If slightly impaired drivers make the bill go up by 4500 dollars, then think what the alcoholics are costing us.

Anyone who arrives at the emergency room drunk or “slightly impaired” should be ordered to report immediately to classes or rehab.

“The social and economic costs of drunk driving are well documented, but a new study from Rhode Island Hospital finds that even minimally impaired drivers incur higher-than-average costs when they land in hospital emergency rooms, Science Daily reported Oct. 7.

Researcher Michael Lee, M.D., of the Injury Prevention Center at Rhode Island Hospital and colleagues found that drivers with any detectable alcohol in their system incurred $4,538 more in treatment costs and stayed in the emergency room an average of 3.3 hours longer than patients who did not have alcohol in their system. “The magnitudes are striking for this minimally injured population,” said Lee. “This represents a burden of alcohol-impaired driving that was underreported in the past.”"

http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2009/drinkers-incur-more-costs.html

Being also bombarded by ads on Facebook, reduces the chances of any drug and alcohol education these kids could possibly be receiving being lost in the din of advertisement.

Whether a youth is abusing cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin or alcohol they learned about these drugs from somewhere.

We need to cut off these lessons and teach kids about drug prevention.

For those who have seen too many ads, they need to learn about drug treatment.

“The Marin Institute is calling on Facebook to stop accepting paid ads for alcoholic beverages and to ban alcohol-related pages, applications and events, citing a study that found that alcohol-related content is reaching underage Facebook users despite company policies designed to prevent such marketing.

Depiction of alcohol and other drug use by minors on Facebook pages has long been a concern of preventionists, school officials and parents. But the latest controversy springs from Facebook’s recent moves to monetize the site, founded in 2004 and currently the world’s largest social-networking site with 300 million members.

Originally intended for use by college students, Facebook now counts among its membership everyone from preteens to retirees. An estimated one-third of the site’s members are under the legal drinking age.”

http://www.jointogether.org/news/features/2009/underage-facebook-members.html

Alcoholics already have severe damage that has been done to their bodies.  Without sleep, this damage will be harder to heal.

Nutrition and general healthy habits are an obvious solution but further research could possibly increase the life span of individuals.

“People in recovery from alcohol addictions can suffer sleep disruptions for months or years after they stop drinking, Reuters reported Oct. 2.

Researchers at SRI International monitored the brain activity during sleep of a group of 42 people in recovery and compared the results to brain scans of nondrinkers. They found that men and women in recovery spent significantly less time in light, stage-one sleep and slow-wave sleep — the latter essential for memory — and somewhat more time in REM sleep, when dreaming normally occurs”

http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2009/sleeping-problems-linger-for.html