Alcohol abuse is an issue that needs to be rectified. Alcohol is considered a drug. No, people don't smoke it, people don't snort it, people don't inject it, people don't chew it, but people do abuse it. Responsibility is a factor in the abuse of alcohol, and underage drinking isn't a smart decision. According to a [pdf] study from Scarborough, 71% of Americans at the age 21 consume alcohol, and 27% of that group is millennials. Although it is illegal for teens to buy alcohol, teenagers still find a way to get it. Watching as children abuse a drug until walking or talking isn’t an option is disgusting.

Though labeling alcohol as a drug seems odd to some people, alcohol is legal, but marijuana, a naturally grown plant, is illegal in most states. Alcohol can be fatal, but people don’t make that illegal. Alcohol causes many internal issues down the road, such as intestinal failure, but alcohol can also affect the brain. Convulsions, profuse sweating, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, seizures, and hallucinations are alcohol’s withdrawal symptoms. 

According to the National institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol is a depressant. Alcohol is categorized as a drug because its side effects can be deadly. For example, the CDC can confirm over 88,000 deaths due to alcohol in the U.S. If 88,000 deaths doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a deal, maybe the 2.5 million people that have been victimized by alcohol abuse may help. Not all people that drink regularly are alcoholics, but drinking excessively everyday is why alcoholism is medically diagnosed like a disease.

Alcohol doesn’t just affect people who abuse it. Simply getting drunk can bad for people. Personality is a factor in how being drunken causes people to act. Alcohol often causes emotions to be expressed violently or dramatically, which can often result in a cataclysmic situation when put in the wrong scenario. If someone is sad about a situation this may result in them crying for hours or trying to fight someone if it’s on their mind. Alcohol is bad. Alcohol needs to be illegal. Expressing the word moderation isn’t enough to stop people from using this drug.