Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

Just finished on BBC1 is a programme about alcohol adiction/dependency. Alistair Campbell has been surprisingly frank and open about the problems he has had with drink and what he did about it and I understand there is currently a Government review of the current situation in this country.

I rather flippantly posted in a current thread by Lynn about "favourite tipples" but the television programme set me thinking - hence this thread.

The drinks business is worth 36billion a year and alcohol related problems cost the NHS 2.7billion last year.

What do forum members think?
- Is it time for more restriction on alcohol sale and consumption?
- Is alcohol too easily available and cheap?
- Should the NHS pick up the bill for treating alcohol related disease?
- Do the French deal with their alcohol better than we do? The French have traditionally drunk wine with everything.
- Why is it that some people can take a drink and have no problem, when others get into difficulties with it?
- For those who run into problems is abstinance the only solution.

My father-in-law was so anti-drinking all his life that he took the pledge and never had a drop. Everyone in the family used to creep around never daring to let let him know we drank alcohol and he never would come to any get togethers if he thought there would be alcohol consumed.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

They'll be banning it in pubs next! Sorry, that remark wasn't meant to be flippant, but I'll reply to your questions the way I see things.


- Is it time for more restriction on alcohol sale and consumption?

No! Provided the consumer is 18, then he or she is considered to be an adult, and therefore would hopefully be responsible. However, it might be an idea to raise the age of drinking in pubs to 21.

- Is alcohol too easily available and cheap?

Yes and no. Too easily available, but I wouldn't say it was cheap.

- Should the NHS pick up the bill for treating alcohol related disease?

Absolutely yes. If the government allows the sale of alcohol then it must accept that some people will have a problem with it, in much the same way as a smoker with cigarettes as these are legal substances, or a drug addict with a heroine problem which is an illegal substance.

- Do the French deal with their alcohol better than we do? The French have traditionally drunk wine with everything.

I understand French children are allowed to drink wine at the age of 14 in restaurants, I think, so they're accustomed to it by the time they reach adulthood, and respect it. They wouldn't be able to do that here as alcohol abuse in young people has already taken hold, so it's too late.

- Why is it that some people can take a drink and have no problem, when others get into difficulties with it?

I'm not a doctor so I can't answer that, but I'm sure it's to do with the way body chemistry reacts to alcohol. Some people can drink whisky (for example) all night, whereas one glass would have other people battling in the streets.

- For those who run into problems is abstinance the only solution.

Yes.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

She who must be obeyed and my son took the pledge after his 21st birthday bash and have not touched a drop since.

As for those who get in trouble with drink then they need coucilling or locked up until they have got over their addiction.

Alcohol is to readily available and in my view Supermarkets should be banned from selling it. This could help the local pubs and maybe stop some of them closing.

As for cheap!!! it cost me about £167 a gallon.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

Personally I've been very lucky. I've never had a problem with alcohol as I could never drink more than a couple of halves without feeling giddy and being sick.

In my late teens and early twenties I was as strong as an ox and weighed 15 stones, but even then I could only manage two pints, spread over three or four hours, which can be quite an embarrassment when you're a squaddie...

These days I enjoy a beer with my Sunday lunch or a glass of wine at a family party but that's still my limit I'm afraid..

Regarding other people's drinking, it always amazed me that Labour introduced 24 hour boozing. Wouldn't it help to shut the pubs and bars late evening like they used to? I tire of seeing drunken idiots urinating, brawling and spewing and being taken to A&E at all hours in the morning; what's the point of it all and who is it helping other than a few night club owners?

Here's an idea though if you really want to curb drunkenness but boost the licensed trade, stop the supermarkets selling alcohol and bring back normal licensing hours at the pubs, closing at 11pm .

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

I learnt young that ...If I drink I'm sick, I don't go from getting merry and having a good time either. One moment I'm fine the next I'm being sick and my heads pounding. Now I'll have a glass of White Wine if I'm out for a meal with friends....but that's it.
I also think it's time to return to the old ways of Pubs shutting at 11pm and no drink in Supermarkets. The Teens hang around near our local shop and try to get adults to go in and buy them drink and ciggies...then they get drunk noisy and are just a blasted pest to all in the area.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

I learnt when in my teens that I can't drink much alcohol without feeling ill or falling sleep.
Drinking to excess doesn't make any sense to me, why makes yourself ill
I rarely go out and when I do I usually drink bitter lemon but I do enjoy a small glass of wine with my evening meal most evenings and that is my limit.

- Is it time for more restriction on alcohol sale and consumption?
I thought it was a huge mistake when licencing hours were extended and I didn't see the logic behind it. Not sure how you would restrict consumption in peoples homes.
- Is alcohol too easily available and cheap?
That's a tricky one, do you penalise everyone and make alcohol more difficult to obtain and more expensive because a few people can't apply a little moderation .
- Should the NHS pick up the bill for treating alcohol related disease?
Yes otherwise if you say no to be fair you would need to restrict treatment for all 'self inflicted' health problems,overweight/underweight/drugs/self harm/injuries caused by bad driving , where do you stop.
- Do the French deal with their alcohol better than we do? The French have traditionally drunk wine with everything.
Not sure.
- Why is it that some people can take a drink and have no problem, when others get into difficulties with it?
I think in part this is down to our genetic predisposition.

