Posts Tagged ‘Alcohol’

It’s enough to drive you to drink (cheap NHS cider)…

By Jerry Nelson - 1st February 2010 7:24 pm

Oh, for arse’s sake what NEXT??!?!??

They’re not content with banning smoking. They’re not content with banning butter. Now that weasely little sixth former Andy Burnham reckons he’s going to set MINIMUM PRICES for alcoholic beverages?! WTF??!!

All the usual bollocks, complete with made-up statistics about how this measure will save fifty thousand lives a day, and save the NHS twenty million billion pounds. And of course when it’s shown to do no such thing, it’ll be because the minimum price is too low, so they’ll keep cranking it up and up until a screw top bottle of Happy Shopper British Wine, ‘Red Flavoured’ costs the same a Chateau Lafite.

And why? Just because of ‘binge drinking’. Well who is doing the binge drinking, you morons? Yes, the WORKING CLASSES. All that trouble you see in town centres on a friday night, it’s all lowlife - chavs, oiks, slappers, anaesthetists. It is completely unreasonable to punish us all for the antics of a few.

Targeting the price increases - on people who didn’t go to private school, say, or anyone who uses the word ‘toilet’ - THAT would make much more sense. But no, we’ve all got to suffer.

And what about the poor retailers, like the chap at my local corner Supa Cheapo Mart? What’s he going to do when he’s no longer allowed to sell 26 cans of premium super strength ‘Battery Acid’ lager to people who look more or less eighteen for £1.99? He’ll go out of business!

Anyway, I was messing around in the office, sending anonymous hate e-mail to various cabinet ministers, when who should drop by but my old mate Keith.

Keith’s a nice chap, good for a chinwag, and he puts a brave face on what has been - if we’re honest - a fairly sad life. You see, everything was looking rosy for Keith, he’d graduated medical school and had the world at his feet, when tragically - and without warning - he became an eye surgeon. Now the poor man has to spend all day looking down microscopes and poking at things with tweezers. It’s sobering for those of us lucky enough to have a proper job.

Anyway, he pops up looking all chirpy, and starts going on about the NHS supply chain and how it has some really useful things on it you can buy. I must say I rather drifted off at that moment, expecting him to start extolling the virtue of some whizzy new phakoemulsification machine or something. But then he showed me THIS.  

nhs-supply-chain-1st-pag81

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAAHAHA!!!

So, Mr Burnham, the first health secretary who has to be picked up after Cabinet meetings by his mum, is being all butch and telling everyone he’s going to ‘ban cut-price supermarket deals on alcohol’. Yet, where a litre of cider at Sainsbury’s will cost you £1.47, he’s knocking it out for £1.32, or £1.27 if you buy in bulk!

Hmmm, I wonder if Dan the Fat Gasman has a departmental cost code? I feel a party coming on with the nurses on Mandela ward.

Toga! Toggaa! Togggaaa!

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Government response to alcoholism condemned

The Guardian - 9th January 2010 7:03 pm

Government responses to Britain’s “shocking” rise in binge drinking and alcoholism have ranged from “the non-existent to the ineffectual”, the health select committee warns.

Supermarkets and the drinks industry have more influence on government alcohol policies than health experts, the scornful report by MPs says.

Minimum prices, combined with restrictions on advertising and sponsorship, could save thousands of lives and billions of pounds a year.

The publication of the long-awaited report has triggered a fresh broadside of condemnation from health professionals frustrated by the failure of the government’s strategy to tackle the escalating problems of drink-related violence and deaths.

The call for minimum pricing - already endorsed by England’s chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, and backed by the Scottish government - does not receive the support of the three Conservative MPs on the health committee.

But the whole committee calls for a sharp rise in taxes on spirits and “industrial white cider”, improved treatment services for alcoholics, a mandatory labelling scheme for drinks, and tougher regulation of alcohol promotion and advertising.

Read more at The Guardian.

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“An advisor is an expert who gives advice”

By Sarah Burnett-Moore - 2nd November 2009 12:15 am

We live in an era of honesty, and evidence-based medicine, yet it now seems that if you tell the truth, and provide evidence, you’ll get sacked from your role as a government Tsar.

Poor Professor David Nutt, head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, was dumped by e-mail for pointing out some hard truths about not so hard drugs. He spoke against reclassifying cannabis as a B class drug, and pointing out that you are nearly ninety times more likely to die from alcohol, than ecstasy, and that tobacco is the biggest cause of premature death.

Of course I am not calling for alcohol or tobacco to be banned, and neither would the government, imagine the tax revenue they would lose. But I am asking for a sense of proportion about recreational drug use.

Quote of the week from Alan Johnson: “You cannot have a chief advisor…campaigning against government decisions.” The last time I looked in the dictionary (seven seconds ago, gotta love the iPhone) an advisor is ‘an expert who gives advice’. Advice doesn’t have to be taken, picture a child approaching the fire, you could advise him not to put his hand in it, and how would you feel if he rejected your advice?

