Booze will forever be part of the holidays. It is during the holidays that most people in most countries indulge in booze. But this excessive drinking is equally hazardous as it is intoxicating. Accident statistics elevate during the season. Crime rates, too, are high.

In the Philippines, people do not drink only to socialize or to warm up their bodies like the westerners do during cold season. Filipinos drink with the simplest reason of wanting to, or because they wanted to pass away the time. It is for this reason that it is expected that during the holiday season, drinking sprees are everywhere and last from morning until night, or until the wee hours of the next day. Filipinos are not only heavy eaters, they are also heavy drinkers.

While this is the case in the Philippines, the effects and the hazards that go with holiday drinking are common. As mentioned, accident statistics rise during the holidays because of excessive drinking. It is known fact that excessive alcohol effects to an individual include wooziness, unstable state of the mind and body, and sensitivity to provocation. These are the prime reasons why cars slam posts, or collide with another, or zigzag along the highway, causing accidents that could cripple or kill.

Crime rates can also rise during the season because of excessive alcohol drinking. A drunken man can easily be provoked and dare anybody to fights or duels. Excessive drinking can actually cause an individual not in his right senses due to alcohol to hurt, harm and kill anybody, perform petty crimes like stealing, harass another person, or even rape or sexually attack a woman, or a child.

Excessive holiday drinking can also aggravate illnesses, or become the gateway to alcohol addiction. If the holidays become frequent, the drinking becomes frequent, too. Done without control, these bouts will surely lead to addiction.

Other than these obvious effects, expect the not so obvious, too. The danger of spending money way beyond one can afford is very possible. Along with it, expenditures on finger foods, snacks, sweets and other groceries that go along with the drinks double, too. Instead of having extra money to keep, it is very possible that they will be spent uncontrollably. To add insult injury, incidences of being robbed and abused are very conceivable. Self-respect and self-worth wane afterwards. Realization sets in the following day and one wonders why he was not able to control the situation.