A recent ad in the Peninsula Daily News, seeking to attract guests to a local hotel on New Year’s Eve, used the headline, “Go Ahead and Drink, Leave the Driving to Us!”
I understand the thrust of the ad and certainly support the idea of getting drunk drivers out from behind the wheel.
But “go ahead and drink” is an appalling message for either the hotel or the newspaper to be sending.
The hotel makes money from drunken guests; what’s the Daily News’ excuse for sending such a message?
Much focus here and elsewhere is given to the “opiate crisis,” and it is indeed a crisis.
The media reports that the “alcohol crisis” is worse and has gone on so long that the fact that alcohol is even a dangerous drug is widely overlooked.
Alcohol kills more people than opiates or any other drug apart from tobacco, according to media reports.
It has damaged or destroyed the lives of millions and millions of Americans and continues to do so.
And yet inebriation is often treated by our culture with an acceptance bordering on approval.
I hope the Daily News and its advertisers will closely examine their standards for what is acceptable.
Craig Whalley,
Port Angeles