Terror vs. alcohol

There is no question that we needed an immediate and thorough response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. I was living in Manhattan at the time and witnessed some of the results first hand and was glad the president responded by waging war and creating the department of homeland security.

It's interesting though that the response to other preventable causes of death that are not condensed into one act or as dramatic are not viewed as quite important. An editorial in the Christian Science Monitor today discussed how the NCAA must not support alcohol consumption by supporting beer advertisers. The article stated alcohol consumption by college students results in about 1,400 deaths, 500,000 injuries, 600,000 assaults, and 70,000 sexual assaults or date rapes. Now imagine if a terrorist attack caused that much damage. We would immediately respond.

I am by no means saying we should weaken our response to terrorism, I'm just saying there are other preventable causes of harm that need to be addressed by policy makers who have the guts to take on politically charged issues, such as alcohol.