America's Long History of Alcoholism

There exists in America the general misconception that the high prevalence of alcoholism in this country is a new public health concern. However, few people realize that alcohol and alcoholism have been a deeply rooted part of American history since before this land was an organized country. In fact, there were rules and regulations governing the consumption of alcohol and spirits that at times were far more stringent than they are today. But regardless of the attempts of various American societies over the last three hundred years to control alcohol use and therefore alcoholism, this disease has remained a constant problem with very little improvement in the centuries since this land was settled by English colonists. Early colonial times saw some significant changes in the way alcohol use was regulated. Instead of attempting to control the sale or distribution of alcohol, these early societies instead set about creating laws that governed when and where a person could drink, how much they could drink and in what company, and what behaviors were considered acceptable while drinking. However, despite the risk of confinement in deplorable early American jails for violations of these offenses, the deterrence factor provided by these rules seemed negligible at best. In fact, colonial Americans regarded alcohol so highly that it was deemed a more important part of the daily diet than water. This was due to the dangerous conditions of drinking water supplies at the time. Alcohol was much safer. Some Americans even accepted payment of wages in the form of alcohol and were so fiercely protective of this right that a law prohibiting payment in alcohol in 1672 caused one of the country's first labor strikes, effectively overturning the law. Alcoholism continued to be a rampant problem while American fought for its independence from Great Britain, and remained a problem when American troops turned against each other during the Civil War. Alcoholism among American soldiers was so prevalent that it was simply an accepted part of life. And when morphine was introduced to Confederate and Union soldiers, those who were already prone to alcoholism became readily and dangerously addicted to morphine, and for years these two problems were practically synonymous with one another. By the time the 1920's arrived, powerful figures in American politics had had enough of the problems caused by alcoholism. In an effort to end this problem once and for all, the Prohibition Act was passed in 1920 that prohibited the sale, manufacture, transport or import of any type of alcohol, beer or wine. However, the demand for alcohol among the American people remained high; sparking an illegal trade in booze that became far more violent than the War on Drugs is today. For the next 13 years authorities unsuccessfully battled organized crime syndicates that supplied most of the country's booze. Speakeasies and underground bars became commonplace, and corruption was rampant among public figures. It seemed that everyone wanted alcohol back, and so in 1933 the Prohibition Act was repealed. Since then the American problem with alcoholism has changed very little. Progress has been made that realized a 50% reduction in the amount of alcohol-related traffic fatalities since the early 1980's, but the occurrence of alcoholism remains a national epidemic. However, today treatment options are readily available and have been proven to be extremely successful in treating alcoholism and addiction.

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