Calgary has a part of its population which is in dire need of alcohol treatments. Some people are not able to quit drinking on their own and so must turn to professionals to help them get over their addiction. There are people trained and also volunteers who want to help people get over their addiction by treating it. For example, there are 141 locations in Calgary alone which are devote to alcohol treatment addiction. Out of those, 111 are Alcoholics Anonymous meetings so that one can choose either AA or a more advanced type of alcohol treatment in Alberta.

Calgary Alcohol Abuse

There are many people in Calgary who drink a lot of alcohol and became alcoholic. Alcohol can affect many people in many ways. Excessive drinking can really damage one’s internal organs but can also really affect someone emotionally and mentally. Even if one doesn’t drink a lot of alcohol, he runs the risk of becoming emotionally dependent to alcohol and also developing a physical tolerance to alcohol. And the consequences of that can be catastrophic for the drinkers and the people around them.

Drinking is a problem that starts at a young age and so can follow one through his entire life. There was a study made showing how students in Alberta really drink alcohol, and when it starts. Those numbers also fit for Calgary and show just how early alcohol starts. For example, in a survey made with students, it was found that almost half of them said they had drunk alcohol at least once in the twelve months prior to the survey. This number is alarming because the majority of the students are not even of legal drinking age. In those that had drunk alcohol in the past year, there were a little bit more girls than boys, about a two percent difference.

The survey also showed that many of the students had tried drinking excessively, commonly called binge drinking. There are many students who have injured themselves by drinking too much. In the survey, it showed that 79,5 percent of the students said they had drunk excessively. And surprisingly there are more males than females who binge drink with about four percent more on the male side.

The students of Calgary alone were surveyed separately and 45,4 percent of them said they drinking alcohol currently.

All and all, there are students who drink at all ages. But the statistics show that the Grade in which there are more students who start drinking alcohol is Grade 9. Actually, there is a higher percentage every year from Grade 7 to Grade 12. The older the students get, the more exposed they are to alcohol and so the risk of them starting to drink at parties and with friends is a lot greater.

People of Calgary need help in order to get over their alcohol addiction.

Drunk Driving in Calgary

One of the consequences of drinking alcohol is drunk driving. Drunk driving is a very serious problem in Calgary and it is continuously ruining the lives of many people. In 2007, there was an increase of 20 percent where the drunk driving cases were concerned.

There are statistics that show the increase of decrease in terms of drunk driving between the year 2006 and 2008. For examples, in 2006 there were around 3,400 drunk drivers reported and in 2008 there were more than 3,600 drunk drivers. One of the solutions used to stop someone from driving while under the influence is the 24-hour road suspension. And in 2006, there were 3,500 of those and in 2008, there were 3,350 24-hour license suspension. And out of all the drunk drivers, some of them get charged for their crime. In 2006, there were around 1,650 people charged and in 2008 there were around 1,600.

The problem with those numbers is that while the number of drunk drivers went up in 2008 but the penalties for the drunk drivers actually went down. The number of drunk driving cases went down in December 2008 compared to December of 2007. And that is good news as December has always been the month for drunk driving accidents because of Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties.

^{Resources
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/cpc/annual_report/2000/alcohol_report.pdf
http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Death+blamed+alcohol+abuse/2489239/story.html
http://www.calgarybeacon.com/2009/01/too-many-calgary-drivers-drinking-and-driving/
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/story.html?id=f098ebb4-ab43-455e-bc34-92a6fc7398b9
http://www.aadac.com/documents/TAYES08-Highlights.pdf}