Let’s Turn Alcohol Abuse Around

by Letters Editor · August 26, 2017

JM Thomson, Johannesburg – Alcohol abuse is one of the causes of violence against women and children. Even people who are normally gentle can become violent after too much alcohol.

Alcohol abuse has other risks too:

legal risks as drunk driving or violent behaviour can bring criminal charges;
health risks such as liver damage;
safety risks as drunk drivers or pedestrians can cause accidents;
work risks as a person who goes to work drunk or misses work due to being drunk risks losing his/her job;
money risks as a person who spends too much on alcohol may not have enough money to buy food or other essentials for his/her family.

Therefore it would be valuable for churches and other groups to speak out about alcohol abuse in families and communities and make the effort to combat it.

Help prevent and cure alcoholism by:

informing people about Alcoholics Anonymous and offering church halls for their meetings;
giving counselling and support to alcoholics and their families;
encouraging alcoholics to go to Alcoholics Anonymous, psychologists, psychiatrists and into rehab;
giving out leaflets with contact details of groups that can help, and setting up websites with this too;
having socials for youths and adults where people have fun without alcohol;
starting programmes to help the homeless alcoholics, as many have a very poor diet so a healthy meal would be a good start.

Such efforts would help to improve the lives of alcohol abusers and their families.