Taxpayers Pick Up Alcohol Abuse Tab

* Recently, I’ve read of two terrible tragedies here in Orange County where the main factor was drinking. One case involved a carjacking in which the victim--a young student--was shot in the head. A 20-year-old man sentenced to life in prison without parole said he “had been drinking heavily the night of the crime and every day for six months before. If I wasn’t drunk, I know I could have done something to save (the victim’s) life.” In the other related case, a teacher who shot another teacher said she had been drinking heavily before the killing, and indicated that it otherwise would not have happened.

Some studies show that about half the people in prisons were under the influence of alcohol when they committed their crimes. By a bombardment of TV advertising and other heavy promotion of drinking, the makers, sellers and marketeers of beer and other alcoholic beverages thrive on excess. Shouldn’t the monetary costs come out of their huge profits and the pockets of alcohol consumers, instead of from us ordinary taxpayers? Why should we be the ones who have to pay for police, CHP, ambulances, emergency medical care, hospitals, courts and prisons? Why?

J. MILLER

Tustin