It seems both stupid, and expensive, to set up committees, and appoint Drug Tsars (not to be confused with Colombian oligarchs), just to take no bloody notice whatsoever of their recommendations. As Nutt said today, Gordon Brown is making statements which are totally outside his expertise.

Mind you, if Gordon Brown confined his statements to areas within his expertise, he’d have bog all to say. And, while we’re on areas of expertise, anyone noticed that the rest of the world is out of a recession and we’re still stuffed.

In yet another example of a clash of ministerial policies, the home secretary is, in fact, giving tacit approval to alcohol, whereas the health watchdogs have found a spectacularly easy target.

The latest alcohol clampdown is on the high end supermarket recession busting tactic of offering a main course, side dish, and pudding, all for £10 for two people. “What a great idea, we’ll have a lovely cheap meal in, instead of nipping to the pub for supper.” I hear you say. Well, apparently it’s not a great idea, it’s fuelling middle aged, middle class alcohol abuse, and the gurus want the promotions axed.

When us middle classes aren’t craving the latest Apple products, or outdoing each other at obscure cheese, we’re getting utterly drunk, and creating havoc by falling asleep in front of our boxed sets of Lost. We’re pictured in the papers having shouting matches with our dogs, falling into bed with our clothes on, and flashing our socks. No, they must be getting me, and my friends, seriously being confused with feral youth.

I am sick of being a soft target for ridiculous policies.  

Can someone please tell me that it’s not true that Trick or Treating is going to be banned, in order to reduce childhood obesity, and obviate the risk of being sued for handing over sweets? Come to think of it stopping the extraction of sweets with menaces is probably a good thing, and I would welcome being able to stay home at Hallowe’en (tucking into a cheap starter, main course, pudding and half a bottle of wine).

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Casualty is enough to put anyone off drink

By Katherine Teale - 18th September 2009 4:07 pm

I come from a long line of hopeless drinkers. None of us can do it. Mum’s liver is so useless with alcohol that the after-effects of her annual half of lager-shandy have become family legend. Dad didn’t drink because he disapproved on principle of paying good money for anything which wasn’t essential to maintain human life, and couldn’t be kept for the next 20 years in an old cardboard box.

Physiologically things are only getting worse, doubtless as part of the aging process - try as I might I’m now down to half a glass of wine to 3 gallons of water, or else it’s instant headache, bright red face, and the entire weekend spent feeling like a flu victim (drinking on a weekday now being completely out of the question). I can no longer achieve that state between stone-cold sober and hopelessly drunk where amusing jokes seem to rise effortlessly to the lips. It’s just not worth it any more. 

It’s all very depressing, especially when I see what a great time everyone else is having.  Most of my friends, having drunk like thirsty camels at university, started again once they had babies - drinking being one of the few hobbies you can continue with small children.  Everyone’s drinking now: women, children, even middle-class people. The upshot of this is that I’m one of the few people sober enough to spot that things are getting out of hand. I realise this because the only people on my operating lists under 20 stone are alcoholics.

I’ve only anaesthetised seven people this week (neurosurgeons being incapable of doing anything in under three hours) and two of them would keep a small brewery in business. Paul, at age 20, admitted to 70 cans-a-week, and I don’t think he meant Vimto. In theatre, both behaved, physiologically speaking, like patients two or three times their age. For them, and their families, alcohol has stopped being the road to fun.

In fact, just about everyone now accepts that we have a national problem with alcohol, but they still object to anything required to deal with it. A minimum price on alcohol will be unfair to the poor; more expensive wine will disadvantage sensible middle-class professionals; and restrictions on alcohol availability will breach the British right to celebrate the weekend by covering the town centre with vomit.  

The usual spokespeople from the drinks industry are wheeled out to lecture us on personal choice and the need for education. Anything, in fact, as long as it’s business as usual down at the brewery. The BMA has now entered the fray…to say it has met a lukewarm response is to put it mildly. 

Why is this government so reluctant to act? Does it really care more about pleasing the drinks industry than public health? New Labour is doomed anyway, so it may as well finish with something memorable.  

We all suffer, albeit indirectly, from the effects of our national drinking habits. Anyone working with patients must see the misery it brings, and not just to those doing the drinking. For many, like Paul, it’s already too late.

If you believe in ‘small’ government and the supremacy of personal responsibility, you make think this is a price worth paying. Look around Casualty on any night and I think many people would agree it’s one we can no longer afford.

Read an alternative view.

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We’re being stunningly hypocritical over alcohol

By Sarah Burnett-Moore - 12th September 2009 10:40 am

It’s happy hour and I am in the pub writing my blog.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I am sure you’ll appreciate my blog more if it’s written in a ‘happy’ environment and, secondly, I find a BOGOF chardonnay helps to scramble the dominant, control freak, part of my brain, allowing my inner comedian a free rein.

