Alcohol induced deaths in the US

[Persn]

I had a thought that the west coast has a high chronic homeless population, which may account for higher rates of alcohol induced death. It also occurred to me that reporting requirements may be different. Don't know though, just guessing.

 

[audreyh1]

I bet it's the reporting!

 

[MRG]

I bet it's the reporting!

+1

 

[Scuba]

So sad to read this about your brother. My brother is alcoholic too, although he went to AA and hasn't had a drink in many years, decades as far as I know. But anyway, apparently it is hereditary and that is one of the reasons why I don't drink.

Then there is the fact that it is fattening, and the fact that I don't really like the stuff. Everything seemed to point the way for me to just not be a drinker any more. If someone can handle it, then fine, but I'd rather not bother with it.

My sister is an alcoholic but totally in denial, despite several minor car accidents and breaking several ribs due to falls within the last year. She went to state mandated rehab once after she ran her car into a ditch. As soon as she got out, she criticized the program. She won't do AA either. After attending AlAnon, I realized that I can't help her if she doesn't want to change, and that many addicts and alcoholics go their entire lives without admitting they have a problem. Very sad and frustrating not to be able to help. She and her husband are estranged from all other family members. The only reason we aren't totally estranged is that I no longer confront her about her alcoholism. However I definitely don't feel that close to her and know I can't count on her for anything one might rely on a sibling for under different circumstances (i.e., telling the truth, being there when needed). Luckily DH and I are pretty self-reliant and have a great group of close friends as our "support group."

 

[HFWR]

I was thinking that maybe when they get drunk, they grab their guns and shoot each other dead for some stupid reason like "he looked at my woman" or "she bought everyone a hamburger except me". .

I feel a new country song coming on...

 

[W2R]

I feel a new country song coming on...

I have actually seen both of those reasons given for murders in recent news stories here in New Orleans. It's insane.

 

[aja8888]

PS. Cognac has much better hangover effects than other hard liquors. It's made from grape, and everybody knows fruit is good for you. Cognac is simply concentrated grape.

My father used to say similar things about Vodka....it's really the concentrate of potatoes, and they are a food source.

 

[Car-Guy]

I agree, I don't consider you to be drunks either.

Now, if you frequently beat your kids, yelled at your wife, wrecked the car, and got fired from job after job for coming in to work late and drunk, then I'd think you might have a problem.

Hey I guess I'm okay. I only get "partial" credit for one out of four on your list.

 

[Fedup]

My husband used to drink and not beating anybody up. I always thought he was a harmless drunk, just a happy drunk. I often joked that he's alcoholic but in lately he doesn't drink as much anymore. Even the BBC has an article that two drinks a day is bad. When his friend from college came to visit, I bought a few wine bottles, but we only had tiny sip and the friend and his wife finished the whole bottle. It's good to see somebody can still enjoy red wine. We can't anymore. But wine in California is dirt cheap, you can get decent drinkable bottle for less than $20.

 

[Winemaker]

I was thinking that maybe when they get drunk, they grab their guns and shoot each other dead for some stupid reason like "he looked at my woman" or "she bought everyone a hamburger except me".

It's why my dad told me to stay out of bars.

 

[powerplay]

I was surprised to see the higher number of alcohol deaths on the west side of the US. There is no local news about this so it must be under the radar. There is a large homeless population which may in part be due to moderate weather. Possibly it is due to the reporting that was previously mentioned.

When I was a child my father drank heavily as did many of the men in our small community who worked in the woods or fished or had other physical jobs. Dad decided at some point that it was not good to be drinking all the time and decided to quit a few years after I was out and on my own. He has only had a sip of wine a few times over the last 4 decades. I am not aware of any lasting problems he has had from the drinking years and he turned 91 earlier this year. I am going to go spend the day with him tomorrow!

 

[wrigley]

I just finished watching an episode of Drugs Inc (National Geographic) on Alaska. The show seemed to say that low availability of illegal drugs in the remote areas makes alcohol the drug of choice and it is widely abused. Many areas are dry (alcohol is illegal) but there are plenty of bootleggers to make it available. One guy was drinking hair spray because he couldn't get alcohol.

Don't knock it. Aqua Net with lime is pretty good!

Mike

 

[Hermit]

I agree, I don't consider you to be drunks either.

Now, if you frequently beat your kids, yelled at your wife, wrecked the car, and got fired from job after job for coming in to work late and drunk, then I'd think you might have a problem.

