Alcoholism and Los Angeles
Alcoholism is defined as "an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.” It is classified as a full-fledged addiction and disease by health organizations worldwide and is the third highest preventable cause of death in the United States annually. Even with such status and disastrous effects, alcoholism remains a topic that is often somewhat swept under the rug and considered a “lifestyle choice” rather than something that people can’t control. I’m interested in learning about how you guys first came to learn about alcoholism and whether or not you think our education system is teaching students enough about it, and also how American and Angeleno drinking culture is different from other places.
How is the culture around drinking different in America than it is in other countries? Why do you think it is that even though we have one of the oldest minimum drinking ages worldwide, our alcoholism rates are incredibly high and we continue to fail to widely talk about the disease? Why is it that alcoholism isn’t often considered alongside other similar diseases, even when it contributes to millions of deaths every year? How do we facilitate a broader dialogue of the disease without it being a “shameful” or awkward thing to talk about?
More in terms of Los Angeles: because LA is a city where driving is necessary to get around, there are certain risks involved that you wouldn’t have in other cities where public transportation is more readily available - which is backed up with statistics on drinking in LA: in 2007 alone (I couldn’t find newer evidence), there were 42,736 DUI arrests in Los Angeles County alone, a number that is likely even higher now. Besides the driving aspect of it, is there anything else that differentiates drinking in Los Angeles to other cities? Is there anything that makes Los Angeles more prone to be a drinking conducive environment? Does the media/entertainment industry do things to make the problem worse?
Here are two reports done by LA county on alcoholism in the city:
I think that in America we have a super weird relationship with alcohol that stems all the way back from when the European settlers came to America and is connected with all the nonsense we had with prohibition. In pretty much every other country in the world the drinking age is younger than it is in America and it's not stigmatized whatsoever in the way that it is here. In my experience, I feel like the huge stigma around underage drinking in the US leads to minors binge drinking and not being informed about alcohol, informed, at least in a "fair" way ( i.e., all those scare tactics where we are told drinking=death).
ReplyDeleteI think this is major reason alcoholism isn't often considered a disease in the same way other similar diseases are. I think the huge stigma we have around alcohol in America more easily creates space to blame people for their addictions.
In terms of LA, I'm thinking about how certain types of alcohol are associated with something like gentrification (wine tasting, craft beer). Maybe this is a stretch but also in the last year or so like 4 different "craft beer" places have opened in my neighborhood so idk
I'm not sure about the specificity of LA, but I definitely agree with Rachel's comments about the difference between alcohol culture in the US vs Europe/other countries. Because our drinking age is 21 rather than 18 like in many European countries, people start being able to drink legally once their out of the house and often in college, leading to potentially less moderation or just less time to learn in a safer environment how to drink safely.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the weather contributes to drinking in LA compared to other countries. I know that places that have darker, colder winters sometimes have higher rates of drinking (eg Minnesota, nordic countries, Russia) because of the lack of things to do outside and other factors. Does LA have lower rates of drinking than other cities?
As Rachel said, America has a weird "special" relationship with alcohol. I honestly think that drinking is glamorized in many different ways whether it be the media, friends, etc. I believes this stems from the legal drinking age because in many other countries the drinking age is way lower but there are fewer instances of alcoholism because drinking isn't seen as "cool" in other countries. In America underaged drinking is very hyped up and is basically seen as a must do for most teenagers which leads to binge drinking which could lead to alcoholism. Many kids in America are not informed about alcohol or its effects on the body. I feel because drinking has been normalized, many people do not consider alcoholism the same as other diseases.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that has been said above regarding the US's relationship with alcohol. Brennah brings up an important point regarding teens and their relationship with alcohol. Like she said above drinking and being drunk is glamorized in the minds of teens due to parties, media, and film. I think it is especially important to bring up the fact that in films depicting underage drinking at high school parties, there is rarely depictions of the negative situations underage drinking can cause.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've observed, alcohol is treated as something one should always stay away from. From a young age, you're taught that it's terrible for your body, it results in bad decisions, it can even kill. But unlike heroin, crack, etc., (hopefully) you're in an environment where drinking is socially acceptable for the people you learn from and look up to. You grow up being told your whole life to never drink by those who are doing the complete opposite. While I acknowledge that most adults know their limits and pose no significant threat to themselves, it's a different story for the underaged kids who watch. What I find particularly interesting about this is it seems to be unique to the United States. Despite the U.S. having some of the highest drinking ages in the world, alcohol addiction has plagued our nation at levels rarely witnessed anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Simone said. In media, we always see underage drinking as being glorified and encouraged, while we almost never see it being depicted in a negative way. This is also true for movies about college parties. However, we have learned from other sources such as our school and our families that alcohol is not ok to do especially as a teenager, but also sometimes as an adult. I think that people often exaggerate who deadly alcohol can be when they try to scare kids out of using it.
