On a recent trip to a recreational center in the Kingdom, I bought my children those wristbands that give them unlimited access to all the rides. When we got home, I took a pair of scissors and cut them off their wrists only to read the words printed on them: “Drink Responsibly.”
It seems that when the recreational center imported their goods, they did not realize the inscriptions written on the wristbands. It was a mere oversight that instigated a flurry of thoughts.
“Drink Responsibly” means to regulate your alcohol intake so as to not be so intoxicated that you cannot control your behavior, like driving while intoxicated, and subsequently kill yourself, someone else, or both.
The logic behind this inscription being on the wrists of young ones is to begin warning them at a young age. Teenagers who drink alcohol don’t drink in the same way adults do. They are more likely to hurt themselves or others. Also, alcohol has a stronger effect on smaller people because it enters the bloodstream faster and takes longer to be filtered out by the liver.
It dawned on me how lucky our society is not to have alcohol consumption. Many may disagree and say that it is easy to get in trouble in any society. True, nevertheless in our society it still remains harder to go astray; misconduct takes effort. The average person has to plan and scheme to misbehave, as opposed to the easily accessible wrongs available in other nations.
In most places in the world, alcohol can be bought in restaurants, bars, cafes and supermarkets. Gambling is not restricted to casinos, but also found in children’s arcades. Whether breaking Shariah law or the Ten Commandments, one must admit that access to sin here is to some degree limited.
From an additional perspective, I wonder how difficult it is for recovering addicts to abstain from intoxicants if they are easily available. Imagine an alcoholic watching a beer commercial. Or sitting in a restaurant with hundreds of bottles taunting him. What a relief not to have that in your face on a daily basis. Imagine having to constantly explain: “I’m a Muslim, I can’t drink.” Everyone here knows. In some places in the world, a teetotaler is considered someone who “can’t hold his liquor” or a weakling, or an alcoholic in remission, or a square.
The West has terribly sobering statistics on drunk driving. And more than 30 percent of teens have admitted in polls to drinking alone at times. Alcohol is closely linked to violence, especially domestic violence. According to a study by the US Department of Justice, in 1998, up to 40 percent of all violent crime involved alcohol abuse.
Another US report said 8.5 percent of the US population meets the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse. Those who say alcohol is less dangerous than illegal drugs, like marijuana, fail to lend adequate credence to the fact that alcohol abuse is the No. 1 drug problem that American youths face; it has been found that the primary cause of death among American teens is alcohol-related.
To the human brain, alcohol is a downer in more than one way. It is considered a depressant, but it also debilitates or even shuts down, in the case of overdose, brain function. Alcohol causes blurred vision and irregular heart rhythm. It is linked to heart disease, like smoking, and long-term abuse has been linked to hypertension. Liver damage is probably the most well known adverse affect of prolonged alcohol abuse. Hard liquor abused over time causes stomach ulcers and bleeding. Kidneys, too, can be adversely affected by alcohol abuse. Alcohol thins the blood and can exacerbate anemic effects and lower immune resistance. And an alcoholic can over a long period of time suffer from alcohol-related muscle atrophy, most dangerously in the muscles of the heart.
So for those calling for a more liberal society in the Kingdom: I agree, but choose your battles. The social acceptance of alcohol comes with a sharp increase in alcohol-related social and physical problems.
Saudi Arabia has been accused of having draconian punishments. The country has been criticized for various reasons, some fairly. Criticism that comes from within, by Saudis themselves, is done for the sake of improving situations in the Kingdom. Compared to our Eastern neighbors, we are viewed as more strict and are considered by some to be behind the times. But they fail to see the bright side of our rules regarding alcohol. They also fail to understand the sanctity of having not one but Two Holy Mosques in our country.
For one of those rare times, one must step up and acknowledge one of the blessings of this country. Alcohol is not sold in public. Saudi flights are alcohol-free. It’s a proud characteristic of this country. One we will proudly fight to maintain.
(Hadeel Shaikh is a poet, freelance writer and an advocate of children’s rights. She is based in Jeddah.)