Alcoholism as a political problem in Chile

Chile has a very serious alcohol problem. 20% of the population over 15 years of age are problem drinkers, - 15% are excessive drinkers, and 5% are alcoholics. Excessive drinking, particularly inebriety, is considered to be the core of the alcohol problem. During Allende's government, there was an increasing concern for the national patterns of drinking. Workers began to become conscious that drinking seriously limited social and political participation. And patterns of alcohol abuse among men predict stimulated conservative attitudes in women. This paper discusses the concept of alcoholism as a disease, considering that alcohol addiction is a part of a wider problem, alcohol culture, which, in the context of the situation in Chile in 1972, had to be seen ideologically as opposed to the revolutionary process.