Give up on the ‘booze police’
The resurrection of the proposed alcopops tax legislation after it was defeated in the Senate is just another waste of time.
Not that I’m a pessimist, but I am wondering how many of our good fellow citizens agree with me when I say that no matter what you, or I, or the government does, we will never be free of the serious social and economic problem that is binge drinking.
All good intentions aside, the resurrection of the proposed alcopops tax legislation after it was defeated in the Senate is sadly another waste of time, as has been proven in other countries which have tried a similar approach and failed miserably.
News Flash: you can still get horribly intoxicated on beer, wine and anything else alcoholic that isn’t part of the proposed tax scheme. It might take you longer, but the result is the same in the end. Some people will still buy the lolly drinks even though they are a little more expensive, because some, sadly, really don’t care that much when it comes to parting with a few extra dollars.
I have serious doubts about us ever gaining control over the binge drinking problem in Australia. Quite frankly, we need to approach the situation with a bit more realism. We are fooling ourselves if we think this is something only high profile athletes indulge in. Similarly, there are some professions that have a well known and accepted drinking culture institutionalised in them. Teenagers and young adults aren’t the only age groups that exhibit problem behaviour in this space.
There have been several studies carried out in some "high stress" jobs where binge drinking is like a rite of passage – if you don’t participate, you aren’t "one of us", and it has been that way for decades. In these same such professions, where mental illness leads to a dependence on alcohol as a means of coping anyhow, it seems it’s a requirement to "fit in", much like it was back in the playground at high school.
It’s not always fair to blame professional sportsmen on setting a bad example. Us average joes need to take some responsibility as well. Some young kids may see their role models stuff up and think it’s acceptable, but there are other factors at play here. There are some parents who set just as bad, if not worse examples for their kids. Same goes for older siblings they look up to and friends they want to be accepted by.
So rather than ask what we can do about it and speak endlessly about strategies that are far too complicated and expensive for the return we’ll get, I’d like to ask why we aren’t doing something in particular.
Let’s forget policing everyone’s lives for just a moment and ponder why we still permit the advertising of alcohol at sporting venues? Why are companies associated with alcohol still allowed to sponsor football teams? We wiped it out with smoking, why have we not done the same with alcohol? Essentially, we need to ask ourselves whether we can count on the industry to self-regulate efficiently.
I would confidently argue alcoholism is just as big, maybe more of a destructive problem for us as a society than smoking. Apart from the obvious health implications, someone who is heavily intoxicated is far more threatening to innocent bystanders in a public setting than a smoker. Banning mass media advertising of tobacco was considered a necessity in deterring people from adopting the habit. I can’t understand why we haven’t considered a similar strategy with alcohol, as part of a wider national prevention and education program.
Alcohol is most popular social drug of choice in Australia. Yes, it beats tobacco and yes, some people make an awful lot of money out of its use.
Perhaps we are just too scared to address a problem that may prove rather unpopular with a wide range of interests. Perhaps we want to continue to live with the misguided belief that the problem just isn’t that bad – after all, we’ve been doing it for this long, why change?
Alison Gordon is Client Services Manager at Global Access Partners (GAP) and Open Forum’s regular blogger on urban affairs, social trends and customs.
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READ MORE:
- Wayne Swan to reintroduce alcopops legislation, setting up possible election trigger – by Matthew Franklin (The Australian, 15 April 2009)
- Govt will try again on alcopops tax (AAP, 15 April 2009)
sally.rose
April 30, 2009 at 12:36 am
More Booze Police
I agree the alcopops tax is badly considered regulation. It is based on the faulty reasoning that because at present a very small percentage of problem binge drinkers (teenage girls) prefer RDT products that by making them slightly more expensive the government will be able to influence them, and presumably the rest of Australia, to curtail their binge drinking. It won't work.
More actual "Booze Police" would probably be a lot more helpful in making the laws we already have more effective.
Random Breath Testing has probably done more to make the Australian drinking culture more responsible than any other policy. We still have problems with it being socially acceptable to get plastered, but 15 years ago it was socially acceptable to get plastered and drive.
Tougher liquor licensing and responsible service of alcohol policies and penalties are also making it harder to binge drink in a licensed venue.
But this still leaves us binge drinking at home, where we can't be policed.
alison gordon
April 30, 2009 at 4:21 am
true but
Very good point about making existing laws more effective, but would still argue that although acts like drink driving have lost their social approval rating, it still happens – A LOT.
But you are right about tougher security and RSA laws, these do make a big difference, many pubs and clubs adopt a serious no tolerance policy purely for the safety of others. It still leaves the question though, how do we stop binge drinking occuring in the first place, which as I said in my blog, continue to scratch my head about.
alison gordon
August 13, 2009 at 6:42 am
this just came through today
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/849618/alcopops-tax-passed-will-feature-health-warning
sally.rose
August 13, 2009 at 11:20 pm
alcohol is alcohol
So we’ll have health warnings on RTDs…doesn’t make any sense not to have them on all alcohol packaging then?
alison gordon
August 24, 2009 at 6:45 am
not so simple perhaps
I take your point but the RTD’s are much higher in alcohol content than plain old beer for instance, and because the younger crowd do tend to favour these types of drinks, it probably makes more sense for them to emphasise the warning.
But yes, any alcohol consumed in large quantities has some potentially bad consequences, there probably shouldn’t be any discrimination. There isn’t for cigarettes, all brands and milligram levels have warnings.