Contents
(a)The Congress finds that—
(1)alcohol is one of the most dangerous drugs and the drug most frequently abused in the United States;
(2)approximately ten million, or 7 percent, of the adults in the United States are alcoholics or problem drinkers;
(3)it is estimated that alcoholism and other alcohol related problems cost the United States over $43,000,000,000 annually in lost production, medical and public assistance expenditures, police and court costs, and motor vehicle and other accidents;
(4)alcohol abuse is found with increasing frequency among persons who are multiple-drug abusers and among former heroin users who are being treated in methadone maintenance programs;
(5)alcohol abuse is being discovered among growning numbers of youth;
(6)alcohol abuse and alcoholism have a substantial impact on the families of alcohol abusers and alcoholics and contributes to domestic violence;
(7)alcohol abuse and alcoholism, together with abuse of other legal and illegal drugs, present a need for prevention and intervention programs designed to reach the general population and members of high risk populations such as youth, women, the elderly, and families of alcohol abusers and alcoholics; and
(8)alcoholism is an illness requiring treatment and rehabilitation through the assistance of a broad range of community health and social services and with the cooperation of law enforcement agencies, employers, employee associations, and associations of concerned individuals.
United States Government work; public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.