http://fora.tv/2010/03/25/Philip_Zimbardo_The_Secret_Powers_of_Time_Animated
I find it rather interesting that so often, when it comes to drinking alcohol, how much we already know. It seems to me that all that modern researchers are “finding out” just demonstrates what mankind has known for quite some time, or, perhaps puts a number onto something that was previously left undefined.
Take, for example, “moderate” or “low-risk” or “healthy” or “responsible” drinking. There are huge debates over drinking guidelines. In the UK there was a mini-scandal when one of the panel that came up with the first UK guidelines admitted they didn’t have a scientific basis for the numbers they chose.
Recently in Australia there was a great debate when the health “experts” decided that the government should lower the guidelines (which weren’t well known and weren’t really being followed by anyone anyway).
But back in around 400 BCE, a Greek writer, Eubulus, put these sensible words into the mouth of the god of wine, Dionysius:
For sensible men I prepare only three bowls (of wine):
one for health (which they drink first)
the second for love and pleasure,
and the third for sleep.
After the third bowl is finished, wise men go home.
The fourth bowl is not mine any more – it belongs to bad behaviour;
the fifth is for shouting;
the sixth is for rudeness and insults;
the seventh is for fights and black eyes;
the eighth is for breaking the furniture;
the ninth is for nausea and depression;
the tenth is for madness and unconsciousness.
Now we could argue abut just how big the bowl (or krater) was. How strong was the wine: how many “standard drinks” or “units” of alcohol were in there? But the message will remain the same.
Drink this much and we derive pleasure, enjoyment, even health.
Drink more and you start to tip over into harmful territory.
Simple really.
And how much is enough? Unfortunately, it is for each of us to find out, because each of us is different and we each react to different levels of alcohol differently. And for some unlucky ones, that level might even be none at all.
Cheers!
Now, let’s see how society prepares a young adult so that they are better armed against the potential risks of drinking alcohol and can make responsible drinking decisions.
- Turn 18!
Why don’t we licence drinkers?
I can already hear the outcry. Are these the same voices which refuse to allow condoms to teenagers because giving them a condom will encourage them to have sex – as if they are not already having sex (ditto cervical cancer inoculation)?
The reality is teenagers are already drinking. They will continue to drink – whether society raises the drinking age to 20 or 21 or keep it at 18. There are many reasons why youth drinks illegally – but mostly it’s about rebellion.
I recall a young girl being interviewed by Australian TV. She was 16 and went out most Friday nights drinking with her mates in a Melbourne Park – until she was drunk. Her mother wouldn’t have her living at home because she was uncontrollable
Asked by the reporter – “How long are you going to carry on drinking like this?’ she replied, “Until I’m 18”.
“Why stop then?”
“Because then it will be legal” was her reply.
During the NSW Alcohol Abuse Summit one of the recommendations (from the Young people invited to attend the summit) was to explore supervised drinking at youth centres***. The proposal was ignored (if not shouted down - those same voices?).
“It is illegal to serve alcohol to under 18s” they cried … seemed to me those are the same voices that are happy to dispense needles and drugs to junkies in King’s Cross despite the use of heroin being illegal.
But which is going to be a better outcome for society and for the young people?
Let’s have a supervised system for bringing our young drinkers into the adult fold with proper education and supervision.
Just suppose:
At the age of 16 (at the same time that you can apply for a driver’s licence) you pass a theory test about alcohol – covering:
Ø What is alcohol?
Ø How much alcohol is in different beverages?
Ø How does the body process alcohol?
Ø What are the short and long term risks of drinking alcohol?
Ø What are the specific dangers of drinking while young, the impact on the brain and other developing vital organs?
Passing this test will allow you to receive a “Drinking under supervision ID card”. And when you turn 18 – you proceed to a full licence as now.
Oh dear, I can hear the hue and cry now – it’s bad enough trying to monitor under 18s in a bar or nightclub – let alone checking whether they have a “Drinking under supervision ID card” or not.
But not every nightclub or bar need allow under 18s inside. And I am sure there will be many entrepreneurs who will seize the opportunity to establish supervised drinking establishments – operating under the current regulatory system. Providing appropriate entertainment for 16 to 18 year olds under supervision.
This is not going to stop the misuse but neither does the current system of licensing drivers stop some young people from killing themselves and others. But I am sure it is going to reduce the numbers, reduce the mystique of alcohol.
My shout?
References
* The Laws, Book II by Plato
“Shall we begin by enacting that boys shall not taste wine at all until they are eighteen years of age; we will tell them that fire must not be poured upon fire, whether in the body or in the soul, until they begin to go to work-this is a precaution which has to be taken against the excitableness of youth; afterwards they may taste wine in moderation up to the age of thirty, but while a man is young he should abstain altogether from intoxication and from excess of wine; when, at length, he has reached forty years, after dinner at a public mess, he may invite not only the other Gods, but Dionysus above all, to the mystery and festivity of the elder men, making use of the wine which he has given men to lighten the sourness of old age; that in age we may renew our youth, and forget our sorrows; and also in order that the nature of the soul, like iron melted in the fire, may become softer and so more impressible.”