But if the BMA gets its way, it’ll be down to Miserable 20 Minutes. Banning drinks promotions, and drinks sponsorship are in the latest plan for curbing binge drinking. That’ll be about as successful as 24-hour licensing, which we were assured was going to cut down drinking. Er, how exactly?

Then there was that marvellous ad campaign, whose ads I used to see driving home. One featured a lovely chilled glass of white, condensation dripping sexily down the glass, on it was printed a large number 3.  To me the subliminal message was: ‘When I get home, I really fancy three glasses of chardonnay.’

When I was a nipper, a bottle of wine contained six units, now it contains 66 as far as I can work out. They’ve moved the goal posts, it’s the cholesterol conspiracy all over again.

When I was a medical student, I was taught by a fabulous South American neurologist, who used to say, ‘Een my country, they don’t theenk you’re normal unless you drink at least a bottle of wine every day.’ And those South Americans sure know how to produce wine.

What really makes me sick is that the press constantly refer to the BMA as ‘doctor’s leaders’. I used to sit as a junior rep on the BMA and as the yoof are so fond of saying: it totally did my head in. Mostly a bunch of fuddy-duddy GPs, more interested in themselves than doctors as an entire profession or, God forbid, patients. They certainly don’t have my mandate, on this or almost any other matter.

For such a heavy drinking profession, the hypocrisy is stunning. So stunning, in fact, that I can’t come up with an analogy even with the aid of white wine. People used to say that you were only an alcoholic if you drank more than your doctor, and medical school put your liver through Olympic-levels of training. Having said that, although we went out and got drunk - think ‘black whirlies’ - I am sure none of us set out to get drunk, it was more of a side effect than a prescription.

The way to deal with the bladdered yoof of today is to change their culture and attitude to drink, rather than by penalising the responsible majority. How to do that, I have no idea, so I think I’ll have another glass of wine and get creative.

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Call for ban on alcohol advertising

By Mike Broad - 8th September 2009 11:28 am

Alcohol advertising should be banned in order to tackle its growing harm among young people, a report claims.

The BMA report, called Under the Influence, also calls for an end to all promotional deals like happy hours, two-for-one purchases and ladies’ free entry nights.

Furthermore, it renews the call for other tough measures such as a minimum price per unit on alcoholic drinks and for them to be taxed higher than the rate of inflation.

Alcohol consumption in the UK has increased rapidly in recent years, for example, household expenditure on all alcoholic drinks increased by 81% between 1992 and 2006. And at the same time, claims the author of the report, Professor Gerard Hastings, never before has alcohol been so heavily promoted.

He said: “Given the alcohol industry spends £800 million a year in promoting alcohol in the UK, it is no surprise that children and young people see it everywhere - on TV, in magazines, on billboards, as part of music festivals or football sponsorship deals, on internet pop-ups and on social networking sites.

 

“Given adolescents often dislike the taste of alcohol, new products like alcopops and toffee vodka, are developed and promoted as they have greater appeal to young people. All these promotional activities serve to normalise alcohol as an essential part of every day life. It is no surprise that young people are drawn to alcohol.”

 

Brand development and stakeholder marketing by the alcohol industry, including partnership working and industry funded health education, has served the needs of the alcohol industry, not public health, the report claims.

The key recommendations from the report include:

1. A ban on all alcohol marketing and promotion.

2. Minimum price levels for the sale of alcoholic products.

3. Tax increases on alcohol set above the rate of inflation and linked to alcoholic content.

4. A reduction in licensing hours for on- and off-licensed premises.

 

According to the World Health Organisation, alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature death and disability in developed countries after tobacco and blood pressure. It is related to over 60 medical conditions, costs the NHS millions of pounds every year and is linked to crime and domestic abuse.

 

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of BMA science and ethics, said: “We have a perverse situation where the alcohol industry is advising our governments about alcohol reduction policies. As with tobacco, putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop – or at least putting him on a par with the farmer – is a dangerous idea. Politicians showed courage before by not bowing to the tobacco industry, they need to do the same now and make tough decisions that will not please alcohol companies.”

 

Commenting on the findings, Professor Ian Gilmore, chairman of Alcohol Health Alliance and president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “The report is an important review of the evidence base in this area. It shows very clearly that marketing and promotion communications have an impact on drinking behaviours and consumption patterns.

 

“Policy makers in England must ‘up their game’ and see alcohol as a major public health issue on a par with obesity and smoking that has an impact on the whole population and implement a strong evidence-based approach aimed at reducing overall alcohol consumption. The cornerstones of this approach must be strong public policy measures on price and the availability of alcohol underpinned with greater investment in prevention.”

 

 

 

Read the full report.

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