Many consequences of alcohol abuse

The incident after the drinking parties

Recently, in early October 2022, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial for defendant Vu Ba Gia (born 2007), residing in Tay Son commune, Ky Son district, for the crime of "Murder". According to the indictment, on the evening of March 21, 2022, Vu Ba Gia, a student at Tay Son Ethnic Boarding Secondary School, was drinking at the house of a friend in the same village when a group of friends from the school dormitory came to find him.

When he heard his friend talk about the conflict with Lau Ba T. (born in 2004, residing in Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district), a student at the district's Continuing Education Center, and wanted him and his group of friends to "support" him to intimidate him. Although they did not know each other or have any grudges, but with alcohol in his system, Gia immediately accepted and did not forget to bring a knife as a weapon. Knowing that Lau Ba T. and his friends were in the dormitory of Tay Son Ethnic Boarding Secondary School, Gia and his group went to fight with these high school boys.

Defendant Vu Ba Gia, who committed the crime of “Murder” after drinking alcohol, was tried in court. Photo: Tran Vu

The clash between a group of 9th graders and 2 high school boys took place right in the dormitory. When they met Lau Ba T., the group of 4 9th grade boys rushed in to beat him, 2 of them standing outside the room. Being beaten by a group, T. ran away, but Vu Ba Gia chased after him, using a knife to repeatedly slash his head. The victim was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment and died on March 25, 2022. The cause of T.'s death was respiratory failure, acute circulatory failure due to a wound that fractured the skull, cerebral edema, and cerebral hemorrhage. Vu Ba Gia and his friends were implicated and arrested by the police. The investigation determined that Gia was the one who caused the victim's death, so he was prosecuted for "Murder", and 5 friends were prosecuted for "Disturbing public order".

Subject Tran Van Ngu at the scene of the incident. Photo: Thuy Chi

In another case, the perpetrator committed the crime against a relative. Specifically, at around 3:00 p.m. on March 18, Mr. B. went to the house of Tran Van Ngu (born in 1973, residing in Chinh Thanh village, Vo Liet commune, Thanh Chuong district). Not long after, people discovered that Mr. B. had died, with 4 stab wounds and 3 slashes on his body. Upon receiving the report, Thanh Chuong district police promptly arrived to examine the scene. The perpetrator was quickly identified as the homeowner Tran Van Ngu. It is known that the victim and the perpetrator were related, Mr. B. was the uncle's son and Ngu was the uncle's son-in-law. The two often sat down to drink together.

At noon that day, Ngu called Mr. B. to invite him to his house to drink alcohol. However, while drinking, a conflict arose between the two parties, and by the afternoon of the same day, the incident was discovered by the people. A detective said that when the authorities arrived, the suspect was unconscious due to being drunk. When he regained consciousness, he tried to run away but was promptly arrested by the police.

Checking alcohol concentration for drivers. Photo: D.C.

In addition to being a "catalyst" leading to murder cases, the use of alcohol is one of the direct causes of traffic accidents. According to statistics from the Provincial Traffic Police Department, in the first 11 months of 2022, there were 145 traffic accidents in the province, killing 99 people and injuring 96 people. Of the accidents that occurred, 15% of serious traffic accidents were caused by alcohol abuse, driving in the wrong lane, not controlling speed, not paying attention to observation, avoiding illegal overtaking...

What is the solution?

According to the Social Order Crime Investigation Team, Criminal Police Department of the Provincial Police, although there are no specific statistics, in reality, alcohol abuse not only increases traffic accidents, but also increases criminal cases. In fact, through many cases, it has been shown that after consuming alcohol, many people become hooligans, become extreme, lose control of themselves, which can easily lead to murder, causing serious consequences.

Explaining this issue, Doctor CK 1 Nguyen Canh Hung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Mental Hospital said: Alcohol has a great impact on the nervous system, especially on the brain, causing the field of vision to narrow and reaction time to slow down. Therefore, people who drink alcohol and beer are greatly limited in driving vehicles and are very susceptible to traffic accidents. It is worth mentioning that when people drink alcohol while intoxicated, the first stage of drunkenness is the stage of emotional excitement. Alcohol affects the central nervous system, making people unable to control their thoughts and behaviors. In particular, at this time, if someone provokes or prevents them, they can easily get angry, causing fights and very easily leading to murder due to uncontrolled behavior.

Road Traffic Police Team No. 1 under the Provincial Traffic Police Department propagates and organizes the signing of commitments to strictly comply with the provisions of the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Beer at restaurants, pubs, and karaoke bars in the area. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

An officer from the Social Order Investigation Team, Criminal Police Department of the Provincial Police Department said: Along with social prevention work, the functional forces will coordinate with agencies, departments, branches, and organizations to strengthen education and propaganda work on healthy and progressive lifestyles for the people. In addition, local authorities need to promote the effectiveness of mass organizations, promptly reconcile small conflicts among the people, and prevent conflicts and stabbings leading to injuries and deaths.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nam Hong - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of the Provincial Police, the handling of violationsalcohol concentrationalways included in the plan to ensure traffic order and safety of the Provincial Police. In recent times, the Traffic Police force of Nghe An Public Security has deployed many measures, including increasing forces, technical means, increasing patrols, control and handling. In particular, from now until the end of the year, based on the Official Dispatch of the Provincial People's Committee, the direction of the Director of the Provincial Police, the force will focus on strong inspections at noon, evening, holidays, and routes with high traffic volume, with the view that anyone who violates will be handled.

Traffic Police Team of Vinh City Police set up a checkpoint to check alcohol concentration. Photo: Dinh Tuyen

In order to prevent and minimize the harmful effects of alcohol, especially not to let alcohol incite murders and traffic accidents, in addition to the strict handling of the authorities with quite strong sanctions according to the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcohol and Decree No. 100/2019/ND-CP, authorities at all levels; organizations and unions need to coordinate to promote propaganda, disseminate the harmful effects and consequences of alcohol, ensuring that it is targeted and correct, to change the behavior of forcing people to drink alcohol, inciting them to drink alcohol... However, more importantly, each person needs to control themselves, not abuse alcohol to suffer painful consequences.