the Alcohol question

[El Pibe]

Mid you, people who are having a bottle or two of pouilly fum? with dinner most nights a week who some of those with early onset liver disease.

[Brendan]

But as long as they're on BUPA it doesn't matter surely?

[steveo]

El Pibe Wrote:

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> Mid you, people who are having a bottle or two of

> pouilly fum? with dinner most nights a week who

> some of those with early onset liver disease.

Fallen off the wagon El Pibe? Sounds like you've had a couple.

[maxxi]

katie1997 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> maxxi Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > As for a UK drinking culture - there are parts

> of

> > the former USSR and E. Europe where the

> > ridiculously cheap price of vodka means

> > alchoholism is widespread and people drink it

> for

> > breakfast.

>

> I've had vanilla vodka for breakfast before,

> swigged straight from the bottle. Was staying in

> a caravan with my younger brother in the Outer

> Hebrides at the time.

This is near enough to the Baltic to count, mano girtas degtinė-pusryčiai girtavimas ponia draugas!

[Salsaboy]

I'm going to the pub.

[Annette Curtain]

I've got a hangover

:(

[jelly]

The proposed measures won't be enacted. It would be in breach of both British and E.U competition law. A similar case was rejected in the Netherlands.

[Cassius]

Another one agreeing with ???? that it is the drinking culture that is the problem not the price of alcohol. Wine and beer is much much cheaper in most Western European countries - in Germany you can get a good bottle of Riesling for ?4.00 and a crate of 24 beers for about ?16.00 and although drinking is going on in these ccunties I've not seen the excesses that I see here. It is considered 'uncool' to be legless and no-one wants to ruin their carefully thought out outfits by vomiting over them or collapsing in a dirty gutter.

I also remember a post on here a couple of years ago where someone pointed out that most countries have much higher levels of alcohol that can be drunk before going beyond recommended levels. Even recently the units recommended went up for 14 and 21 to 21 and 28 and back down again.

However the smokers have been more or less good and clobbered - time for another section of society to be under attack.

[steveo]

and although

> drinking is going on in these ccunties I've not

> seen the excesses that I see here.

That's a bit sstrong

[maxxi]

Cassius Wrote:

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Wine and beer is much much cheaper in

> most Western European countries - in Germany you

> can get a good bottle of Riesling for ?4.00 and a

> crate of 24 beers for about ?16.00 and although

> drinking is going on in these ccunties I've not

> seen the excesses that I see here.

A cut&paste production from Deutsche Welle...

Germany is one of the heaviest alcohol-drinking nations in Europe, placed fifth after Luxembourg, Hungary, Czech Republic and Ireland. Alcoholism is a significant problem in Germany, according to Peter Lang, head of drug prevention and abuse at the German Center for Health Education.

"It's difficult to say what is causing this, because alcohol is more or less an accepted drug in a lot of circumstances, like for parties or other social occasions," Lang said.

"If you compare Germany to countries like the US, there is drinking in public that is different and more accepted. Consuming alcohol during the day is really more accepted here in Germany," he added.

Most recent data shows that that 1.7 million Germans are dependent on alcohol and need treatment, whilst, 2.7 million use alcohol in a harmful way.

ETA: (in the interests of cultural balance - a French report from 2005)

The French government has been urged in a report to "snap out of its state of national denial" and take urgent steps to "denormalise drinking".

Herv? Chabalier, a leading journalist and former alcoholic who wrote the report, said: "In this country we have always, culturally, looked at alcohol through a magnifying glass: we just see the good side, never the fact that ... drink is the third greatest cause of avoidable deaths in France."

Mr Chabalier presented his report, Alcoholism - The Simple Truth, to health minister Xavier Bertrand yesterday. He said alcohol was directly responsible for 23,000 deaths a year in France, and indirectly responsible for a further 22,000.

[uncleglen]

if alcohol were discovered today it would be illegal

[Undisputedtruth]

My parents encouraged me to drink from an early age as they felt that people who starts drinking later in life do not do so responsibly. I wonder if anyone else thinks along the same lines?

I do find it strange that the Tories, who always accused Labour of being interferring nannies, produced their own nanny state policy on alcohol. Whatever happened to their mantra - personal responsibility?