Introduction
Alcohol is consumed worldwide in many forms. The main component is ethyl alcohol that causes major damage to the body when taken in excess (Borges, 2020). This can result in disability to take decisions, crime, and lack of productivity. The focus of the essay is to determine if the consumption of alcohol should still be allowed, or controlled or let it stay the way it is?
Impact of Alcohol on health
Consumers of alcohol are victims of Alcohol Use Disorders (AUD) (Harvard, Health Publishing, 2014). It damages the liver, heart, brain, nervous system, making people incapable of taking decisions. People also become deficient in vitamins and minerals. Excess consumption of alcohol by women leaves an impact on the children born and makes them susceptible to osteoporosis and breast cancer(Harvard, Health Publishing, 2014). Another major area of concern is the sale of illicit alcohol adulterated with Methyl alcohol resulting in the death of the consumers. In totality, the consumption of alcohol results in 3 million deaths every year (WHO, 2018).
Influence of culture on consumption
“Wine”, an alcoholic beverage, has a legacy attached, making its consumption justified on the
grounds of culture. A study was conducted to understand the motivation for people to attend the Harvest Wine Festival in the Czech Republic (N.A, 2019). This study concluded that most people attending the festival were drawn to it more for socializing, enjoying the different events, but for many visitors, the consumption of “Wine” was still a major attraction. The cultural aspect linked to alcohol makes its elimination look unfathomable.
Influence of alcohol on the economy
Economists have analyzed the contribution of alcohol consumption in terms of the revenue earned by the excise tax levied and the employment opportunities. In case of UK economy in 2017, the alcohol industry generated a revenue of £46 billion, accounting for 2.5% of the GDP, it offered 770,000 jobs, out of 2.5% of total UK employment, out of which 506,000 are in pubs, clubs, and bars (Bhattacharya, 2017).
Recently, when the first lockdown was released in India, the policymakers were looking at opening sales to major commodities to supplement the revenue. Astonishingly, when the market was thrown open to liquor sales, the figures were daunting. Karnataka, a state in India reported a single-day sale of 197 Crore rupees (Livemint N.A, 2020). Despite the risk of contracting the COVID 19 virus, people queued up outside liquor shops with special police to monitor them. People, not willing to donate for the cause, were ready to pay the additional “Corona Fee” levied on liquor (Livemint N.A, 2020).
Conclusion
Alcohol consumption surely has downsides to health making it be banned completely as preposterous. The association to cultural aspects and huge revenue fuelling the economy makes it unviable to completely ban its use. Hence, the solution is regulating its use, making it not easily affordable, thus limiting its use for social pleasure and reducing its consequences on health.
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