‘Disaster’ if drinking out of control

Press, 11 August 1979, Page 7

‘Disaster’ if drinking out of control

from Cedric Mentiplay

A community in which people cannot control their drinking habits is headed for disaster. This is the view of Sir Bernard Braine, chairman of the National Council on Alcoholism (United Kingdom). He has been a Conservative member of Parliament for the last 24 years. Sir Bernard defines a person with drinking problems as one who is drinking. too much for his health.

“Either they have already damaged their health, or will go on until they do so. As time goes on, they will become dependent on alcohol, and will become what we term ‘an alcoholic’,” Sir Bernard explained. Sir Bernard, who is not a total abstainer, is careful to point out that alcohol is no more the cause of the problem than sugar is the cause of diabetes.

“If you drink immoderate quantities of alcohol, you will develop drinking problems, your personality will be affected, and so will your work-perform-ance, your relations with your family — and so your life will become wretched. You move towards utter dependence on alcohol, and so become an alcoholic. There is no cure for that save total abstinence.”

He said it should be remembered that alcohol was the prop for people who had serious personality problems, strain, stress, or difficulties with their work or family. “So the first thing is to look at someone you know who is developing serious behavioural problems. Experience in Britain had shown that people who had alcohol problems had many times the sicknessrate and absence-rate as had other workers. “We also found that they had three times as many accidents at work. A trained personnel manager will spot the person who brings his troubles- to work.” Sir Bernard believes that in such cases the correct course is not to fire the “offender,” or to consign him to the caring agencies.

“Something ought to be

done about it. We ought as a community to recognise that there are people with drinking problems all around us.” Sir Bernard was loath to comment on New Zealand conditions, on the ground that he had had insufficient time in which to familiarise himself. He knew that about 86 per cent of New Zealanders drank alcohol. The vast majority suffered no harm, obtained enjoyment even “but about 7 per cent of the drinkers in New Zealand are people with serious alcoholic problems. That is about one in 12. If you look around you, you will not have far to look to find those with an alcoholic problem. This means they are heading for disaster.” In Britain, and he was sure it applied to New Zealand, it was being found that more and more young people were developing drinking problems, Sir Bernard said. ‘‘Tee n-agers, schoolchildren, a higher proportion of women are in this group. Ten years ago we would find in the field of alcohol treatment that about one in eight or nine problem-drinkers would be a woman. It is nearer one in two today.”

Sir Bernard has one firm conclusion: “I would say that any society where its children and its womenfolk are becoming affected by alcohol is a society in grave danger. Speaking as a politician I would not want to have it on my conscience that with the power I have to influence legislation in my own country I did nothing about it.”

He made the points that alcohol is not “just another commodity” but a drug, that it is not a stimulant but a depressant.

“In Britain the main cause of death among young males between 16 and 24 was a road accident. In well over 50 per cent of all road accidents involving young males, alcohol was a factor. Sir Bernard is concerned about the proliferation of liquor outlets in Britain. The easier you make it to obtain liquor outside the normal licensed premises, the more you encourage secret drinking and antisocial behaviour, he said. “We in Britain — I don’t know what goes on

in your country — have the problem of supermarkets carrying liquor stores. In Britain we did have a first-rate licensing system based on public houses, but in recent years we have allowed a proliferation of liquor outlets. There is a direct correlation between this and the increase of alcoholism in our society. The supermarket is based on the principle of impulse-buy-ing. The whole idea is that you select what you want — and a bit more. Women buy it in supermarkets and your secret drinker does not have to go anywhere near a public house.”

A recent television programme — “Beauty and the Beast” — was mentioned, in which the subject was insomnia, and in which one of the panel suggested that the best way to quieten an overactive mind, and to get to sleep, was to take “a couple of brandies, or something like that” before retiring. What was Sir Bernard’s view on this kind of sedative? “I wouldn’t want to express an opinion,” Sir Bernard said. If you can’t sleep, the best thing is to consult a doctor. My own feeling is that every man or woman must judge of himself or herself the level of alcohol which they find beneficial. Though I like a drink, as a general rule I never drink when I am tired. Alcohol is a depressant.”