Alcohol - what's new ?

[Steve.r]

After just finishing a stubby bottle of Carlsberg Export hic!! I must admit that I am not a heavy drinker, or to put is another way I am a light weight!! but I am happy with that. I have always lived in the countryside, so meeting friends always meant driving and I have never drunk and driven in the Uk.

While in Phils though, I find the drinking culture much more easy to slip into. In the heat or to be social it is nice to down a bottle of Red Horse in the evening or at a party. Last time I was there, on one particular night I did go over the top one evening, my asawa had said she had never seen me drunk before but that night she saw me. I dont do it very often as I hate the after affects, but once in a while shouldn't do me too much harm. My other half said she thought I was funny being drunk as all I did was smile and laugh. But drinking to excess for me is not what I like. Probably like many, you know your limits and know when you have a 'buzz' and know when to stop.

[lastlid]

Like Lastlid, I don't drink alcohol at all and I commented on the previous thread about alcohol.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a drink but I have just simply made a concious decision not to, these days. It hasn't been difficult, quite easy really.

There is also the following in my mind. My wife's father died of alcohol related causes. My ex girlfriends father died of alcohol related liver disease. My fathers drinking was prolific and was a factor in my parents marriage failure. And my ex wife's father was an excessive drinker that led to the ugly breakup of her parents marriage. All of this makes it a little easier for me to not drink a drop.

Also excessive drinking accelerates the ageing process, inhibits the nutrional value of good food and adds to the waisteline etc etc.....I want to live that bit longer than I would do otherwise.

[Doc Alan]

I have always lived in the countryside, so meeting friends always meant driving and I have never drunk and driven in the UK.

While in Phils though, I find the drinking culture much more easy to slip into. In the heat or to be social it is nice to down a bottle of Red Horse in the evening or at a party. But drinking to excess for me is not what I like. Probably like many, you know your limits and know when you have a 'buzz' and know when to stop.

Knowing you, Steve, you don't have a problem with alcohol .
Drink - driving laws are a good thing. But one consequence has been closure of pubs. An even more significant reason for their relentless closure is cheap supermarket booze. That's regrettable from the social point of view, and it's also why more people drink ( to excess ) at home. There is less control over what they drink at home. Could be worth watching " Britain's Hidden Alcoholics " next Monday ( 20 ) on BBC One.

[Arthur Little]

Likewise, ... from bitter > < experience.

Whilst primarily, *it was used in response to comments about the Scottish weather, the *above post could equally be applied to the main topic being discussed ... namely, 'Alcohol - what's new?'

Accordingly, therefore, emphasis is placed on the word "bitter". Bitter - commonly referred to as "best bitter" (when used to describe certain brands of ale) - immediately conjures up the notion of its being a sharp, acrid and, by definition, unpleasant substance. Yet, conversely, its universal appeal remains largely undiminished.

[lastlid]

Could be worth watching " Britain's Hidden Alcoholics " next Monday ( 20 ) on BBC One.

Watched it. Interesting.

[Terpe]

.....There is less control over what they drink at home. Could be worth watching " Britain's Hidden Alcoholics " next Monday ( 20 ) on BBC One.

Watched it. Interesting.

I've got my recorder set-up and will watch later.

[Doc Alan]

I watched " Britain's Hidden Alcoholics ", the documentary by Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former spin doctor. He gave up drinking in the 1980's as he was " cracking up through a combination of drink, overwork, and depression ". Now he has " the occasional glass of wine " and is " addicted to jogging ". We were treated to rather many shots of him jogging ( and not looking happy ). His messages were threefold :
* Britain has a serious problem with alcohol abuse.
* The Government can give guidance, set rules and regulations to curb excess drinking.
* Ultimately it's for all of us as individuals to assess our own relationship with alcohol.
The Government is publishing an alcohol strategy for England this year. Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland already intend to bring in minimum pricing, with other actions. A complete ban will never be attempted - how much the general public will accept by way of tough action remains to be seen. Despite all that's been said, many of us do enjoy alcohol in moderation.

[Doc Alan]

Compared to the UK, there is little information available about alcohol in the Philippines, so this is “ distilled “ from sources published a few years ago – see http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/05/02...M10_Labajo.pdf http://www.ias.org.uk/resources/publ...03-04_p12.html
Alcohol consumption is increasing by 10% a year. About 2/5 filipinos are occasional drinkers, over a tenth regular drinkers and 1/20 heavy drinkers ( males more commonly ). Most of them drink beer, although wine consumption is increasing. Beers are widely available in grocery and convenience stores. Wine, whisky, Tanduay rum, lambanog and others are supposed only to be bought in liquor stores, but monitoring is lax. 3/5 of Filipino youths aged 13 and above appear to have access to alcohol, especially males. Minimum legal drinking age is 18. Manufacturing of beer and liquors is one of the most profitable industries. Alcohol appears in the media as part of day-to-day life for Filipinos – through advertising, soap operas, comedy shows, music video channels and sports.
An average Filipino family spends 1% of its income on alcohol ( up to 20% for heavy drinkers ).
Reasons for alcohol consumption seem to be much the same as the UK.
Local alcoholic drinks include basi ( sugarcane ), lambanog ( coconut ), tuba or tapuy ( rice ). Consumption tends to be in regions where they are produced ( Ilocos, Mountain Province, Quezon, Negros ).
There are minimum police records on petty crimes and traffic violations during fiestas and beer festivals. There is no law against drunk driving, which is on the increase ; only a traffic violation when it causes injuries. http://www.mb.com.ph/node/268549/dri...ing-philippine
Cirrhosis and liver cancer are commoner than in the UK ( but hepatitis B is the major cause ). http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/241355...-complications Other illnesses are similar to UK. Alcohol rehabilitation centers have low admission rates compared to similar institutions for drug dependency. Many filipinos don't consider alcohol abuse as a medical problem. It's certainly not recognised as such a problem – so far – in the Philippines, compared to UK.

