CHAPTER XVI


THE ALCOHOL PROBLEM

OF all the problems relating to health and efficiency there is none
graver than that of the narcotic-stimulants. With the exception of
tobacco, which is probably, for adults, but mildly deleterious, their
use is fraught with danger, both physical and moral; beyond the
narrowest limits it is certainly baneful, while it is as yet an open
question whether even a very slight use is not distinctly harmful.
The exact physiological effects of the several narcotic-stimulants
are different, but they are alike in stimulating certain activities
and depressing others; and their attraction for men is similar. Opium,
morphine, and cocaine are more powerful drugs, and more inherently
dangerous; but alcohol is much the most widely used and so most
productive of evil. The hypodermically used narcotics need not be here
discussed; for although they can give a far keener pleasure than
alcohol, the penalty they inflict is more evident. Moreover, since
their sale is not pushed by such powerful interests as continually
stimulate the use of alcohol, they can, by the vigilant enforcement
of existing laws, be readily removed from any general use. We turn,
then, to the consideration of the one which has got a universal hold
on the imagination and social habits of men, the only one that
constitutes at present a serious and complicated problem.

What are the causes of the use of alcoholic drinks?