A good start in tackling our problem - Alcohol legislation

THE Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has described the range of measures he has introduced to reduce alcohol consumption as the most far reaching legislation yet to curb the misuse of alcohol in Ireland.

That may be overstating things, yet there is little doubt that these new laws are, at the very least, a step in the right direction towards changing a cultural acceptance of over-indulgence in alcohol products.

The Government has agreed on a range of measures designed to reduce alcohol consumption, with restrictions on the sale of cheap drink and warning labels on bottles and cans among key elements of the plan.

These measures are important symbolically, as the latest regulations mark the first time the Government has sought to deal with alcohol consumption through public health legislation rather than through licensing and the criminal justice system.

In that respect, they resemble the groundbreaking measures introduced by Micheál Martin who in 2004, as minister for health, banned smoking in the workplace. Ireland was the first country in the world to institute a ban on smoking in workplaces and indoor public places, including pubs and restaurants and in cars where children are present.

At the time, it was feared that the smoking ban wouldn’t work, wouldn’t be obeyed and would destroy the hospitality industry. None of that happened. What did happen was that it changed our tolerance of both active and passive smoking and saved hundreds of the lives in the process.

It is to be hoped that this curb on alcohol abuse will have similar success and will lead us to re-think our acceptance of it, in particular the incidence of binge drinking which appears to be mostly associated with younger people.

Despite decades of hand-wringing by politicians and other concerned citizens, alcohol abuse has become worse in Ireland in the last 20 years. It is frightening to think that 75% of all alcohol consumed in Ireland in 2013 was done so as part of a binge drinking session. It is common practice now for teenagers to gather in homes to consume cheap alcohol before venturing out to a pub or club where, inevitably, more drink will be consumed.

It is impossible not to associate this form of abuse with the easy availability of cheap hard liquor in supermarkets, off-licences and even local filling stations. Naggins are popular among youths, under-age drinkers and students. The cost of a naggin of vodka from an off-licence is, in pure alcohol terms, less than one third the price of a pint of beer in a pub. It also tends to be consumed quickly rather than over the course of a night, a very unhealthy practice. That means that younger people are consuming far more than older drinkers and they are doing so in a far shorter period of time.

There are, of course, plenty of older people who also drink to excess. According to a recent study by the Health Research Board, 54% of 18-75 year old drinkers were classified as harmful drinkers. That is not just a drinks issue, it is a health issue which has to be tackled. Mr Varadkar has made a good start.