Drug Of Choice? Alcohol

Drug Of Choice? Alcohol by Randolph Jason for The Recovered Word

When we become incapacitated by drugs, alcohol, or something else, we are no longer in the picture. I am reminded of this painting, The Drunken Father by Ivan Gorokhov. In it, we see the father to the left happily clutching a bottle while his family struggles. His eldest boy is defensive, his eldest girl clings to the mother, his youngest child wails, and his wife clutches her fist in frustration. He is halfway in, halfway out of the scene, not fully present, his features poorly defined. He becomes part of the background. ~ Author: Old Hollow Tree

An acquaintance recently told me he got so drunk he passed out.

He is a father in a rural place.

It made me wonder what his plan was in a crisis. A fire, an injury, a predator…

Will his wife take care of these things? She is strong and capable but has enough to worry about.… pic.twitter.com/4oDkDiDX5k

— Old Hollow Tree (@OldHollowTree) July 30, 2024

A Global View

400 million people (7% globally) died with alcohol in their system – 209 million above the age of 15 (3.7% of global population) live with alcohol dependence. Of that 209,000,000, globally, only 14,630,000 (14%) have access to treatment. WHO Alcohol Report June 2024

We must do better.

A Look At The United States

January 2024 CDC reported – for the previous 12 month timeframe 104,551 deaths from opioid overdose. The CDC in the same January report claimed there were 0.23 deaths “Percent pending investigation“. While the number is far less than a full percent and most people glance over it, that small fraction of a percent represents 24,047 lives. If one of those lives was your loved one it would have your full undivided attention.

There is also a disclaimer on the overall number stating “Underreported due to incomplete data.” Does this mean the total number of deaths is closer to 128,601 deaths? We can say, as absolute fact, the 104,551 is underreported.

While the number of lives lost due to opioid overdose it is still far less than the number of lives lost due to alcohol. Yes, you read that right – alcohol claims far more lives year after year than opioid use.

According to a report, Facts About U.S. Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use, published by the CDC on July 3, 2024 there were 178,000 deaths during the 2020-2021 reporting time. If every opioid overdose reported in 2023 reporting time is accurate that would be 50,000 more people, from three years back, than is being reported in the current reporting time frame. We haven’t seen anything to support the idea the number of overdose deaths is going down year over year. If someone out there has evidence there is a decline in overdose deaths please share with us. We need some encouraging news.

My family has gone through the heartbreak, as so many other families have, of losing a loved one to opioid overdose so I don’t want to take anything away from the families that have lost loved ones due to opioid overdose. The purpose of this information is to show how the reality of alcohol is a far worse situation than any of the other drugs being abused at this time. The number of people dealing with alcohol use disorder, on a global scale, is terrifying. There were almost a half a billion – half a billion – people that died in 2021.

When one compares the number of deaths due to alcohol versus the number of deaths from opioid overdose it makes one wonder why there is such a lack of concern for people dying from alcohol use disorder.

Worldwide, 296 million people (or about 5.8% of global population aged 15 – 64 years) used drugs in 2021. Among them, about 60 million used opioids at least once in 2021. About 39.5 million people lived with drug use disorders in 2021.

Worldwide, about 600,000 deaths were attributable to drug use in 2019. Close to 80% of these deaths are related to opioids, with about 25% of those deaths caused by opioid overdose. According to WHO estimates, approximately 125,000 people died of opioid overdose in 2019. WHO Opioid Overdose report – 29 August 2023

The CDC reported in January 2020 for the previous 12 month reporting period a total of 72,124 with a variant of 0.16 percentage due to “Numbers may differ from published reports using final data. See Technical Notes.”

There is a significant difference in using opioids and drinking alcohol. Not just in the effect that one gets while “getting high” but in so many other ways abusing these drugs can impact the body. From the research we’ve done it appears as if using opioids is not as hard on the body as alcohol. Using just one type of opioid, (for example, just heroin, just morphine or just one of the “oxy” or “hydro” usually in pill form) while the damage can be severe, the body can recover quiet quickly. Not so with alcohol. With opioids the risk of short term issues is extremely high while long term use is rare due to a lose of life through overdose or, praise God, recovery and getting back to living. On the other hand, alcohol has both short term risk with a substantial risk for long term use. Chronic use can result in cancer, heart disease, liver disease and alcoholism. The damage to the brain in long term use with either opioids or alcohol can be substantial.

When a person stops using opioids are they at risk of death? No. What about alcohol? Yes. A person can die when they stop using alcohol.

To say this is a loaded question would be the understatement of the year, or perhaps the decade, but in simple terms, the answer is a “yes.” A sudden cessation of alcohol consumption can be dangerous to one’s health, as seen by the tragic death of actor Nelsan Ellis, who died from cardiac complications (heart failure) following the sudden withdrawal from alcohol in 2017. Healthcare providers agree that alcohol is one of the most toxic substances to detox from, especially when done cold turkey and without medical care. Source

As can be easily seen the issues we face with drug addiction of any kind is far reaching. The issues face with the top two drug problems are hard to look at and we truly face some difficult challenges to bring about real change in our communities. We need one another to get a handle on this situation. We need real information, not made up, Underreported due to incomplete data that doesn’t help our families heal nor does it assist the people out in the field attempting to curb the tide.

We will continue this line of thought in the days ahead. If anyone is struggling and needs to talk please send us an email Info@GospelNewsNetwork.org and we can swap phone numbers and begin a true dialogue. God bless.