To rant about alcohol and the way it's normalised?

[CheapSausagesAndSpam]

It's EVERYWHERE and it's poisonous. People normalise it..."Oh...wine o'clock already tra la la!"

And all that shite.

It's responsible for thousands of deaths and injuries and trauma every year and yet it's the first thing people think of when they want to celebrate something.

Get this

3 May 2017: New figures released today show that hospital admissions due to alcohol are at their highest ever levels.

The data, summarised in a release from NHS Digital, shows that alcohol-related hospital admissions in England have increased by 64% over the last decade, with an extra 430,000 people being admitted due to alcohol-related causes in 2015/16 compared with 2005/06.

This takes the total number of alcohol-related hospital admissions to over 1.1 million in 2015/16.

And this

Alcohol is linked to over 60 illnesses and diseases, including heart disease, liver disease and cancer. Figures from the local alcohol profiles for England show that admissions due to liver disease have gone up 57% over the last decade, and that the number of people diagnosed with alcohol-related cancer has increased 8%.

How is this a lovely drink? How is this something that is ok to do in front of children and even to allow children to partake of?

People on MN often say "Oh I let my 12 year old have half a glass of wine...it's a good way to introduce it!"

WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO!?

And new research points to the fact that it causes irreversable damage to stem cells, scrambling DNA and eventually causing cancers.

www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jan/03/alcohol-can-cause-irreversible-genetic-damage-to-stem-cells-says-study?CMP=fb_gu

Think about it. Society is not doing itself any favours.

Nobody needs to drink, everyone needs to eat. Alcohol is a poison, food isn't.

Your comparison is flawed in that the fraction of Westerners who are eating only what they need for subsistence is miniscule. The food that people eat, particularly in the UK, is about as neccessary as alcohol is.

Whether food or alcohol is worse is really apples and oranges but we know obesity costs the NHS more, and I don't think you could make the case that most people who drink are alcoholics - whereas most Brits are now overweight.

I struggle to believe that statistic, it's shocking.

And sugar is arguably a toxin.

Me too Flappy

I have NO happy memories at All of drinking Alcoholicly

Yanbu I agree entirely

I hate all that wine o clock shit

"What now? Society has a duty to provide access to less harmful alternatives to alcohol? Because at the moment, alcohol is the only liquid available to humans?
This doesn't make even the first notion of sense!"

I haven't watched the video so don't understand that either.
All workplaces, cafes, restaurants, pubs provide free tap water. Water to houses is cheap compared to other drinks. Party organisers include a non-alcoholic option. It's not hard to find alternatives.
I presume someone meant more social activities though.

Yanbu. There should be a clear message about how addictive alcohol and gambling are and there should be a complete ban on advertising throughout sports events. All those ads offering 'free' money to get people hooked and every board at all the soccer matches reminding people about having a pint. For anyone who is trying to recover it must make it impossible to avoid the constant nudging to keep coming back.

All workplaces, cafes, restaurants, pubs provide free tap water

Yep because the primary reason people drink alcohol is because they are thirsty.

The professor probably didn't realise that during his research.

Tess - it was in answer to the poster who was asking for alternatives to alcohol.

Gwenhwyfar

I know.

Oooh, perfect Bluntness 😃

Doesn't run in my fambly it gallops!!

I am a recovering alcoholic of 34 years but as far as I'm aware am not 'registered ' anywhere!!!

Dosage is the issue.

There is nothing wrong with a few drinks, problems happen when people drink too much.

'So you think alcohol should be used to control the population then!
Unbelievable the lengths people will go to to justify their drinking 😂'

I don't ever feel the need to justify adult, legal behaviour to anyone.

Draylon

Oh fuck of! Doing dry January and it’s pants.

'Oh fuck of! Doing dry January and it’s pants. wink'

So why do it?

I agree OP. I know many people who drink so much that they must have some form of addiction to it yet they probably class themselves as social drinkers. It's completely normalised in our culture. I see with my own DS how they get to a certain age and are then expected to learn how to drink to excess. It's terrifying.

expat
supporting dh to loose weight. Empty calories etc

"Over 7% of adults regularly drink above recommended guidelines."

This statistic (from upthread) is actually lower than I expected, given that recommended guidelines are now very conservative and even a classic moderate drinker like me occasionally breaches them.

I agree that the culture of excessive drinking which exists in some parts of society is really dangerous and should be discouraged. But I am baffled by the very black and white attitude of some posters on this thread that alcohol is an evil per se. I guess their experiences of alcohol have been entirely negative.

"There is nothing wrong with a few drinks, problems happen when people drink too much."

Yes, although some people get aggressive with moderate amounts. Those people shouldn't drink of course.
Most people are able to drink responsibly.

Irene - I just presumed 7% was a typo for 70%.

Of course it doesn't when you are being obtuse

Me being obtuse? YOU said society has a responsibility to provide access to alternatives to alcohol! Please do tell us all why you think that there are not alternatives to alcohol, everywhere you look? Am I drinking mythical tea right now? Did I imagine the water in my tap and the aisles full of juices, soft drinks of a thousand kinds? Even in the pub there are many alternatives to alcohol.

So do tell us how what you said makes the slightest bit of sense?

I agree. Smoking used to like this too. Fortunately that, at least, has changed.

peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers

Yep because the primary reason people drink alcohol is because they are thirsty.

The professor probably didn't realise that during his research.