Unintended consequences – what price water now?

by XPRESS, 26 January 2016

You’ll have seen the headlines recently: “Health chiefs criticised over nanny state alcohol guidelines” (Telegraph), “Alcohol limits cut to reduce health risks” (BBC), “It is not clear whether the UK’s chief medical officers hope to inform or instruct with their new recommendations on drinking “ (Guardian), “Alcohol deadlier than cyanide” (I may have made that last one up).

There are no two ways about this – if we drink a lot less then a lot more pubs and similar businesses will go out of business. However, on the other hand, many fewer people will have alcohol-related health problems. But, and I’m not saying this is a clincher, politics does have a way of reflecting economic reality, so does anyone realistically think that getting rid of the Scotch Whisky Industry would be a good idea for our economy (especially the north of the border economy)?

No-one seriously questions that fact that alcohol causes a lot of problems in our society. The question at issue is one of personal responsibility and abuse of the drug that is alcohol. The Guardian ran an editorial that asked, “Can – should – alcohol be turned into the new tobacco, a pariah among habitual behaviours?”. The Telegraph lamented the assault on individual choice. The BBC tried to play it down the middle by having both sides of the argument represented. Who is right now – and who will be right in the future?

Unlike tobacco, which is unequivocally harmful, a modest consumption of alcohol seems (according to many studies) to be good for humans. Apparently, the new government guidelines which refute this are based on only one study (and possibly one that is not statistically robust). This needs to be examined in far more detail, and if it turns out that the nanny state is right then we at least know where we stand.

Alcohol and its effects have been with us almost since the dawn of human history. We can’t magic them away. We also can’t, from the hospitality industry’s standpoint, simply bleat that we’ll all go out of business if everyone stops drinking. If that’s what they decide to do then that’s what will happen. But it’s unlikely, simply because, when used responsibly (as the vast majority do), alcohol is – for those who drink it – enjoyable, and heaven knows we all could do with some enjoyment from time to time. Encouraging responsible drinking though requires much more than a hashtag and a warning on a bottle. It is about real life education, from a young age, as many Europeans do. It’s an area in which I think the drinks industry needs to do far more than it does at present. Otherwise, this lowering of the alcohol limits may just be the thin end of the wedge.

Paul Wilson, Xpress Recruitment