Prohibitionists threat to sensible drinkers
Finger-wagging lobbyists ‘want to stop you drinking any alcohol’
Ithink many New Zealanders will respond like me when they hear about the latest study telling us we are going to die if we drink or eat a bit more of this or that. They switch off. Alcohol harm has been in the news and by reading the comments on social media, it appears the anti-alcohol lobbyists are not resonating with people.
I can’t say I am unhappy about that. The fact is, they are prohibitionists. They want to stop you drinking any alcohol and deny you the choice to be able to do so at a pub or restaurant or to be able to buy alcohol from a supermarket or bottle store.
Recently, the executive director of Alcohol Healthwatch, Nicky Jackson, said that in all her years of research, she had “never met a moderate drinker”. In other words, all alcohol is harmful.
I suspect whether you drink or not, that is an extreme position for most New Zealanders. We all know alcohol causes harm, but we are rarely told that over the past 40 years consumption has dropped, hazardous youth drinking has declined and that the “cost to society” figures regularly bandied about have been disproved time and again.
These prohibitionists, who are almost always funded from the public purse, are not motivated by objective public health concerns, but often by a subjective and superior, moral argument.
We must be aware of these people and their motives; they believe they know better than the rest of us. We must be on guard because the simple rights of the majority who drink sensibly will be slowly eroded if there isn’t a decent argument mounted for moderation.
The NZ Alcoholic Beverages Council, recently formed as an industry group, could be just what the doctor ordered to balance the debate. While they speak for alcohol companies, they appear to be wanting to tell the real story on these
We have to have a sensible, healthy societal relationship with alcohol. Most of us do already.
issues and also show us the “booze barons” are open to moderation as well. Why is that? It’s because their customers are demanding it and any business has to be focused on keeping their consumers healthy.
The range of non-alcoholic drinks manufactured by the alcohol industry is growing. Think about Lindauer that sold out really quickly last Christmas, and lowalcohol choices are also on the increase. We appear to be moving in the right direction on these issues.
For Maori, there is relevance in this debate. We are often told how poor we are, how sick, and how much booze and drugs we use. Solving these issues does not come by having Pakeha academics limiting our purchase options or deciding where or when we should be able to buy and consume alcohol. The solution comes from good information, education on what is safe and what isn’t. Not the wagging finger of the elite telling us what is good for us.
More Maori choose to abstain from alcohol than non-Maori. That’s good news from my perspective and I support their choice. For the rest of us who do drink, we want to be able to do it in a way that doesn’t harm our health or cause us significant life issues.
Finally, think about this. Do normal, functional people become raging alcoholics, or is it more likely to be people who have low incomes, dysfunctional family situations and mental health issues? We have to have a sensible, healthy societal relationship with alcohol. Most of us do already. Those should be the dominant voices in the discussion.