Alcohol poisoning is not an issue for government
The BBC has just announced that an alcohol label campaign has just been launched by the partner of former Stereophonics drummer Stuart Campbell. Campbell died after a heavy drinking session in 2010, choking on his own vomit.
His partner, Rachel Jones, has launched a campaign aimed at bringing alcohol labels into line with stark warnings on cigarette packets and has secured the help of Llanelli MP Nia Griffith to achieve this.
On Wednesday Ms Griffith raised the issue with David Cameron during PMQs. Cameron referred her to plans to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol (a bad piece of policy in my view that will unfairly penalise responsible drinkers on low incomes, whilst leaving posh middle class kids binge to drink on our streets as before).
But for the Rachel Jones campaign and the Llanelli MP, this is not enough. Calling for for stronger labelling on alcohol, Ms Griffiths said “If you saw someone drinking a bottle of poison or bleach you would stop them”…”People need to be aware that alcohol – in particular spirits – can lead to death.”
The thrust of this campaign is grounded in the belief that people are unaware of the fatal consequences of drinking a large amount of spirits in a short time. It is undoubtedly extremely sad that Stuart Campbell died in wholly avoidable circumstances. But surely, we should look at the bigger picture?According to the Office of National Statistics 179 people died due to accidental alcohol poisoning in 2009 (latest figures available). That sounds like a lot of people. But consider how else people died that year….
The FACTS:
462 people died from complications of medical /surgical care
223 people died in cars hitting a stationary object (a fraction of the total number of car accidents)
431 motorcyclists died in traffic accidents
205 died people drowned
182 people died from inhalation or ingestion of food
….. and so on……
According to the Office of National Statistics, the NHS killed over twice as many people as alcohol poisoning. More people also died from drowning, car and motorcycle accidents; for goodness sake, even FOOD killed more people than a binge drinking session. Are we going to put similar labels on every car, every bathtub and swimming pool, and on the front door of every hospital?
Of course consuming alcohol carries risks. Drunks get behind car steering wheels and kill people. Drunks walk out into the street and get knocked down. Drunks get into fights and kill each other. Drunks go home and beat up their wives and kids. We are also aware that long term heavy drinking can lead to ongoing health issues including liver damage etc..
Almost all of the above are more serious than death by alcohol poisoning. And the idea that a label on a bottle will cut the number of such deaths is just plain fanciful. I have heard (too many times) the line “….if it saves just one life then it will be worth it”. That is just plain wrong. Even if it did “save just one life” – and proving that would be mighty tricky - the cost to the rest of us is simply too high. You just can’t save every person from themselves (there were 3457 suicides in 2009). And the implications of where this might lead next are simply dreadful….leading this government down the same path as the previous government – treating us like incompetent children.
No.Labelling is tackling the problem from the wrong direction. We live in a society that has become increasingly dependent on the government to sort out our problems and our friends, families and neighbours problems. Its time we took a whole lot of that responsibility back.
I heard Rachel Jones on the radio yesterday. She is a genuine person; articulate and yes, courageous, to speak of her loss, and through it, highlight the dangers of binge drinking. But surely her efforts would be better placed using her experience to encourage people to look after each other a little better. Most of us have been out with mates who have drunk way too much. I have seen good responsible mates take that person in hand, take them back to their place, sit up with them until they have recovered. I have even seen a good friend of mine walk a stranger back to her place one night and sit with her til she had sobered up. That one action probably did save a life.
Doesn’t the answer to death from alcohol poisoning (or rape or assault) lie in a bit more care from everyone of us to our fellow man? That is surely 100 times more effective than a label on a bottle that will be wholly ignored.
I can’t make people care more, or demand that people take more responsibility for those them, nor can the government, but people like Rachel Jones probably can raise awareness to the dangers and persuade us to all be better friends to one another. That is where she should be putting her efforts, rather than demanding that the Government does something. A harder task but infinitely more effective.
February 19th, 2011 at 9:25 am
At uni we found labeling very usefull. It enabled us to be sure we were getting as pissed as po9ssible as cheaply and quickly as possible, due to the strength being advertised on each bottle and beer pump.
GREAT things are labels, without them “pissed nights on the town” could have been REALLY disapointing.
February 19th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
Sure, alcohol poisoning is an issue for every government. It is its duty to protect the people against the unfair pressure by the alcohol industry. The World Health Organization WHO said, we are all passive drinkers, because we all suffer from alcohol-related harm and we pay a life long without beeing asked an awful lot of money for alcohol-related social costs. This is the freedom we have lost for a long time. And this government doesn’t act as if it has understood the problem. You cannot organize alcohol prevention in cooperation with the alcohol industry. The industry only sees its profit. But prevention has to cut down the overall consumption to be effectful.
February 20th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
Kontrbass.
This idea that the consumer is permanently at the hands of “evil industry” and the only group that can save us is Government (in blue tights and red underpants presumably)is a trite and jaded arguement that is just plain wrong.
If the CONSUMER demanded labels on alcohol bottles we would have them in a flash.
Look at recycling in supermarkets, that was a consumer movement against plastic bags. The govt got on board with the idea late, but by then most companies were already on board with the campaign. Supermarkets have all massively increased their stock of organic produce due to consumer demand not govt dictat. By the same token, every supermarket has a clear policy on GM foods – largely a total boycot- (though some dont insist on certified non-GM feed from their meat suppliers) – again a result of consumer demand not government regulation.
Companies also change their minds due to consumer demand. When M&S tried to raise price of D cup bras there was a near revolt by its shoppers – they reversed their decision within in days. Apple reversed its decision not to sell ipads for cash following consumer protests.
So if consumers demanded health warnings on alcohol – they would be there. And whilst there is competition, companies who ignore prevailing consumer views, do so at their peril. Simple economics.
Its not cars that kill. Its people driving carelessly or recklessly. Its not dogs (or specific breeds of dogs) that are a menace to society, its the owners who fail to look after them responsibly. Its not alcohol that causes “social problems”, but how some people choose to consume it.
So-called social costs can be tackled at the point where harm is caused.. Advocating that Government should view us all as helpless victims of industry, or feckless children that cannot be trusted to make sensible decisions is what I might expect from institutions paid for by government money and the “something-must-be-done-ers”. I am of the growing band – and at last vocal group- of “leave-us-alone-ers”. We are prefectly capable of making business change -when we choose.
February 20th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
When the something-must-be-doners introduced the concept of units of safe alcohol consumption per week, they did a survey of students at our university. A few of us that volunteered to keep a diary of our alcohol consumption treated it as a competition: none of us drank less than 100 units that week.
A govt label will do absolutely nothing to reduce accidental deaths due to over consumption
March 20th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
On a very personal level I’d like to say to Angela Harbutt:
firstly his name is Stuart CABLE, please be respectful enough to at least know what his name is. Some people will only know him from being the ‘off the rails’ drummer of Stereophonics, but those of us who have known him most of his life know a man who’s humble, kind of heart and spirit, a truly good guy.
secondly, please do not be fooled by Ms. Rachel Jones. Genuine she is not! The words ‘hidden’ and ‘agenda’ are her middle names.