The Alcoholic Pandemic

This will be more like an essay on the consumption and culture of the alcoholic society we seem to live in. that is a generalisation I acknowledge the minority of us who either don't drink or know how to have a 'social drink' recent news reports show New Zealand's leading alcohol experts calling it a pandemic hence the title for this post.


I always tend to find myself puzzled as to where to begin with any essay I tend to write, so how about that for an ice breaker. I hope that this piece of writing will open the eyes of those “drinkers” who refuse to call themselves “alcoholics” and my desire is for it to address not only the culture of drinking in New Zealand but also the results of such drinking whilst offering Personal and Professional opinions on the matter itself.

I Personally have been ‘sober’ for over a year and can remember the vivid night that literally scared me into temperance. The night started off as any other would, casual drinking by the bonfire with friends, amongst story swapping of the last time we were drinking. The night went on and we all began to feel a little happier as you do after consuming “a few cold ones” a few hours too fast. To cut a potentially very long story short my last memory from that night is running down the road after smashing a friends bottle of beer yelling “why are you drinking that (insert expletive here)” the next moment I was waking up. My friends however tell me that I was awake and running around for a good 40 minutes after that instance and that was one of the scariest realisations of my short lifetime. The thought that my body could literally be possessed by alcohol even though I myself recall no conscious moments during that time. I do look back on that and say to people that I was possessed, This story would be all too familiar for too many people tonight who even on a Sunday feel the urge to drink.

For myself personally my view now is that It is purely a waste of time and money if you are going to use your alcohol as I did that night, now for some professional opinion on the matter. Dr Doug Sellman, director of New Zealand’s National Addiction Centre and professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at the university of Otago says “Alcohol stimulates opioid receptors in the brain to produce an opioid effect along the lines of ‘being a wonderful person living in a wonderful world’, not too dissimilar to taking heroin or morphine.” I think it is fair to say that any educated person would acknowledge the fact that alcohol is a drug and as we can see here it has the obvious effects of a drug in having some symptoms similar to the drug Heroin. The obvious inclination and objection from “those who refuse to call themselves alcoholics” is that this drug is not as bad as the others. This may not be the case though, I did fail to find a comparism of drug related deaths to alcohol related deaths that is ignoring the obvious mistake of not classing alcohol as a drug however the police website has informed me that “The misuse of alcohol imposes huge costs on New Zealand, conservatively estimated in the billions of dollars each year” said Assistant Commissioner Howard Broad. Lets not overlook the use of the word conservatively in that segment, Billions meaning more than one or two billion it may be fair to say that the reason for not disclosing the actual amount is because of their own personal disgust, that or they simply can’t accurately state it. Now that is in comaparism to the misuse of drugs, which I would say in all cases would be a misuse. The police website informs me that “Illicit drug use in 2006 caused an estimated $1.3 billion worth of social costs.” Now to clarify any discrepancies, the quote from Howard Broad stated each year, and this states in 2006, so lets go on the assumption of using 2006 as our common denominator. It is clearly evident that the cost to our nation for alcohol is more than that of all other drugs in use. The news report of 11th Jan 09 stated that there are now more than 1000 alcohol related deaths every year, whether this be a drunk driver (a) killing an innocent motorist (b) both ‘a’ and ‘b’ fall under the category of ‘alcohol related.’ Recent studies show that of the 25,000 offenders omitted for drink driving in New Zealand a mere 5% of those were remanded for alcoholic counselling and in light of Australia’s, Britains and Canada’s sentencing of 12 months disqualification New Zealand law only dishes out a 6 month disqualification from driving. some say this is a result of the accessibility of alcohol and the 18 year old restriction.

