HaLeiVi, do you have any first hand knowledge of the situation to say it is ahuge stretch? I am not saying it is an epidemic, but it is a big problem.
Do you know how many cases of addiction are swept under the rug? One does not need to be sitting on 13th Avenue drinking cheap scotch from a bottle in a bag to have a drinking problem. Do you know how many of your friends drink at home during the week? who needs “just one” drink when he comes home to calm his nerves? And if he was do you think he would tell you? Addicts are not proud of their addictions. Drug abuse does not have to be heroin or crack. I was made aware by a noted askan of an incident last year where on ONE Shabbos 3 teenage boys who come from normal homes and showed no outward signs of being drug addicts were admitted to the hospital for abusing prescription painkillers. The worst part of that incident is that it was swept under the rug as to not shame the families.
It’s no longer enough that on Shabbos morning the men in Shul may enjoy a drink of schnaps with kiddush aftfer davening. We have seen it become a culture of knowing which are the best single malts. How many drinks makes you an alcoholic? What do the bar mitzvah age and teenage boys think? Is that the impression you want to give off? I’m not saying everyone has to abstain from drinking, but if it is becoming part and parcel of our society we are looking at a future generation of drinkers.