Best paths to alcohol safety are free

But first we must recognize that severe drinking fuels the industry

In a recent dramatic moment, every government member in the P.E.I. legislative assembly rose to defeat Liberal MLA Gord Mcneilly's private member's bill to require the P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission to divert three per cent of its profits to alcohol education. The bill would have raised about $700,000 annually. But not to be outdone, the Conservative majority promised that, in the absence of legislation, they will spend even more.

These expenditures are splendid news, until we realize that they will have little effect.

The dismal reality of alcohol's impact on P.E.I. is reflected by 7,000 annual Er/hospital visits, 135 deaths, and $131 million in economic damages. This reality was scarcely altered by the release early last year of radically lower national drinking guidelines. Expanded education, even with well-crafted messages like “less is best,” is unlikely to do much better.

The scope for guidelines and education to bring about change is sharply limited because the public mind is already packed with alcohol perceptions, and many of these perceptions have been inserted there by forces hostile to human health.

PARETO EFFECT

Deep in the bowels of peerreviewed academic literature is the concept of the Pareto effect. The Pareto effect means that, in a host of economic and social fields, small fractions of actors produce the majority of actions.

For alcohol, the Pareto effect means that a small number of heavy drinkers drink so much per capita that they consume most alcohol that is sold. Economically, the Pareto effect means that severe drinking is the financial foundation of the alcohol industry. Socially, the Pareto effect means degradation and early death for the industry's most faithful customers. Ethically, the Pareto effect means that the alcohol industry has no moral standing and does not merit trust on any matter.

You may not have heard of the Pareto effect, but the alcohol industry knows it and takes advantage.

Years ago, in an unguarded moment, a Labatts Brewery market researcher told me that his company targets drinkers who swallow 120 or more beers per week because this prodigious consumption absorbs 80 per cent of sales. The alcohol industry cannot refute the health impacts of its product, but it can divert attention from these impacts and its role in creating them. The pillar of these efforts is the “drink responsibly” slogan, which is used by the alcohol industry worldwide because it commands the listener to drink while simultaneously absolving the seller of responsibility for alcohol's effects.

HEALTH OUTCOMES

To confront the formidable power of the alcohol industry, those who want a safer community must work together.

MADD Canada does yeoman work to lessen the scourge of impaired driving, but often with money from provincial alcohol distributorships such as the P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission. The tit-for-tat is that youth programs delivered by MADD portray the alcohol industry as a champion of human wellness, and echo the industry line that alcohol harms are unrelated to pressures to drink.

Ninety-six per cent of alcohol-induced deaths in Canada are caused by diseases and trauma unrelated to driving impairment. In alignment with industry interests, MADD programming does not mention deaths that alcohol causes by cancer, other diseases, and personal violence, leaving youthful audiences to conclude that the only alcohol problem is the drunk driving problem.

The best paths toward alcohol safety may be those that cost the least. By stroke of a pen, the minister of Finance could order the P.E.I. Liquor Control Commission to halt counter-effective “responsible drinking” sloganeering, and instead require it to vet all promotional material through the Chief Public Health Office.

This would allow an expanded educational effort to reach its intended audience without having to compete against bumf emitted by another arm of government. The P.E.I. government could mandate health warning labels on alcohol containers, if it's willing to call the industry's bluff.

Ordinary citizens can also help. We need to challenge our charities to spurn alcohol gratuities and commit themselves wholly to the public good. Wrestling down alcohol harms will require far-reaching changes. But simple and costfree measures could shift the game on P.E.I., and could embolden other provinces to follow suit. P.E.I. can take the lead in alcohol safety, if we want to.