Killer Alcohol

Killer Alcohol

Dr. Adolph Lorenz, a famous surgeon, refused a drink at a banquet. He was asked "Are you a tee-totaler?" He responded, "Yes, my success depends upon my brains being clear, my muscles firm, and my nerves steady. No one can take alcoholic liquor without blunting these physical powers, which must be kept on edge. As a physician I must not drink."

Thomas Alva Edison was asked why he didn't drink. The great scientist replied, "I have a better use for my brains."

An Emergency-room Doctor wrote, "Recently we saw another preview of hell in the Parkland Hospital in Dallas. A woman struck down by a drunken driver. A college student lying semi-conscious following a head on collision with another drunk driver who himself was critically injured. The drunk's companion was dead. Four other drunks with lacerations and stab wounds waiting to be treated. Night after night, year after year, the same bloody trail of horror, major automobile accidents, stabbings, rapes, wife-beatings, the nightly emergencies treated and released or admitted to the hospital or pronounced dead on arrival; and almost always the bloody trail is lead by that honored man of distinction, the weekend drinker, not the alcoholic.

I wonder if there is that much joy to be gained from the total consumption of all beers and whiskies ever made, ever to equal even a small fraction of the innocent suffering, the damaged bodies, the broken marriages, the discarded children, the total brutalities and crimes that will inevitably accompany its use. What a quiet place our emergency room would be if beverage alcohol were ever abolished from our city!

Question

Who claims 50 times more lives than all the illegal drugs combined? Who costs the American people 130 billion dollars every year? Who destroys 1 in every 4 families in America? Who kills over 200,000 Americans each year? Is it crack? Is it cocaine? Could it be heroin? No, the undisputed heavy-weight champion of the drug world and number one killer of Americans is ALCOHOL!

* There are over 18 million alcoholics in America.

* Cirrhosis of the liver kills over 30,000 each year and rising.

* 50 percent of the people on welfare are due to alcohol.

* 80 percent of all fire deaths are due to alcohol.

* 65 percent of the drownings

* 22 percent of home accidents

* 77 percent of falls

* 36 percent of pedestrian accidents

* 65 percent of all murders

* 40 percent of all assaults

* 35 percent of all rapes

* 30 percent of other sex crimes

* 30 percent of all suicides

* Over 80 percent of all arrests are linked to alcohol!

And one of the most disturbing statistics of all - 60 PERCENT OF ALL CHILD ABUSE IS DUE TO ALCOHOL!

Let's wage a war on crack, on cocaine, on heroin, and marijuana! BUT DON'T DARE EVEN MENTION ALCOHOL!

During the Vietnam war, 57,000 Americans gave their lives fighting for this country. A wailing wall was built in Washington with each soldiers' name engraved. But in that same 9-year period, when 57,000 died in Viet Nam OVER 2 MILLION AMERICANS were killed by alcohol! During the Viet Nam War, thousands of protesters were all over this country. What I want to know is where are the protesters against killer alcohol?

Scientists have only recently discovered the physical process that creates the slurred speech and drunken stupor. Once in the blood stream, alcohol causes a coagulation of the red corpuscles referred to as "sludging". The blood thickens so that it cannot flow freely and clogs the metabolic exchange of life-giving oxygen. And when cells are deprived of oxygen - THEY DIE! And because brain cells require a high oxygen supply continuously, they are particularly vulnerable! And brain cells are the only cells that do not reproduce! Brain cells destroyed are never replaced! Autopsies performed on drinkers, often reveal hollow cavities in the skull, where ENTIRE CONVOLUTIONS OF THE BRAIN HAVE DISAPPEARED! And according to studies by Dr. Melvin H. Kinsley, brain damage occurs progressively from THE VERY FIRST DRINK! The next time you see that man staggering drunk - YOU ARE WATCHING A MAN LITERALLY DESTROYING HIS BRAIN!

85% of all the children in foster homes are there, thanks to alcohol! God only knows the thousands of women and children beaten black and blue - thanks to alcohol! God only knows the rivers of tears wept - thanks to alcohol!

Mental illness and the homeless is in epidemic proportions in America. A panel of 20 doctors and scientists was asked in Pageant Magazine, what is the greatest single cause of insanity in the U.S.? THEY ALL REPLIED WITHOUT EXCEPTION - ALCOHOL!

Currently, 2 out of every 3 marriages end in divorce - and 2 out of every 3 adults drink alcohol! A Miami judge recently "shocked" the news media when he stated that a WHOPPING 90% OF ALL DIVORCES WERE CAUSED BY DRINKING PROBLEMS!

From a sermon by Curtis Rowe, "Wisdom for Successful Living" 8/4/2008