The wrist wringing, the grasping for ineffective, impotent, half-hearted measures by our polling addicted politicians has to end.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that alcohol is killing 2.5 million people per year.
Too few countries use effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury from alcohol use.
Millions more are harmed or injured.
These deaths, these injuries and harms are occurring every year.
In Big Liquor’s nirvana, the Russian Federation, 1 in 5 deaths are due to alcohol.
Media identities who insist on not aggressively pursuing Liquor companies, politicians and political parties who continuously champion deflecting, ineffective measures and continuously ignore the short list of policies known to be effective ought to hang their heads in shame.
This is a world wide challenge eclipsing AIDS and tuberculosis.
Alcohol is the world’s third largest risk factor for disease burden; it is the leading risk factor in the Western Pacific and the Americas and the second largest in Europe.
It is against your national interest to permit:
- The advertising or promotion of alcohol
- Sporting sponsorship by Big Liquor
- Extended trading hours
- Ubiquitous availability of liquor licences
- Minimum drinking ages below the age of 21
- Not having a set maximum, on street BAC level for pedestrians – especially in built up areas.
- The bribing/fund-raising for politicians and media by Big Liquor
There is a world of difference between prohibition of a drug of addiction and allowing the rampant promotion, advertising and sponsorship by the corporate producers of this toxic, cancer causing drug.
Controlling alcohol is not, nor has it ever been confused with, prohibition.
Any self respecting government should pull out all policy options to minimise the consumption of alcohol and therefore minimise the harms of alcohol.
As the World Health Organisation states:
no [amount of] drinking is entirely safe.
- Shekhar Saxena, the director of WHO’s mental health and substance abuse department
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