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CHAPTER 3
THE DRINK SCANDAL:
WHOSE HAND ON THE PUMP?
Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;
The best of life is but intoxication.
Byron: Don Juan
Before
the Romans came to Rye or out to Severn strode,
The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road.
Chesterton: The Rolling English Road
Fear
mo ghaoil an t-uisge beatha
(A man of my heart is whisky)
Lachlan MacPherson of Strathmasie: The Whisky Bard
-o-O-o-
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 Ingenious paradox
The title of this chapter is a portmanteau qv version of Walker and Cannon's "The Food Scandal" (1984) and a heading in my "Gastronomy" (1982: 218) "Alcoholism: Whose Hand on the Pump?" While I included material on "the dependency paradox" I think Rutherford put the overall problem better. There is an 'ingenious paradox' in the following quotation as various aspects work against each other. In the third quotation the paradox is highlighted of self destruction as a form of rebellion.
3.1.2 Confronted with a paradox
"In considering the problem of alcohol in society we are confronted with a paradox. Here is a substance which is used sensibly by the majority of people who drink and who derive nothing but quiet enjoyment and benefit from it. Here also is a particularly dangerous and addictive drug which causes irreparable harm to health, premature death, and social misery on an ever-increasing scale." (Rutherford, 1980: 353)
3.1.3 Drinking
is learnt manners
"Drink, whether normal or excessive, can be seen as social behavior, as something to be explained within sociological or anthropological concepts. Drink can be seen in terms of an economic model, where alcohol becomes a commodity manufactured, marketed and sold. An educational model is probably in operation: drinking is learnt manners; prevention suggests the need for better education on how to drink and treatment is in essence remedial education. Such an approach is in some ways close to a psychological model which analyses learning processes and offers behaviour therapies." (Royal College of Psychiatrists: 1979)
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3.1.4 Ritualized options
"The slow suicides of accident-proneness,
self-abuse, exposure to unnecessary risks, the use of drugs, and excesses of
drink and food, are ritualized options that serve the same functions as does
outright suicide. All rituals of rebellion that seek to punish the self as well
as to threaten or punish others." (Neiburg, 1973: 169)
3.1.5 The drink problem
After so very much on food alone it seems appropriate to go on and look at the drink problem. But it would indeed be tedious to follow the previous formula of weighing academic references against whatever reality can be put on paper. (So there won't be any more Rutherford type quotations, good as it is. The following one would have everyone taking it to heart à la MacPherson in fear of going through the Chapter 2 routine!)
3.1.6 Distinction between 'refuelling' and 'entertainment'
Rather,
we should recognise the different aspects prevailing when compared with food
choice. If within the food consideration we can make the most fundamental
distinction between 'refueling' and 'entertainment' (ourselves as well as others)
such a distinction is hard to maintain with 'drink' in the sense of refueling.
This emphasises the social aspects of drink. Perhaps society is coming to terms
with the vegetarian and soon it may be able to cope with the non-drinker
without forcing its own drinking habits down his throat. The welcome signs
include TV adverts for alcohol-free wine but this raises issues regarding
manufacturers and their effect on the situation. Rather than merely wait to see
what will happen the present discussion is offered with a view to having some
beneficial effect.
3.1.7 Are we
what we read?
Having said that academic references will be given a break we ought not proceed on the basis of only one (this) writer's thoughts. Most of the supporting statements come from every day reading. The 'quality' newspapers are the most prominent and within these The Times has made the most contributions. Will we one day see a leader ranging over the question posed in this book's title, its parallel 'Are we what we drink?' and end with one 'Are we what we read?'
3.1.8 No clear national policy on health education
The essence of this discussion is the overall social problem presented by the misuse of drink. We should be more aware of the hard facts surrounding it. The main one is that there is no clear national policy on health education (as identified in the first chapter) and drink is an important component of the activity. This is not helped by the idea that the various organizations involved in health education need to get their act together in order to improve the quality of the nutritional message. We will look at that issue in the final chapter.