** NSW Driving Licence
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/licensing/gettingalicence/index.html
and subsequent pages.
*** NSW Alcohol Abuse Summit
See the link to “Recommendations” on:
CH3CH2OH?
When people talk about the taste of alcohol, they are usually referring to a particular alcoholic beverage. A typical first drink for an Aussie is a glass of lager, or perhaps a sip of dry white wine, both quite bitter to the young palate after a diet of soft drinks.
“Alcohol”, called ethanol, ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, or just alcohol is, in fact, a clear, colourless liquid with a characteristic, agreeable odour. When diluted with water, it has a somewhat sweet flavour, but in more concentrated solutions it has a burning taste.
Alcoholic beverages come in a range of flavours – from the very bitter, highly-hopped lagers or dry white and red wines to very sweet beers flavoured with honey or fruit (e.g., Belgian Kriek, flavoured with cherries) and wines such as Muscat and Spatlese Riesling. And then there are the sweet liqueurs – flavoured from chocolate to mint, from orange to butterscotch.
What’s Your Poison?
There is so much hypocrisy about beverages, truly one man’s drink is another’s poison. If in England a person’s rank in society could be determined by their accent, a similar case could be made for the beverage one consumes. Remember when “wino” meant an alcoholic?
Beer is often referred to as the drink of the so-called common man – generally “down market”, wine of the intelligentsia or connoisseurs – generally “up market”, as are the spirits such as cognac or single malt whisky.
Anyone ordering a glass of spirits in a round will often be subjected to a snide remark. Consider the woman who has asked for “just a glass of wine”. She will probably feel superior to her friend who ordered a gin and tonic. In Australian bars a measure of Scotch whisky or a gin is defined in law and will almost always contain less alcohol than the typical bar or restaurant serve of a “glass of wine”. She would be surprised. Who is really drinking “the hard stuff”?
Alcopops? Designer drinks?
So what about designer drinks? Alcopops? I daresay that when people refer to designer drinks they are not thinking of those vintners who are experimenting with different fermenting techniques and maturation processes, in order to produce a wine that tastes “just so”, nor of the boutique brewers experimenting with different malts, different yeast, and different additives such as honey, lemon, or even chilli!
If there is any one factor to “blame” for the popularity of pre-mixed drinks it is the rise of take-home consumption. In the recent past, someone went to a bar, ordered beer from a large barrel or keg. In order to be able to drink some beer at home there was the convenience of a bottle or a can. Another went to a bar and ordered a glass of wine, there was the convenience of a bottle or a cask to take home. A third person went to the bar and ordered their favourite cocktail; a whisky and soda, a rum and cola, a bourbon and dry, or a vodka and orange – but what to take home? Preparing the same drink at home was a chore, needing to remember the spirit, the mixer, the ice, and the glass and, “Oh, why bother?” The advent of the pre-mixed drink presented the opportunity for spirit drinkers to enjoy their favourite pub drink at home, at the barbie, watching footie on the TV, just as beer and wine drinkers have.
Pre-mixed drinks rose in popularity because of this convenience. If teenagers were really seeking “bang for the buck” in buying TDs then they were mistaken, even before Minister Roxon raised the tax, RTDs were the most expensive way to buy a standard drink. The best buy was (and still is) a cask of wine.
Binge Drinking – A modern Problem?
To believe the media and selected groups, the problems of youth binge drinking are modern societal issues fuelled only by targeted advertising and new types of drinks specially designed and marketed to seduce our innocent young.
But the problems caused by young people (indeed, of all age groups and classes) drinking to excess have plagued societies through the ages, long before modern advertising or sports sponsorship, and long before the advent of different types of drinks.
So can the solution to our current youth binge drinking problems really be as simple as banning advertising and sport sponsorships, and certain types of drinks?
From as early as circa 1900 BC in Egypt soldiers and students are cited as heavy drinkers. In around 350 BC, the Greek historian Theopompus asserts that Athenian youths engage in bouts of heavy drinking.
In The Laws, Plato proposes that in a perfect world boys up to 18 should be forbidden wine “for they have enough fire in their belly they need no further encouragement”.
Fast forward to Germany in 1275 and Konrad von Haslau attacks the coarse table manners of courtly youths, including their spilling of wine all over their clothing.
1350 sees medieval students drinking heavily. Initiation rites frequently involve heavy drinking bouts.
Beginning in the 16th Century student drinking practises need to be suppressed. Drinking is officially prohibited in French and German schools. Students drink in secret in their rooms or do all their drinking outside schools at taverns. Ordinances are passed forbidding taverns and innkeepers from putting them up.
In 1630 The Netherlands introduces new controls, closing taverns during hours of worship and after nine at night, and bans the serving of sprits to young people
1650 drinking bouts and duelling among German university students is condemned.
In 1680 in France Jean de la Bruyere expresses his exasperation at young people at court for abusing wine. And by 1750 in most colleges wine provides the third most important source of calories.
And so on. You can see the repetition.
Ah – But Young Women Drinking – That’s Different!
