Misdirected Blame

Misdirected Blame

By Ned Wicker

Alcoholic beverages have been a part of the American culture since long before the Revolutionary War. The “alcohol problem” is a by-product of alcohol use, but the meaning of that has changed over the years, as our culture has chosen to assess blame on those beverages, rather than lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of the one who used them.

In the book “Drugs, Society and Human Behavior” authors Charles Ksir, Carl L. Hart and Oakley Ray explain that before the Revolution, alcoholic beverages were consumed per capita at a much higher rate, mainly because drinking water was much more likely to be contaminated.

Even the Puritan ministers called alcoholic drinks the “Good Creature of God,” and spoke against drunkenness, blaming the individual not the beverage. But the attitude changed over the Revolution and has stayed fairly constant since. Since then the alcohol was the “demon” not the drinker. The writers went on the say that alcoholic beverages were the first psychoactive substance to be demonized in such a way.

The substance is blamed, not the user. Alcohol got some serious scrutiny when Dr. Benjamin Rush produced a pamphlet in 1784, discussing the hazards of heavy drinking, aimed primarily at distilled spirits, no beer or wine. He observed that alcohol contributed to jaundice, a sign liver disease. He wrote of “madness” which the authors said might have been his observation of the delirium of withdrawal. He also spoke of “epilepsy” which could have been his explanation for the seizures that can occur during withdrawal from alcohol.

The “Temperance Movement” brought on even more scrutiny. Rush said that all distilled beverages should be avoided because he believed them to be toxic, and he believed that drinking hard liquor damaged the user’s morality. The alcohol affected the part of the brain that is responsible for morality.

That led to “Prohibition,” first passed by the State of Maine in 1851, the early forerunner of the nation version of Prohibition, which became law on January 16, 1920.

Speakeasies, bathtub gin and organized crime are all terms associated with the period, as America pushed back. Prohibition was repealed in 1933 and each state was given control over regulating alcoholic beverages.

It’s interesting to me that by popular demand alcoholic beverages were legalized again, but the same attitude towards the consumption of alcoholic beverages has not necessarily changed. People still demonize the alcoholic beverage, not the drinker.

Of course there is a social stigma against people who drink too much, or heavy drinkers, or problem drinkers, or alcoholics, whatever term you care to use to describe somebody who has been negatively impacted by their use of the drug.

Alcoholics Anonymous did not shy away from putting the responsibility on the drinker in developing its 12 Step program shortly after the repeal.

I can identify with the Puritan ministers, who believed that a portion of alcoholic beverage, taken in moderation, was a good thing. I agree with Rush’s view of alcohol being toxic, because it can be. It all falls to the user.

Any drink, alcoholic or otherwise, can be abused. The user abuses, not the drink. The drinker may not be able to control his behavior, but it nevertheless his personal choice that leads to dependence.

Personal responsibility is easy to define, but it is difficult to mandate. People have to make their own decisions, but when those decisions lead to calamity, they don’t want to accept the responsibility. It’s always easier to blame somebody or something else.

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