Economic Issues with the Misuse and Abuse of Alcohol

IntroductionAlcohol is a drug and a currency, making it a unique commodity. The economic benefit a nation receives comes with social and health harm. Babor et al. (1) describes the mechanisms that explain alcohol's ability to cause individual and societal harm (1). As a toxic substance, alcohol has direct and indirect effects on the human body's organs and systems. The main cause of harm is intoxication, which is linked to violence, intimate partner violence, traffic accidents and causalities. Alcohol misuse and abuse also contributes to diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, epilepsy, pancreatitis and mental disorders. Found to be the third leading risk factor for death and disability, its misuse and abuse accounts for 4% of deaths annually (2).While alcohol misuse and abuse is a global issue, the English speaking Caribbean has additional issues that are not commonly found in developed countries (where global strategies to reduce the effects of alcohol consumption are developed), which have historically influenced the reason people drink, drink in excess and factors that are barriers to implementing policies and programs that are culturally sensitive and effective.Sugar and rumThe English speaking Caribbean refers to former British colonies, which gained their independence between 1960s and 1980s. These islands are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. These colonies were developed to produce sugar for Great Britain and Europe. European plantation owners quickly found the by-products of sugar could be fermented into alcohol. Collecting cane juice skimmed from the boiling syrup and allowing it to ferment produced inexpensive but very strong liquor popular among slaves and poor whites. From molasses, rum was produced, which was milder and smoother liquor enjoyed by the English and French (3). All colonist enjoyed rum, but the British colonies in North America and Caribbean formed the largest market (3).Rum played an integral role in the triangular trade, a multilateral line of exchange throughout the Atlantic. It transported sugar and rum to North America and Europe. From Europe to Africa commodities of guns, rum and manufactured goods were transported to slavers. The final line of the trade was from Africa to the Americas, transporting slaves to work on the sugar plantations and mines. Rum connected the Caribbean Islands to each other as well as to North America, Europe and Africa, highlighting its importance of inter-imperial economic and cultural exchange among the colonies (4).The use of rum was embedded in Caribbean culture. Not only did the navy sailors and colonist consume it, slaves used rum as part of cultural ceremonies in an attempt to maintain their culture. Due to the small size of the islands, the wealthy and poor would consume alcohol together, allowing drinking to cross social strata. To further the colonies dependence on alcohol, British colonies used rumbased wages to pay former slaves (4). Reinforcing the position of rum in the culture. Individually and societally, the Caribbean was dependent on alcohol.IndependenceDuring the mid-1900s, each of the English speaking Caribbean islands gained independence from Great Britain. While decolonization brought about semipolitical independence, it brought economic independence. Resulting in the reliance on their natural resources, which had little diversification. Aside from Trinidad and Tobago, with oil and gas as natural resources, and Jamaica with bauxite, the other island nations were dependent on crops such as sugar and bananas and were struggling economically (4).To assist with economic issues and rising debt, many countries worked with the International Monetary Fund to develop structural adjustment programs. Such programs used taxation of foreign goods and tourism as a base for economic development. …