3.1.9 Repair
rather than maintenance
The central theme of health education is that health and longevity are clearly related to life styles and eating. However, whatever its good effects it will remain inefficient as long as the medical profession focuses upon repair rather than maintenance. Commercial interests, too, distort the efforts being made to increase our overall health. But of all the issues concerning the drink problem probably the most contentious and easy to brush under the bar mat is that we all have a part to play in reducing the harmful effects of the misuse of alcohol within our society. We lean heavily on the other person's pump to draw attention away from our own. The Government leans on us: "To prevent growth in alcohol misuse and the harm it causes requires preventative action in which central government, the health professions and institutions, the business sector and trades unions, voluntary bodies and the people of the UK as individuals can all recognise and play their separate parts." (HMSO, 1981: 65)
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3.1.10 Why is it a scandal? Commercial interests dominate
The Government gains substantial revenue from the sale of alcohol but is very reluctant to spend any money on health education generally and, in this case research into reducing the misuse of alcohol. Commercial interests are allowed to dominate over the wider interests of society which itself condones drunkeness and promotes the use and misuse of alcohol. These are the main issues to be addressed here along with several others.
3.1.11 Condone your companion's weakness
The viewpoints portrayed in the present look at drink are not based on any 'don't ask a man to drink and live' slogan and there is full agreement with the numerous reports which advocate the consumption of alcohol in moderation. The only request made is that of 'live and let drink' where the teetotaller is left to get on with his 'ice on the rocks'! This, of course, highlights the social dimensions and includes the attitude that the other drinker has to have alcohol in his glass in order to appear to condone his companion's weakness and lessen any guilt feelings. For too long we have looked to the law to execute our responsibilities as free citizens. We will need to look fairly closely at the social issues in our capacities as drinkers, as potential agents of the control of other people's drinking, and as parents with at least some responsibility for the drinking careers chosen by our children.
3.1.12 Takes place
between consenting adults
One of
the problems of this kind of treatment is that those who read it are not
necessarily those who need to. Ideally, the majority of readers have their
drink in focus and any harm done is to themselves, and, by example, to their
offspring. (The effects may not be noticed for a few years, either.) The
activity is usually private and takes place between consenting adults and
reasonably well-behaved teenagers. The framework for this level of social
drinking is moderation and where drunkeness is not accorded the same status as
in other consumption situations. Would that this were true on all dimensions of
the social spectrum as, for example, company directors have an alcoholism
rating over ten times higher than barmen. more
3.1.13 People
drink up to the prescribed limit?
Most informed comment and official reports indicate that alcohol is fine in moderation and Geoffrey Cannon (The Times: June 13, 1984) more advised us that a man on half a bottle of good wine or two pints of good beer a day is not going to come to much harm. These amount to twenty eight and twenty one units of alcohol a week respectively and Prentice (The Times, 26 June 1986) cites the Chicks' Drinking Problems advice that physical damage starts at the lower of these totals. possibly related Perhaps the negative aspect of this kind of information is that people might drink up to the prescribed limit. Wider attention, however, needs to be paid to the fact that women are more susceptible to the damage done by alcohol and in general they ought to take off at least a third from the recommended male daily limitation. This brings them down to fourteen units a week.
3.1.14 The behaviour-related illnesses must be considered
While
this discussion attends mainly to the drink issue there is no case put forward
that any associated problems can be alleviated by attempting to solve them in
complete isolation from those associated with the behaviour-related illnesses.
3.1.15 Harmful effects of consuming alcohol wash over on to innocent bystanders.
The main difference compared with food is that the harmful effects of consuming alcohol, as with taking drugs, tend to wash over on to innocent bystanders. When attempting to convert the obese from taking in excess amounts of fats etc., health educationalists fortunately do not have to include arguments based on criminality.
3.1.16 Increase
the amount spent on health education from the paltry one percent
With a national medical bill of £4,000m each year where the focus is on repair as opposed to maintenance is it not time to increase the amount spent on health education from the paltry one percent? If the previous argument is accepted that food and drink need to be taken together there is little point in trying to work out the amount spent
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on health
education from the paltry one percent? If the previous argument is
accepted that food and drink need to be taken together there is little point in
trying to work out the amount spent on alleviating the drink problem. Bearing
in mind that the tiny allocation has to cover related campaigns such as
'anti-smoking' and 'take more exercise' the amount spent on drink is probably
less than the drop left in an empty glass.
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