“They keep just as late hours (as men), and drink as just as much liquor; they challenge men to carousing” complained Senaca in Rome circa AD 65.
Through the ages we have had cycles of drinking problems. In some decades it was emperors and princes, then it was the court, then the clergy, then the military, then the peasants and labourers. And round the cycle of misuse would turn.
At various times controls have been tried: taxes, tavern controls (Paris once tried to move all taverns outside the city walls – where was Sydney’s Clover then?). Banning certain products was also tried, the English for a while banned Scottish Ale deeming it too string for the locals!
Of course, all these controls have come and gone as the battle waged between those who would dictate the behaviour of others through laws and regulations without tackling the underlying causes of the drinking problems.
Changing Drinking Culture
If we are to change the drinking culture of Australia then the first thing we need to do is to recognise that no one form of alcohol beverage is any better or worse than the other. What is important is that consumers understand how much alcohol they are really drinking and what the short and long-term effects of their drinking are. Singling our just one form of alcohol beverage for special attention is more an indication of social snobbery than it is of good public health policy or of a serious attempt to improve the drinking culture of Australia.
Cheers!
What is it about alcohol?
It is quite amazing how little knowledge of beverage alcohol exists among those who would seek to regulate its consumption. Journalists who report and comment on the topic seem to display little knowledge either.
We read or hear comments about “masking the taste of alcohol” when alcohol is practically tasteless. We hear about “designer drinks”, as if only one sector of the alcohol beverage “designs” drinks. Some beverages are described as “hard”.
Until all understand how alcohol drinks are produced we are never going to have any perspective nor common sense in the discussion about “binge drinking”, whether by youth or their parents.
All alcohol is fermented
Let’s understand the basics. Alcohol is one of the easiest products to produce – just take a bunch of grapes, crush them with their skins, and place in a jar, and wait a day or two. Voila! An alcoholic beverage!
Alcohol is the result of the natural process of fermentation of a sugar by a yeast. This process is one of the earliest organic reactions employed by humans. The intoxicating effects of ethanol consumption have been known since before recorded history.
Source your sugar from malted barley or wheat – you produce a beer. I wonder how many people know that an important process in making bread, letting the yeast rise, is fermentation and that alcohol is produced during this stage of bread making? Of course, all the alcohol is burned off in the oven so we don’t end up with alcoholic bread!
Source the sugar from grapes, we end up with wine; from apples, cider, from pears, perry. You can ferment any fruit. Indeed, one of the first so-called “alcopops” on Australia was actually made by fermenting lemons.
The result of this natural process is a mixture of flavours from the original fruit or grain and the yeast, alcohol (CH3CH2OH), and carbon dioxide. It doesn’t matter what the source sugar is – the alcohol produced is the same: CH3CH2OH.
Spirit producers then use a process called distillation to concentrate the flavours and the alcohol. Essentially, the distillation process removes water. The alcohol remains the same. Distil wine – you produce brandy. Distil beer (yes, a beer) and you produce a whisky. There is no magic change to the alcohol – it is still CH3CH2OH. And the effect on the body is the same whether you consume beer, wine, cider, spirits, or ready-to-drink beverages.
That police breathalyser does not discriminate between drinks – just the total amount of alcohol that has entered the bloodstream.
Just imagine that conversation:
“The reading shows your BAC to be 0.08 which is above the legal limit of 0.05!”
“But officer, I have only been drinking red wine.”
“Ah. In that case, best be going along your way then.”
We all agree that driving a vehicle (a car or motorcycle) is potentially dangerous. There is the risk of accidents, injury, and sometimes death.
But for many people it is an essential part of their lives, although many choose not to drive but to use public transport.
For millennia societies around the world have known that drinking alcohol is potentially dangerous, with increased drink of accidents and disease the more one drinks, sometimes with fatal results.
But for many people, drinking alcohol is an essential and enjoyable part of their lives, helping them to relax, reduce stress, enjoy a meal, socialize and so on. Although many choose not to drink at all.
Modern society has recognised that both pursuits, driving a vehicle and drinking alcohol should be regulated – and both should be a pursuit reserved for adults.
Indeed, we can go back to Plato for the first admonition against young people drinking*.
Yet, in many countries, including Australia, Society adopts entirely different approaches to preparing our young people for these adult activities.
Let’s have a look at the gauntlet that a young person needs to negotiate before he or she can set out onto the road with hands on a steering wheel (this applies to NSW, Australia, I appreciate different states and countries have different requirements)**.
- To receive a learner’s licence (at the age of 16) one must first pass a theory test. This licence has Photo ID and allows the holder to drive under supervision according to strict guidelines.
- After a minimum period and a certain number of supervised driving hours under the belt, one undergoes a practical (driving) test.
- If successful, one is issued with a P1 Licence allowing one to drive unsupervised – but with severe restrictions (such as maximum speed, number of passengers, etc)
- After a successful period of driving using a P1 Licence one can then graduate to a P2 licence – as per a P1 licence but with sightly less serve restrictions.
- A young person is around 22 before they are a fully licensed driver and “graduate” from the P2 licence.