ReplyDeleteTo answer one of the questions, I feel like many people consider talks on alcohol, especially on underage drinking, uncomfortable because there are os many sigmas and stereotypes surrounding it. I think a large part of it has to do with the associations —> internalizations thing we were doing in class today. I’m interested in exploring what that looks like… I was also thinking about the whole shame thing and realized that at least for my family, alcohol addiction is something that is awkward to talk about. As alcohol addiction runs (heavily) in my family, I find it odd that I’ve never really been talked to about it? I’ve witnessed it and its harmful effects, but I’ve never been lectured about it. And I feel like I should? I guess I want to know more about the genetics of it all and the percentages of how likely I am to have an alcohol addiction later in life cause it’s pretty scary… Okay, so going back to your LA questions, Lux. I think that one reason for the many DUIs could be that because our city is so widespread, it makes it hard to get to bars or clubs without driving. And paying for an uber would be hella expensive. So, I guess people would probably drink some then try and “sober up” enough to drive home. That’s just what I was thinking.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think our abnormally high drinking age is a mistake (lol I actually wrote a paper on it last year in DC). I think it contributes to more unsafe drinking (both in terms of binging and the amount of support immediately available because people do it more in secret) and it doesn’t alleviate America’s drinking problems in any significant way (as in we don’t necessarily have it more under control than other countries where the age is 18). In this country, maybe because of the fact that some of our roots are based in Protestant ideology (idk tho just a guess), we’ve seen throughout our history that there is a shame associated with the “debauchery” of drinking (like Prohibition, a period that I think we often forget about), so there’s maybe not the same history of people being comfortable discussing it?
ReplyDeleteI think alcoholism is more of a hidden issue because it’s normal to drink alcohol in regular life (much more than it is for harder drugs or even weed), so it’s harder for people to recognize if a problem exists. I also think the idea of the glitz and glamour of LA as the location of Hollywood might make people more inclined to try to live the celeb life? Beyond that, I don’t actually know that much about the culture of drinking in LA in particular, but I would like to learn more!
To answer one of your questions Lux, I tend to experience / see more instances of younger people drinking to get drunk rather than drinking for pleasure. I have not only seen this in LA, but also in cities on the east coast. In contrast to these instances, when you traveling to countries in Europe, there seems to be a different attitude and approach to alcoholic beverages. People drink them regularly; however, they tend not to drink to get drunk. This can also be attributed to the younger age limit for purchasing / drinking alcoholic beverages. Many alcoholic drinks
ReplyDeletebeverages and liquor in America have higher content in alcohol. America has harder alcoholic drinks and that tend to get people more drunk. With more and more liquor stores on more and more corners in urban cities, especially in LA, there is a higher risk of alcohol being abused. Even worse, there is a higher risk for younger children and teens being exposed to alcohol abuse which is also quite problematic.
Additionally, I think the DUI point is very interesting. Los Angeles is a very car oriented city (as we have all stated in the past). I do think that with the increase of Uber and Lyft, these DUI charges may decrease in the city; however, there is still little public transportation in Los Angeles that is always reliable such as a train/subway. It will be interesting to compare statistics of LA DUI charges with other cities.