SAY NO TO ALCOHOLISM

Jackline Kaboko

Do you know the effects of consuming too much alcohol in your body? Have you taken this fact into account as you go on a drinking spree? Do you know that more than five million Tanzanians are alcoholics? I guess your answer is ‘no’!!Generally, alcoholism is one of the major problems many Tanzanians face.

The effects of alcoholism are very serious. Many people consume too much alcohol, lose control of their lives  as they increasingly become addicted.

Many people do not know that apart from losing money, alcoholism can be your death ticket.  This is because consumption of too much alcohol causes different diseases such as diabetes, renal failure, stroke, depression and obesity.

Despite campaigns that emphasise on a balanced diet and warn against excessive drinking, Tanzanians have refused to let go of the ‘kitimoto’, ‘nyamachoma’, ‘chips mayai’ and beer syndrome. Too many of us consume too many of these things as though there is no tomorrow.

Have you ever asked why many people in Tanzania prefer drinking alcohol to eating balanced diet? Ooh!! Don’t wish to know because instead of feeling pity for them you will laugh! Their reasons simply do not make sense. They give reasons such as stress or depression. But really, how is drinking alcohol the best solution to one’s depression and stress?

It is said that broken marriages are being considered as one of causes forcing many people to excessive drinking. But again, in real sense, can this problem be solved by taking too much alcohol? The only solution here is to find where you messed up and fix your differences with your estranged partner. Never can excessive drinking be a solution to such social problems.

Another major cause pushing people towards drinking is peer pressure, family, friends and societal influences and the advertising blitz from the multi-billion alcoholic beverage industry. The chances are if parents are drinkers, children will likely follow suit, hence becoming drinkers too.

In short, we need to change our ways and if we do not, we will continue to be the causes and agents of our own destruction. It would be understandable if the beer pot bellies were confined to the middle-aged and the oldies, but young people are also at it, with the drinking age limit existing only in writing.

It is not uncommon to see a youth at 18 younger stone drunk! It is like they do not see the warning on bottles which reads: “NOT FOR SALE TO PERSONS UNDER THE AGE OF 18 YEARS”.

It’s sad that in this country there is no watertight legislation that sets drinking hours. People with little self-control can drink from dusk to dawn, forgetting that Tanzania’s development is brought by people’s hard work and not by drunkards who cannot even control themselves.

I wonder why people forget that too much of everything is harmful, especially alcoholism since it can cause death. For example, alcoholism causes cancer in the stomach, kidneys, and the liver.  And yet no one takes heed.

Besides, alcohol alters the digestion of nutrients that the body needs to stay healthy. Alcoholism also causes severe damage to the neurons, so it causes alterations in the body movements, loss of appetite, and depression.

There are other effects in the body such as gastritis and cirrhosis of the liver. All these dire physical consequences could cause your death if you drink alcohol in mass quantities.

Also, alcoholism is a major source of many road accidents, since many accidents which occur on the roads are caused by careless driving and most of these drivers like to use alcohol when driving without knowing that alcohol reduces their driving abilities the thing which can cause accident. What happened to the saying “Don’t drink and drive”?

Psychologically alcohol makes you feel relaxed but this is at the beginning, but if you drink it in excess, it causes depression. It also causes family and legal problems, violence, changes of behaviour, suicide, among others. Alcohol is very powerful and alters all your normal behavioural traits.

Let me say that Tanzania without alcoholism is possible and we are responsible for making that happen. But I wonder why such campaigns which sensitise the public on the dangers of excessive drinking have ironically been largely left to companies that sell alcohol. It is literally a case of leaving the hyena to guard the goat.

Many of the warning messages displayed on the bottles and cans are printed in very dull colours as though deliberately designed not to be seen. They are also so tiny that the many customers would need microscopes to see them, anyway let alone, read them. They are fine prints, indeed, that many people never bother to read until it was too late.

In truth, we have left potential alcoholics to their own devices. When will we come to terms with reality and act on this problem?