I suppose that paragraph was indeed long enough to sustain itself, the next issue to approach is the effect to our health that alcohol has on us. We must first look at what alcohol is made of and what general effects it has on us, many of us are aware of the taste of alcohol itself but I think less of us are aware that “alcohol contains a lot of calories. In fact, Alcohol is closer to fat than carbohydrate, in terms of calories per gram” so for those wanting to maintain that “summer slim body” I recommend a fruit smoothie rather than a cold beer next time. Dr Sellman is also aware of the common fact that the symptoms that one may feel in the midst of his or her hangover such as shakiness, dysphoria, sweating or a headache are symptoms mirroring that of a alcoholic in withdrawal. So if you’re looking for a 100% effective way of avoiding the ‘headache in the morning’ try avoiding alcohol. It works every time. For those of you thinking of the age old “glass of red wine a day” road to good health I am privileged to be the messenger in that you are being sold a false message. In a 2005 report on the ‘Burden of Alcohol’ Professor Rod Jackson and Dr Jennie Connor reported that “alcohol contributed to 1037 deaths but prevented 981 deaths in 2000, leading to a net loss of about 56 lives” not too bad in light of my earlier comment on 1000 deaths a year, but conveniently Connor and Jackson have converted that to years of life so “17,200 years of life were lost as a result of alcohol related deaths and only 5300 years were saved, leading to a net loss of 12,000 years of life due to alcohol in one year.” I believe the common objection on peoples minds right now would be “yeah but surely lots of that is due to injuries and drink driving right?” well yes you are right, but despite that “a staggering 24% were from cancer” and now you’re thinking “alcohol… cancer?.... do explain.” Heres how Jennifer Bowden explains it; “The ethanol in alcoholic drinks is a human carcinogenic, according to the International Agency for Cancer Research, so irrespective of the type of alcohol consumed, there is an increased risk of several different cancers. The risk of breast cancer, colorectal (in men), oesophageal, mouth, pharynx and larynx cancer all increase with alcohol consumption.” Wellington hospital physician Geoffrey Robinson says “some women have developed cirrhosis after a relatively moderate intake of three to four glasses of alcohol a day” so it is evident that there are quintessentially no positive health effects of drinking alcohol. To be blunt about it Jackson who is a university of Auckland cardiovascular disease expert says “there probably isn’t a level of alcohol consumption where you get health benefits without harm. Its pretty unlikely that people who have up to a couple of drinks a day are going to get any substantial harm, but its very unlikely they’re getting any benefits” so next time you pick up that glass of red wine make the toast to good health rather than thinking that same glass is good for your health.
A few years ago a world renowned physician said this of alcohol “If alcohol were invented today it would be available only on prescription, and then only from hospital pharmacies” he added that alcohol remained the safest and most readily available and cheapest tranquilliser known to mankind. Garth George states that “therein lies the enigma of alcohol: on the one hand the cup that cheers and relaxes the almost indispensable to social intercourse (and often sexual intercourse too), and on the other a mind-altering chemical, a brain poison and a highly addictive drug” the truth of that statement is pretty self explanatory but now may be an appropriate time to add the issue of sexual intercourse whilst drunk, lets be honest, we would rather not think of it. Gone are the days of our forefathers were sex was a pure act only to be had with your life partners, the term one night stand amongst our youth of today (not discluding myself) is purely known as, going to a club and after a few drinks finding a complete stranger and taking him of her home to “indulge with” and dispensing the relationship the next morning. Being a Christian myself my main dilemma with this is the oblivious and complete disregard for any moral standards whatsoever. George also states that “excessive drinking, particularly among young people, has always been with us, but as outlets have proliferated and the legal drinking age has been progressively lowered, the problem has become exponentially greater.” In 1999 the National Government lowered the drinking age to 18 George wrote that he “hoped those who promoted it would be prepared to meet the social and economic costs that would surely follow.” – “yet no government has been prepared to follow the lead of other governments around the world which have faced the same dilemma and made sensible moves, such as returning the legal age to 21 and, in France, closing tens of thousands of outlets.” George also touches on the advertising of alcohol saying that “there is supposed to be some self-regulation about the advertising of booze, but it surely is a sham. Some of that advertising is utterly reprehensible, inhumanly aimed as it is at young men who want to be seen as macho ad at young women who want to be seen as sexy.” And on that note I would like to mention some recent findings of experts from around the world. Binge drinking for men can reduce testosterone levels which can lead to man breasts, so next time a mate says ‘man up and finish that beer’ think about the size of his chest, or yours. As for the proliferated advertising targeting women I think we have just about covered the issue of weight gain due to high calorific quantities in alcohol, in fact women overseas research has shown that “women are more likely to become alcoholics than men” and this is due to you having less dehydrogenase – the enzyme in the lining of the stomach which helps break down the ethanol – and less body water then men. Which is parallel to the common thought that women are easily intoxicated due to their smaller body and muscle size.

George wants a call for a realignment in the advertising of alcohol asking the nauseating question “why are the products of the booze barons not required to carry warning labels on the bottles as cigarette packets have been required to do for years? Such as: Alcohol can kill. Alcohol can cause you to stop breathing. Alcohol can stop your heart. Alcohol can rot your brain. Alcohol can destroy your liver. Alcohol during pregnancy can damage your baby. Alcohol can make you vulnerable to predators. Alcohol causes road accidents. Alcohol can drive you to suicide.” Personally I cannot agree more, Alcohol is just another drug that has indeed been taken by those that would like a cheap “hit” or “high”. But the news is not all bad, Simon Collins reports that “the National Government will look again at raising the legal drinking age from 18 to 20 this year. New Justice Minister Simon Power, who voted to keep the age at 18 when it last came up in 2006, said it would be considered again in the local context of a bill to give local councils more control of liquor outlets. The Sale and Supply of Liquor and Liquor Enforcement Bill was introduced by the former Labour Government last August and has been picked up without change by the new government. It is due to have its first reading when Parliament resumes and will then go to a select committee for public submissions.” So the dawn of 2009 is looking promising for those of us who have ‘been there done that’ and realise that alcohol has no circumstantial benefits. On the note of warning labels on bottles I read an article also by Simon Collins about a young women who said “I drank right through my pregnancy, I didn’t know. There had been no warnings whatsoever” the long story short is that her child has been diagnosed with ADHD and has short attention span amongst a paediatrician at Waikato Hospital who confirmed that the child “had mild physical markers of the fetal alcoholic syndrome based on the gap between the eyes.”
She is happy to be an object lesson for other women but says that “the government has a lot to answer for because they don’t have labels on bottles.” All alcoholic drinks in the United States have carried warnings since 1989. “the Alcoholic Advisory Council wants similar warning labels here but they need to be agreed on by Food Standards Australia NZ”

I can only pray that you come to see the outweighing of the negatives to the positives in this case, but more than that we as a people need to act our opinion and take into action the phrase “people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people” so my simple challenge to you today is how much do you drink? And is it worth it? So I hope that we can object to the absurdity of labelling and advertising standards to our new government, I mean they will listen right? You better hope so you voted them in.


Sources: The listener, Article "Hard To Swallow", Jennifer Bowden
Article "Time for more sober approach to alcohol", Garth George
Articles "Drinking age back on MP's agenda" and "Higher death
amongst girls linked to liberal liquor laws", Simon Collins