Treat alcohol with respect

A MAN will spend the next 15 years behind bars for killing his cousin over beer.
His freedom has gone out the window because of alcohol.
For the offender, whatever dream he had has gone away with the wind, all because of his uncontrolled actions. Too late now.
Many will say that justice has been served for the crime that he has committed.
That means a proper punishment or fair treatment has been given by the legal system.
In the National Court on Friday, Judge Panuel Mogish sentenced a man to 15 years and five months imprisonment because he killed his brother for not sharing his beer with him.
He stabbed his brother with a pocket knife .
While handing down his sentence, the judge said life was worth more than all material things on Earth, including silver and gold.
And we concur. The sanctity and value of human life is far more valuable than anything else and no amount of remorse or compensation will restore the life lost
Life will never be the same again for all parties – from the victim to the offender. Some may pick up from where they left off, others will not.
Mogish told the court the unlawful taking of another person’s life is serious and extremely bad and must be punished.
He asked what is important, beer or life?
People tend to forget that a person cannot be resurrected once he is dead, but material things can be replaced. For the grieving family, some will be satisfied with the court’s decision.
For the person killed, his wife’s only wish is to have her loved one back.
The victim’s family’s grief will be difficult to deal with.
In communities where alcohol is consumed, those who are drunk are usually argumentative, abusive or violent.
Many people drink alcohol and many do so without any problems. Drinking can be enjoyable and sometimes helps you to unwind or relax. But heavy drinking, getting drunk or drinking at the wrong time or in the wrong situation can lead to a range of difficulties.
Alcohol affects people in different ways but for many, it results in the loss of common sense and turns the person into a nuisance.
For many people, alcohol creates an overall sense of happiness and camaraderie.
But in others it has the opposite effect, while for some alcohol is like fueling a fire and that is dangerous.
Whatever it is, alcohol is never an excuse for bad behaviour.
In this age, with technology and education, one knows the consequences of drinking and one is aware of the choices one is making, their effect on others and risk to one’s health and freedom.
Those who chose to drink know it hurts others, and yet they continue to drink.
It is true that people who are in a state of intoxication are more likely to commit crimes, harass women, of endanger themselves and others.
That’s what drunks do.
The behaviour isn’t the insanity.
The insanity is that they see that they suffer the humiliation when they sober up, and then they drink again. One thing for sure, drunkards cannot simply apologise, again, for their drunken destructiveness and expect to return to our position in our community.
A lot still needs to be done to educate the population on sensible drinking.
It is a time bomb.