Stopping or reducing the use of alcohol today either for yourself, friend or family member will be for the better.  There are many reasons for this.  First, alcohol is a gateway drug which leads to the use of other drugs.  It also causes cirrhosis.  Alcohol and driving are a deadly combination.  However dangerous alcohol may be, there are methods of aiding in its reduction.
    I have much experience with alcohol and I know first hand that is a source of a lot of trouble.  I grew up surrounded by alcoholism.  My father was an alcoholic for many years.  My uncle was just released from jail for DWI charges.  I have had countless fights with friends over alcohol.  All it causes is a lot of pain and chaos.  It ruins all that is good and disrupts innocent people's lives.
      The combination of alcohol and driving is a good example of this.  Thousands of innocent children are slain every week due to drunk driving, according to the National Research Council.  David Reed of Harvard University proved that people who have alcohol in their systems to have caused a tenth of traffic injuries.  According to the National Research Council, people who have alcohol in their systems cause at least 24% of easily preventable driving fatalities in America.  Another study by Reed showed that people who have alcohol in their systems make up an average of ten to twenty percent of all current drivers.
      Alcohol is also a curse on society in that it is a gateway drug and is strongly associated with suicide.  Alcohol leads to overdoses that about 10,000 people die each year from, according to Stanley Westrain of Yale.  A study done by students at Harvard concluded that alcohol leads to a third of the suicides in America each year and 10,000 homicides.  These statistics are amazingly horrid, but they are all true and evident of just how much harm the use of alcohol can be.
      Alcohol causes cirrhosis.  Cirrhosis is one of the leading causes of death among middle aged men in the industrialized world, according to the National Research Council.  Cirrhosis is a very interruptible disease.  This means that it can very easily be controlled; the only thing you need to do is stop drinking in order to lessen the conditions.  This is very sad when you think about all the people that would rather die painfully and slowly from the disintegration of their liver, rather than just stop having so many drinks.
      There are groups out there that can help you become even more aware of what other crimes against humanity that alcohol can induce.  There are groups like MADD, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, SADD, or Students Against Drunk Driving, and youth groups everywhere that can help provide you with more information on coping with someone who's an alcoholic or even
help yourself.
      You can inform someone else of what you know to influence them. Try using some of the facts you know.  You can acquire more information and statistics from the internet, from magazines, or books.  Visualization is one of the keys to thoroughly motivate yourself to take action against the problem. Imagine all the funerals that are going on just today that were caused by alcohol.  Think of all the innocent children who have to witness one of their family members drink themselves into oblivion and then fend for themselves.Maybe you know someone who's been injured or killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver.
       By employing these strategies and tactics, you can help make someone's lifestyle a little better and easier and feel good about it.  Preventing or stopping alcohol consumption is needed for a better lifestyle.  A sober life is a good life, as even those who don't drink are effected by those who do.  The risk of cirrhosis is virtually gone, you are in control of your life, and you can help others to realize just how completely horrible and useless the use of alcohol is.  It is essential that we make others more
aware of the atrocity alcohol represents and help to at least reduce some of  the statistics.

Works Cited:

Pearson, Julian.  "Alcoholism and its Effects."  pgs.39-59.  Towerhouse.  New York.  1989.