Jewish alcoholics and addicts in the London area

Throughout the ages and throughout the world alcoholism has been noted, among Jews, by its relative rarity, and this despite the virtual absence of teetotallers among them. On the other hand, misuse of other drugs has in recent years been described as not uncommon among Jews. In fact a London report in the early 1960s gave the proportion of nearly 20% Jews among the drug addicts seen by two general practitioners. Studies among our own patients, however, indicate that in the London area at present the proportion of Jews among alcoholics seems not as low as generally described - the proportion of Jewish drug addicts, on the other hand not as high as initially suspected. The common denominator amongst the great majority of these alcoholics and drug addicts was alienation from the background of their Judaism and their family - possibly thus leaving them without their former stabilizing anchorage. It is interesting to speculate, however, on the reasons for the usually-described relative rarity of alcoholism among Jews, and the relatively higher incidence of abuse of other drugs. In theory, it would seem that much useful information about the causation of alcoholism and drug dependence in general could be derived from studying, comparing, and contrasting, the factors at work in causing or preventing alcohol and (other) drug abuse, respectively, among Jews.