Should Skokie Treat Public Drunkenness as a Crime?

Drinking, Alcoholism, Binge Drinking, and Alcohol Addiction: A Cruel Fate for Many

Sadly, alcohol abuse and addiction has begun to make a big impact all across the nation, but in particular intensity in cities like Skokie.  In light of the pill and heroin epidemic in the Chicago area in fact, the entire area there has also been hit with major increases in alcohol abuse and addiction.  The fact of the matter is that Skokie has seen addiction problems left and right, therefore the city of Skokie is starting to implement the drug rehabilitation Skokie for those who are facing a cruel fate. Skokie has an extreme alcoholism problem, for example:

  • In the year of 2005, there were about seven percent of the United States’ population of the age of twelve or older, (or 16 million people all in all), who inevitably reported heavy drinking, (per definition meaning that they were engaging in binge drinking on at least five days of the past thirty days).  This essentially means that those individuals were engaging in incredibly dangerous and destructive behavior that only leads to more dangerous and destructive behavior.
  • Of the more than four million Americans who received treatment for a substance abuse problem in 2005, more than two and a half million of them were treated for alcohol use.  True enough, alcohol abuse and addiction is more common amongst Americans than all other drugs that are used and abused combined.  Alcohol abuse is actually a major health concern in the United States right now, and if something is not done about it soon then the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), is sure to label it as a legitimate epidemic.

 

  • Alcohol-related traffic deaths in the United States ranked in at 12,998 in the year of 2007.  This is more than three times as many American soldiers who died in combat in the first six years of the Iraq war, making for a virtual crisis of alcohol abuse in the United States in more recent years.  The truly saddening thing behind alcohol deaths in the United States is that they aren’t always the deaths of the individuals who are abusing the alcohol; a lot of times they are the victims of car accidents caused by someone who is taking part in such an abuse.

Public Drunkenness in Skokie: Should it be an Act Punishable by the Law?

In times like these, the residents of Skokie must ask themselves if they are willing to continue to deal with extravagant amounts of alcohol abuse within their city borders.  Many, would say that no, the time for public displays of drunkenness is now over, and many all across the city would agree that this time has passed.  Skokie is already starting to make a difference by implementing the drug rehabilitation Skokie and basically force any individuals who are abusing drugs and alcohol to sign up and start their recovery at the drug rehab Skokie. Considering the level of severity that this issue has now taken on in Skokie, it is time that the city stiffen up a bit on these issues and make a point to treat public displays of drunkenness more as a very non-okay encouragement to continue drinking improperly, rather than a harmless if somewhat annoying act.

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