[Terpe]

I've got no statistics, it's just what I notice on TFC news programmes. But, looking at the reasons for most murders in the Philippines, it seems that alcohol is usually involved. Arguments are very common when someone has been 'drinking', and loads of people carry either guns or knives.

Just an opinion.

[Doc Alan]

Your opinion seems to be borne out by facts, Terpe, although below are in part best estimates :-
* Alcohol appears to be involved in half of all crime in the UK.
*Many victims of violent crime are drinking or under the influence of alcohol at the time of their assault.
* Over one-third of offenders have a current problem with alcohol use, and a similar proportion with binge drinking.
* Nearly half had misused alcohol in the past.
* One third had violent behaviour related to their alcohol use.
*Alcohol had been consumed prior to the offence in nearly three-quarters of domestic violence cases and was a ‘feature’ in almost two-thirds . About half of these convicted domestic violence offenders were alcohol dependent.
*At least 1 in 5 people arrested by police test positive for alcohol.
* Alcohol is a factor in:
- Half to two thirds of homicides
- Three quarters of stabbings
- Half of fights and domestic assaults
- 1 in 5 road deaths
*In Scottish Accident & Emergency admissions, over two thirds of assaults are related to alcohol. Most of these assaults are at weekends, many involved being under 30.
*There are more homicides in Philippines than UK, a majority gun–related, although I don’t have figures for how often alcohol is involved.
-Homicides during 2009 – Total / Rate per 1000,000.
Philippines: 4,947 / 5.4
United Kingdom: 724 / 1.2

[Terpe]

Those statistics are a real eye opener.
When you add up all the costs of crime plus NHS incurred costs I wonder if they outweigh the income generated by alcohol tax and duty.

I'm in no way suggesting a ban I enjoy a drink.
I'm sure there must be other ways to both increase income from alcohol and to also significantly reduce costs to the public purse.
Maybe, increasing the legal age to drink alcohol from 18 to 21 could be one strategy?

I read somewhere that even the Romans complained bitterly about the level of drinking in Britannia :

[lastlid]

I don't really find the stats surprising. The stats demonstrate why it is genuinely a national issue, that society as a whole needs to tackle.


Also see Dedworths link on bar brawl in the House of Commons :


http://filipinaroses.com/showthread....use-of-Commons

[Doc Alan]

Those statistics are a real eye opener.
When you add up all the costs of crime plus NHS incurred costs I wonder if they outweigh the income generated by alcohol tax and duty.

I'm in no way suggesting a ban I enjoy a drink.
I'm sure there must be other ways to both increase income from alcohol and to also significantly reduce costs to the public purse.
Maybe, increasing the legal age to drink alcohol from 18 to 21 could be one strategy?

The total tax revenue from alcohol in the UK was estimated at £ 5.7 billion three years ago - far outweighed by the NHS and " society " costs ( again an estimate of £ 17 - 22 billion ).
As you say, no UK government would try to ban alcohol. Increasing the legal age to 21 has been suggested as more 21 year olds look like adults than 18 year olds, even without formal identification.
Let's see what the Government's alcohol strategy for England has to say when it's published later this year.
Cheers .

[lastlid]

What price / cost / value do you attach to the social cost......immeasurable.

[mickcant]

We drank for happiness and became unhappy
We drank for joy and became miserable
We drank to be outgoing and became self-absorbed
We drank to be sociable and became argumentative
We drank for sophistication and became crude & obnoxious
We drank for friendship and made enemies
We drank to soften sorrow and wallowed in self-pity
We drank for sleep and woke without rest
We drank for sex drive and lost our potency
We drank for strength and became weak
We drank medicinally and developed health problems
We drank because of job stress and lost the job
We drank for relaxation and got the shakes
We drank for confidence and became uncertain
We drank for bravery and became afraid
We drank for certainty and became doubtful
We drank to stimulate thought and blacked out
We drank to make conversation and slurred our speech
We drank for warmth and lost our cool
We drank for coolness and lost our warmth
We drank to feel heavenly and discovered hell
We drank to forget and became haunted
We drank for freedom and became slaves
We drank for power and became powerless
We drank to erase our problems and saw them multiply
We drank to cope with life....and invited death