- For those who run into problems is abstinance the only solution.
Yes I think so.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

There are far worse things one can do besides having a few drinks, people have been drinking since Adam was a boy, the rules are simple, if it makes you sick, aggressive, or troublesome in any way, pack it up now, if you are in control of it at all times, don't drive, don't lose work time because of it, and can stop when you should, then go ahead and enjoy it. You are providing local employment and contributing greatly to the National purse who shouldn't mind paying for treatment from the billions they collect in drink levies, they ought to expect some collateral damage with such a huge moneyspinner as the drinks industry. If everybody drank sensibly there would be no problems, pubs are closing by the day over here because of the smoking ban, which has not saved one single life, (it actually caused some deaths), creating more unemployment, now it's time to start telling us all that drink is killing us, my father drank in moderation all his life, he was 94 when he died of the dreaded hospital bug.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

I agree with you totally Jem, all things in moderation and everyone is happy, trouble is I think, is that over here in England anyone under 30 doesn't know what that means...

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

- Should the NHS pick up the bill for treating alcohol related disease?

If they have drunk over their limit, then I say YES they should pay for treatment.

Reading your posts nearly everybody knew their limits, and I believe we know when we have had too much, so if we regularly drink too much we should not expect anybody else to pick up the tab for our own bad judgement.

It is binge drinkers that spoil it for everybody else!
I too believe that public houses should be the only place you should be able to buy the stuff, not supermarkets.
The reason the Blair government putting up the hours of public houses was hoping to keep their owners in business because they were closing so fast, but to my knowledge they are not allowed to stay open 24 hours but open certain hours in 24, but maybe I have misread that.
I know the pubs round here don't stay open for the 24 hours in a day.

Back in 2000 I was told a medication I took would only allow me to drink 2 pints of ale a week, to me that was crazy, so I stopped it completely and have not touched a drop since.
I always attend family functions etc. but you will never see me touch a drop, not even if folks are toasting someone.
I certainly think that drinking and driving should be a zero tolerance.

Somebody asked why can some drink and some can't, very simple really as I have said over and over again we are all different and or metabolisms are different.

Re: Alcohol Adiction/Dependency

Every time an advert for alcohol came on television my husband would say 'oh that reminds me' and he would leave me again with my three young children and go to the pub. He would return drunk and often turn violent towards me and my eldest son.

My husbands drinking got so bad that he would often not be able to go to work and being self employed this was a huge problem but God help me if I were to say anything about his drinking. He was a devil and when he had hurt me next day he wouldn't be able to remember and ask 'What happened to you?'

We didn't have any money and keeping the secret of being an abused wife sent me towards the booze too, but fortunately I still went to work and it did not make me a wicked monster.

I lost all self respect and told no one what was going on. My life was a nightmare and I drank to forget. My children will never forgive me for staying with this man or for drinking. I can never forgive myself either.

Finally one night he hit me so hard that the cuts around my eyes needed stitching and my lips were swollen and my teeth loose. So I had to admit it was happening and the hospital phoned the police who arrested him but he was allowed to come home when he was sober at 6am.

It didn't finish there he then tried to take my eye out with his thumb saying that I would never see my children again.

I am now so angry with people who drink to get drunk. Young women who lose all self respect and curse and end up sleeping with men they don't even know.

I hate the way the comedians make a drunk a figure of fun he is not. When he gets into his two ton killing machine the drunk driver takes lives of good people.

My husband rang me up once he said that he was in a field and that he had skidded off the road, and would I tell him if he were going to his cousin's house or was he coming back.

I put the phone down called the police and told them where he was and his registration number. I told them he was drunk.

He called me back sometime later to say that there were lots of bright blue lights around him and that the police were there but couldn't help him as he wasn't on the highway and that they had told him to sleep it off.

Eventually though I did make sure he lost his licence.

We finally divorced but I will never stop hating alcohol and the personality changes it makes. It may start out as socialising but for many it turns in alcoholicism.

This country needs to face the fact that alcohol needs to be
looked upon like a dangerous personality changing drug.

Doctors need to be aware of alcoholic patients and offer the drugs that are available to help them stop drinking.

Alcohol is costing this country millions of pounds and more and more kids are finding alcohol gives you that special feeling of being able to do anything.

Please don't look too lightly at alcohol it is a demon particularly to an addictive personality.

How many Christmas's, birthdays, anniversaries have been ruined by drink. How many people have ended up dead after a drunken brawl. Come on peeps alcohol needs to be taken seriously maybe most of you have dealt with it with no problems but you are the lucky ones believe me.