There is nothing like a tall cold glass of lager or Scotch on rocks to toast an occasion or to nurse a grievance. The average age when Americans initiate their intimacy with alcohol is calculated at 15 years. If one works out the volume guzzled daily as an expression of dissent, impulsiveness or sensationalism, it is a concern.

When does alcohol turn unpleasant? According to governmental guidelines three to four units per day for men and two to three units per day for women is the desired maximum intake. This is also subjective to health and other related problems including medicinal intake. The problem begins when alcohol is combined with drugs or we become alcohol dependent due to health, personal or psychiatric reasons. Youngsters who begin drinking from age 12 or above are more prone to alcohol dependence than youngsters who start later around age twenty-one. Another mistake we make is to splurge or binge on weekends, which has far-reaching alcohol abuse effect especially on women and teenagers and is leading cause of teen deaths through automobile crashes, homicides and suicides.

Instead of trying to hide behind statistics or play the blame game, treatment of alcohol abuse should start with children and teenagers being made aware of effects of alcohol abuse. Parents, peers and authorities need to monitor or communicate through listing on menu bars or one to one discussions on drug and alcohol abuse. We accept drinking as part of our culture and realize late when the teenager is already alcohol dependent and at risk for cirrhosis or dangerous inflammation of liver, inflammation of pancreas, stroke, cancer, depression or risky sexual behavior. Few of us are aware that effect of alcohol starts within five to 10 minutes and lasts for hours.

Once responsiveness is set up through parents, peers, advertisements or laws, it will be easy to tackle the growing menace of the alcohol abuse cause of nearly 60,000 deaths in the United States each year. Moderate drinking is permissible and medically acceptable as it reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes, gallstones or diabetes. Abuse can result in cancer, high blood pressure, miscarriage, heart failure and related problems, damage to newborn children or, in extreme circumstances, even suicide. So the moment you suspect your child or any grown up having personality changes, black outs, increased food intake, sneaking in drinks or drinking throughout the day or from early morning it is time to individually tackle the problem or take help of private or governmental organizations.