For many people, drinking is a fun respite from the tedium of life. But for others, alcohol can consume their lives, leading to alcoholism or law-breaking.
Julie Coffey, manager of the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center (MSARC), said drugs and especially alcohol are prevalent in sexual assaults.
"Alcohol is the number one drug used in date rapes," Coffey said.
MSARC sees 1,300 patients a year, about three to four a day, including every rape victim in Memphis, according to Coffey. About 390 to 450 of the victims the center sees are considered adult victims because they are over 18 years old.
And of those adult victims, "30 to 35 percent of the sexual assaults treated at the Memphis Sexual Assault Center involve voluntary or involuntary drugs," Coffey said.
The numbers in Memphis are paralleled nationally, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 35 percent of rapes and sexual assaults, the victim believed the attacker to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Officer Mary Bibbs of the Memphis Police Department said alcohol probably has the greatest impact on spousal abuse.
"It (alcohol) affects domestic violence more than any other crime," she said. "That's where we see most of the problems."
She said, though some homeless people have drinking problems, they "generally don't commit a lot of crimes." Whereas, with instances of domestic violence, many times the person being abused will say the abuser becomes violent when drunk.
"It (the drinking) tends to bring about more violence," Bibbs said.
Angela, who asked that her real name not be used, said alcohol gets rid of any inhibitions the drinker had while sober.
"They (alcoholics) have nothing that keeps them from crossing the line," said Angela, who counsels the friends and families of alcoholics and was herself married to an alcoholic.
She said that in her experience counseling people, she has found women suffer most often because of the violence caused by drinking, though she added not all alcoholics become violent with others.
Angela recounted one instance in which a woman was "beaten to a pulp" by her boyfriend. Even the places on her arms where she was held down were bruised until those spots turned black and blue.
"Sometimes they get killed," she said, referring to the dangers of living with a violent alcoholic. "Alcoholism is not a disease you play with."
Another time, Angela's divorce from her alcoholic husband was used by another woman as justification not to leave her husband.
"I'm not like you," the woman told her, "I'm not going to turn my back on my husband."
This attitude is a part of the sickness that is caused by the negative impact the alcoholic has on those around him, Angela said. "It's a real struggle living with an alcoholic," she added. "His (my husband's) drinking had become out of control. He started gambling, as well as drinking."
She said her ex-husband was drinking heavily and had a "lady friend who, if she couldn't find him, came over here to look for him."
He came home upset because he had a fight with his girlfriend and "ordered me" to make a cup of coffee while he tried to call his girlfriend, Angela said, recounting the incident that led her to get a divorce. In order to ignore his insistence, she began to read the newspaper, an idea she picked up from another woman. However, he became so angry, he threw the cup of coffee at her. That's when she and her two children left, ending her 14-year marriage.
"We were able to put ourselves back together," she said.
Angela added she is open about what happened to her because her story has the potential to help others by showing them they do not have to stay in the situations they are in. However, she said working with those who are affected by the disease of alcoholism has taught her to be compassionate, because they did not choose to become the people they are.
"Education is the best tool we have to cope with alcoholics," she said.
For some abusers of alcohol, the damage is not confined to their own homes and families - they sometimes cause death and injury on the streets and highways also.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 39 percent of the 43,443 traffic fatalities in 2005 were alcohol-related, down from 56 percent of the 44,257 traffic fatalities in 1984. The NHTSA defines a fatality as alcohol-related if at least one person involved in the accident has a blood alcohol concentration of at least .01. However, it does not mean the fatality was caused by alcohol necessarily.
Although drunk drivers come in all ages, young people are often targeted in the effort to decrease drunk driving accidents.
The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 mandates that states raise their minimum alcohol purchasing and possessing ages to 21 or risk losing federal highway money, effectively creating a national drinking age minimum.
Sonya Manfred, youth programs specialist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) Tennessee affiliate, supports the current drinking age. MADD's advocacy was crucial to passage of the 1984 legislation.
"We know that keeping the minimum drinking age at 21 will save 900 lives a year," Manfred said.
She also mentioned the role alcohol plays in other actions that negatively effect young people, such as alcohol poisoning, drowning and rape, saying in "all of these things, alcohol is a factor."
"There are ages in the United States that make you eligible to do a lot of things," she said. "Getting the right to drink is a privilege."
However, Alex Korokney-Palicz, the executive director of National Youth Rights Association (NYRA), considers the drinking age a "civil rights issue."
NYRA was founded in 1998 to fight what its members consider age discrimination committed against young people.
He said if one is mature enough to be sentenced to death and go to war or marry, then "you are mature enough to handle a can of beer."
Korokney-Palicz also disputes the statistics MADD uses to justify its stance on the minimum drinking age. He attributed the fall in alcohol-related traffic fatalities to more education about problems like drunk driving, though he credited MADD for helping to raise public knowledge of such issues.
Although Korokney-Palicz disagrees with Madd's stance on the drinking age, he said there is common ground between the two positions because both groups want to educate people about the damage alcohol can cause.
"We're both devoted to reducing the harm of alcohol," Korokney-Palicz said. "We're absolutely in agreement on that."
However, proponents of lowering the drinking age still have many Americans to convince because the current law remains popular.
Seventy-seven percent of Americans do not support lowering the drinking age to 18 years old, according to a Gallup poll taken in July 2007. Even 59 percent of people between 18 and 34 opposed lowering the minimum age.
Garrett McQueen, 20-year-old University of Memphis junior, said he does not support lowering the drinking age to18, even though he drinks alcohol.
The risk of people drinking and driving and committing other dangerous alcohol-related actions is too high, he said.
"There are enough irresponsible 21 and 22-year-olds," according to McQueen.
Millicent Morgan, who calls herself a social drinker, agreed the drinking age should remain 21, citing the dangers of drunk driving also. The 24-year-old U of M junior said people are not responsible enough at 18 to have the right to drink.
"People are barely responsible when they are 21," she said.
