Celebrating Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance.  An annual holiday observed in the United States on the last Monday in May.  Honoring men and women from the U.S. military who died in service to our country.  Or at least that is what it is intended to be.  Sadly, for most Americans, it has become more about the three-day weekend kicking off summer.  A three-day holiday filled with home improvements, sports, Memorial Day sales, barbeques and….alcohol.   According to shopassociation.org, 44% of all households will be purchasing alcohol to celebrate the holiday.  Americans will spend approximately $3.04 billion on alcohol over the coming weekend. 

Here are some other sobering statistics.  According to the Center for Disease Control, 178,000 Americans die from excessive alcohol use each year.  This is a 29% increase from 2016-2017 and includes binge drinking, motor vehicle accidents, alcohol poisonings and suicides.  This equates to 488 American deaths per day each year.  This number does NOT include many diseases caused by excessive alcohol consumption such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 

 The loss of American lives in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terror (Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan) was 101,814 brave American souls.  Deaths from alcohol in the United States in one year are greater than the deaths of all Americans in those three wars COMBINED.  In World War II, America lost 420,000 service men and women.  An average of 70,000 deaths per year over the six-year period of the war.  A loss of 192 people per day.  Less than half of the current 488 deaths per day from alcohol.   Let me reframe this.  In ONE year, we lose more people to alcohol than in the 74 YEARS of conflict that started with the Korean War in 1950.  And 1,464 families will lose someone to alcohol over the upcoming three-day weekend.

I can't be the only person that finds it ironic that we choose to celebrate a day honoring the brave men and women who died in service to our country, with a substance that kills more people annually than the most recent wars in our history.  In fact, we choose to celebrate every holiday with alcohol.  Simply because we always have.  We have lost sight of the fact that alcohol is a legal DRUG that is happily ingested by many and one where people are openly questioned, even shamed, if they choose not to drink.

I understand that only 25% of the population is addicted to this addictive substance.  That 75% of the American population can enjoy a simple cocktail with no real consequences.  Which is, of course, false because even in small amounts, alcohol is damaging to the body. The Canadian government along with the Netherlands now recommends that the safest amount of alcohol is zero.   In the United States, the 25% impacted by addiction account for 78% of all consumption and 68% of all sales.  There is little motivation for industry to change their $37.7 billion/year profit, even though most of their sales are from people struggling.  And I don’t see a major culture shift happening soon.  However, if I stated that 75% of the population would not become addicted to cocaine or heroin, therefore they should also be legal substances, I wonder what outrage that would spark.  All three are classified as drugs, but alcohol is the only one legal and sold openly everywhere.

I would lobby for a National Sobriety Day, honoring those individuals and families that have been impacted by loss from this ever present and accepted drug.  Or a National Recovery Day for those brave individuals who have taken back their lives by giving up an addictive substance.  Sadly, I think either would simply give people another holiday, another reason, to drink.  And the drinks industry another path to more revenue.

For this Memorial Day, however, I hope we will get back the original intent.  Honoring those brave men and women we have lost.  Perhaps instead of offering up a drink in their honor, we also remember the victims of another war. The internal war of addiction.  Honoring the bravery of those who fought for this country and lost their lives and the bravery of those who are still here fighting the battle to regain theirs.  

THANK YOU to the women and men who have and continue to serve this country.  Your service is greatly appreciated.

If you are questioning your relationship with alcohol or are struggling with sobriety, please reach out to @Holasober at [email protected] for support and community.  It is a completely FREE community.