You knew my FIL! He died of liver disease related to his drinking problem in his early 60s.

 

[Tree-dweller]

Just prior to my retirement, my company was holding a social function for longtime employees and retirees. I was anxious to pick the retirees' brains about what retirement was like. Among the usual responses about freedom from stress, etc, More than one said matter-of-factly "I drink a bit more than before." Caught me by surprise, but I guess when you no longer have to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed 5 mornings per week, a couple of sociables the night before seems more acceptable than it might have when gainfully employed. At least that's my excuse!

 

[ivinsfan]

The drug abuse must get them first.

My sister's MIL is an alcoholic as was her husband who was well through his 2nd liver before he died of Alzheimer's about a year ago.

The MIL is moving down to an assisted living facility close by and my sister was telling me this week that MIl drinks a liter of scotch a day!! That boggles my mind, I don't know how her body copes. She is only 5' tall and slightly built, aged 72 and her last medical check up only showed early indications of possible liver damage despite many years of abuse.

Second liver, he must have had a few years without drinking at all, if he was given a liver transplant. Normally continued alcohol consumption will keep someone off the transplant list. At least in the US anyway.

 

[NW-Bound]

...Now, if you frequently beat your kids, yelled at your wife, wrecked the car, and got fired from job after job for coming in to work late and drunk, then I'd think you might have a problem.

No. That's a violent drunk. A person is a drunkard if the last thing that passes his lips at night is a shot of alcohol, and the first thing he thinks of in the morning is a drink.

I do not know anybody like that in real life, but recall a movie called "Leaving Las Vegas" starring Nicolas Cage. The character in the movie was not violent.

 

[travelover]

These statistics are staggering.

 

[NW-Bound]

I just finished watching an episode of Drugs Inc (National Geographic) on Alaska. The show seemed to say that low availability of illegal drugs in the remote areas makes alcohol the drug of choice and it is widely abused. Many areas are dry (alcohol is illegal) but there are plenty of bootleggers to make it available. One guy was drinking hair spray because he couldn't get alcohol.

A guy told me that when Soviet soldiers got deprived of alcohol in war time, they smeared shoe polish on bread, let the liquid in the polish soaked into the bread, then scraped the polish off and ate the bread.

Just now recall this story, and check on the Web, and found this:

The ingredients for this drink are black shoe polish, a glass of water, and a slice of black bread. You take the black shoe polish, spread it on the slice of bread, then set it atop the glass of water so that it covers it up pretty well. Leave it sitting for a couple of hours while you try to pretend you’re not enduring the worst shakes ever. Then, when you can’t wait anymore, take the bread off the top and drink the poisoned water down. The fumes and toxins from the shoe polish, Russians learned, would be absorbed into the water enough to make it potent. Also, you could take the bread, scrape off the excess polish, and eat it, getting a major rush from the absorbed poisons.
​

 

[2017ish]

...

I do not know anybody like that in real life, but recall a movie called "Leaving Las Vegas" starring Nicolas Cage. The character in the movie was not violent.

That was a sad (and hard to watch) movie... He was far beyond being a "mere" drunk--a suicidal person with alcohol as his weapon.

 

[NW-Bound]

Time for some music.

House of the Rising Sun

My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans
Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk​

 

[Sunset]

.... A person is a drunkard if the last thing that passes his lips at night is a shot of alcohol, and the first thing he thinks of in the morning is a drink.

I do not know anybody like that in real life, .....

I did, it was a surprise to me that beer is breakfast food

He died of liver failure, after losing his employment and friends, all his money, and then losing his drinking buddies since he had no money to buy them drinks.

 

[Alan]

Second liver, he must have had a few years without drinking at all, if he was given a liver transplant. Normally continued alcohol consumption will keep someone off the transplant list. At least in the US anyway.

Yes, and also for a few years after his liver transplant he controlled it before he started up again with continuous drinking. Problem as I saw it was because his wife continued to drink heavily throughout it all.

 

[redduck]

I was thinking that maybe when they get drunk, they grab their guns and shoot each other dead for some stupid reason like "he looked at my woman" or "she bought everyone a hamburger except me".

I have actually seen both of those reasons given for murders in recent news stories here in New Orleans. It's insane.

Yes, those reasons are insane. It would have been much more understandable for reasons like "he looked at my hamburger" or "she bought everyone a woman but me."