pete Spielman

Alcohol is the most widely used and destructive drug used in America today. Over 10 million Americans are alcoholics and 8 million are heavy drinkers. Although the short-term pleasure associated with drinking is easily recognizable, the long term effects pose innumerable hazards.

Facts for your consideration:

>975,000 deaths are caused by alcohol related traffic accidents, murders, suicides and non?motor accidents.

>50% of auto deaths and 60% of all drowning deaths are alcohol?related.

>67% of all suicide attempts are alcohol related.

>75% of men and 55% of women involved in date rape were drinking before the attack.

>136 billion dollars are spent on the effects of alcohol?related problems.

Ethics and advertising:

Although the corporations will claim the ads only encourage people who already drink to change brands; an objective look paints a different picture. An average child ages 2 to 18 sees 100,000 beer commercials a year. The majority of these ads are directed at age groups from 18 to 34 to create the image that alcohol consumption brings happiness and friends. Beer companies spend millions of dollars reversing the damage of alcohol through deceptive advertising and secretive funding of rehab centers. Advertising only fosters continued acceptance of alcohol abuse.

Sexual politics of alcohol:

In the attempt to create an appealing advertisement, the alcohol industry objectifies women as a proverbial carrot on a stick, reducing men's image of women to nothing more than sexual objects.

In addition to this injustice, alcohol distorts reality, clouds Judgment and slows reactions. Causing men and women to expose themselves to danger and disregard social constraints that might otherwise influence their behavior and actions.

An intoxicated man may become more sexually aggressive and less concerned of the women's feelings. An intoxicated woman's ability to resist attack is lessened as her verbal and physical response mechanisms become sedated by the alcohol. With these facts in mind, it is easy to understand why 75% of men and 55% of women involved in date rape cases had been drinking.

Apathy:

As the problems of classism, racism and environmental degradation take a back seat to the apathetic escapism of a lifestyle centered on alcoholism and self pity the importance of a truly drug free lifestyle becomes evident. To effectively liberate this world from the ills in which we all face one must first free them selves from the chains of addiction or any participation in the industry that produces the addictive product which clearly breeds apathetic and self destructive behavior.

What you can do:

1) Live a drug?free life and be an example for others to fallow.

2) Write your local hard line chapter for copies of this leaflet to hand out in front of bars and liquor stores.

This flyer was produced by: Upstate hardline.