Excessive consumption than drink is the issue

Tag : Instant Drink

Hence the line from the SNP government: excessive consumptionrather than drink itself is the issue. Cheap drink is deplored butpride is taken in the matchless liquid gold distilled by the whiskyindustry. So we have another oddity: Scotland is enjoined tomoderate its consumption while continuing to flourish as a majorbooze producer. Hard liquor is, like it or not, part of ournational identity.

Anecdotally at least, it remains a minor part of a major publichealth crisis. That isn't really the point. Deprecate Buckfast ifyou like - the deprecating goes more easily if you taste the stuff- and deplore lager cheaper than water. But there is no essentialdifference between a fine malt and a can of super-strength fizz.Their function, despite all the learned talk of peat in the wateror the infinite depths of rare old claret, is everywhere apparent.It explains why alcohol is problematic: people drink to get drunk.

True, there are social drinkers. There are, always, people ofmoderate habits who can enjoy a single glass just for the taste,people who will take the odd drink and never allow themselves toget drunk. They have a hard time of it, as often as not. Sobrietymakes boozers uncomfortable. But the boozers have a point: what isthe point, exactly, of consuming an intoxicant and avoidingintoxication?

It's fun. It strips away the miserable inhibitions life hasbequeathed. It instils confidence. It makes the world seem abrighter place. It's that song from Cheers: "Wouldn't you like toget away?" Who wouldn't? But then, if sufficiently dedicated, youdiscover that the politicians are mistaken: there is no such thingas cheap booze. It shares a characteristic with tobacco. As addictssometimes observe, there is absolutely nothing wrong with smoking -aside from the fact that it kills you. One way or another, drinkcosts.

According to the government, it is costing Scotland close to£2.5 billion a year. The number of alcohol deaths has doubledin a decade. According to one calculation, we - this is not beingwritten by an abstainer - put away enough annually to render everyadult in Scotland permanently over the safe limit. And not everyScot is a drinker. It just seems that way.

The problem is not new, but it is manifesting itself in new ways.Older readers can probably remember the liberalisation, so called,of licensing hours. The argument ran that if only we were freedfrom the pressure of last orders we wouldn't drink so frantically.In fact, we would discover the delights of café society.Civilised drinking, they called it. That went well, don't youthink?

The politicians, as is the fashion, are putting their faith in theprice mechanism. They have a point, up to a point. Alcohol is ascheap as it has been since the Scots Parliament first slapped a taxon whisky in 1644. In relative terms, the price of an unremarkablebottle of spirits has been falling for a decade and more.Quantities once only seen in a pub gantry, a litre and more, are onevery supermarket shelf. And lest you fail to get the message, thatmodest half bottle will cost you much more, measure for measure,than its bigger brothers. Might as well just get the litre, eh?

So responsible politicians propose responsible measures. Lastweek's "pre-legislative consultation document" from the governmentfound merit, for example, in minimum pricing. Forcing retailers tocharge at least 35p per unit of alcohol would drive up the cost ofmost, though not all, brands. Medical opinion is enthused. Doctorsare convinced by evidence suggesting that if drink is dearer peoplewill drink less. I remain to be convinced.

I am not much impressed, either, by the idea of "alcohol-only"checkouts in supermarkets and the so-called "walk of shame".Apparently, drinkers will be deterred by the mere thought of beingobserved by the neighbours as they lug their gallons to the till.My guess is that such a till would be precisely the place wheremost people would meet those neighbours.