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cdiver2

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BBC report.
Binge drinking costing billions

Ministers will publish a strategy to tackle alcohol problems next year
Britain's binge drinking culture is costing the country £20 billion a year, according to a government report.
The study by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit shows 17 million working days are lost to hangovers and drink-related illness each year.

The annual cost to employers is estimated to be £6.4 billion while the cost to the NHS is in the region of £1.7bn.

Billions more are spent clearing up alcohol-related crime and social problems.

In addition, alcohol-related problems are responsible for 22,000 premature deaths each year.

THE UK'S ALCOHOL PROBLEM
The scale and cost of drinking in the UK


At-a-glance

However, the authors of the report said that even these figures may be a conservative estimate.

They found that there are 1.2 million incidents of alcohol-related violence a year.

Around 40% of A&E admissions are alcohol-related. Between midnight and 5am that figure rises to 70%.

Alcohol-related accidents and illnesses land around 150,000 people in hospital each year.

Up to 1.3 million children are affected by parents with drink problems, the report said.

They are also more likely to have problems later in life themselves.

Binge-drinking

It shows that one in three men and one in five women fail to drink sensibly. Recommended alcohol limits
Men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week
Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week
One unit of alcohol is half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine
Binge drinking is classed as consuming more than 10 units of alcohol in a single session for men and seven units for women


Q&A: Am I a binge drinker?
In addition, youngsters are starting to binge-drink at an earlier age.

The binge-drinking period that was once confined to the late teens now often runs from 16 to 24, it said.

Ministers are planning to publish a strategy to tackle binge-drinking and other alcohol-related problems next year.

Home Office Minister Hazel Blears said changes to pub opening hours would also help.

She said the licensing bill would help tackle the problem by removing a single closing time and reducing disorder in town centres.

She said there would also be a drive to give more information to young people about the risks of drinking too much.

Ms Blears told Radio 4's Today programme: "Young people will say to you 'We have a lot of education about drugs, but not enough information about alcohol.'

Who's up for a drink?
Over 90% of British adults drink alcohol
One in three men drink more than they should
One in five women drink more than they should
Teenagers are drinking earlier and more heavily than ever before
Young, white, unemployed men are more likely to abuse alcohol
Women in skilled jobs drink more heavily than other women


Have Your Say: Should drinking laws be changed?
"Information means they can make choices, so I think education and prevention is going to be a big part of our policy."

Lord Adebowale, chief executive of charity Turning Point, called for more money to be spent on alcohol treatment, education and social care.

"We are talking about families dissolving in a sea of alcohol," he told the BBC.

Lack of money

Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said the government would have to increase spending on alcohol services from £100m to £300m.

Lesley King-Lewis, chief executive of Action on Addiction, said: "More money should be invested in alcohol services, as they are seriously under funded at the moment."

Britain's big hangover
Britons spend £30bn on alcohol each year
The government raises £7bn through taxes on alcohol
Alcohol costs £6.4bn in lost productivity
The NHS spends £1.7bn treating alcohol-related illnesses
Alcohol-related crime costs £7.3bn
Another £4.7bn is spent on the human and emotional costs of alcohol-related crime
Some 22,000 people die prematurely each year because of alcohol misuse


Our bar-room philosophers discuss drinking
Professor Ian Gilmore, of the Royal College of Physicians, urged ministers to act on the report's findings.

"It's crucial that the government follows up this report urgently with strong recommendations to tackle the problem, including labelling of alcohol content and health warnings on drinks."

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: "Alcohol misuse needs tackling and treating.

"We also need to get to the root causes of what motivates a significant number of people who think it is acceptable to go out on a Friday or Saturday night, drink to excess and indulge in anti-social behaviour."

Jean Coussins, chief executive of The Portman Group - the industry back organisation that promotes sensible drinking, also called for action.

"The government should develop mass media campaigns to curb excessive drinking, funded at the same level as its drink-drive campaigns over the years."

Shadow home secretary Oliver Letwin said: "The government has been far too complacent about the problem of alcohol abuse - particularly among young people."
 
If the problem costs tax dollars, damages public property, causes crime, or leads to the violation of peoples rights, then shouldn't the gov step in?

Isn't that kinda the purpose of the gov - to protect our rights, property and safety?

Bryan
 
If the problem costs tax dollars, damages public property, causes crime, or leads to the violation of peoples rights, then shouldn't the gov step in?

Isn't that kinda the purpose of the gov - to protect our rights, property and safety?

Bryan

Hrmmm.... I always kind of thought that it was more of a personal responsibility, myself... Not so long ago, the United States tried a little experiment with Prohibition.

Yeah, that didn't work out so well....
 
If the problem costs tax dollars, damages public property, causes crime, or leads to the violation of peoples rights, then shouldn't the gov step in?

Isn't that kinda the purpose of the gov - to protect our rights, property and safety?

Bryan

I prefer not to let the government do my thinking for me.

What's never mentioned is how much binge drinkers contribute to the economy. I assume that in England, like here, there's a very high tax on alcohol.
 
Hrmmm.... I always kind of thought that it was more of a personal responsibility, myself... Not so long ago, the United States tried a little experiment with Prohibition.

Yeah, that didn't work out so well....

I doubt that they are proposing prohibition. And obviously personal responsibility isn't working there.

Bryan
 
If the problem costs tax dollars, damages public property, causes crime, or leads to the violation of peoples rights, then shouldn't the gov step in?

Isn't that kinda the purpose of the gov - to protect our rights, property and safety?

Bryan

The government will meddle in anything it can. They will set up a burea, a division, and local offices, then they will need to seek additional funding to provide critical services.

I like the fact that one organization defines problem drinking as consuming more than 5 drinks at a time. If they changed the standard to more than 6 drinks they would proably lose 75% of their statistical problem drinker who consume a 6-pack.

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness................
 
I prefer not to let the government do my thinking for me.

What's never mentioned is how much binge drinkers contribute to the economy. I assume that in England, like here, there's a very high tax on alcohol.

It says:The government raises £7bn through taxes on alcohol

But looks like the costs related to it are higher:
Alcohol costs £6.4bn in lost productivity
The NHS spends £1.7bn treating alcohol-related illnesses
Alcohol-related crime costs £7.3bn
Another £4.7bn is spent on the human and emotional costs of alcohol-related crime

I'm with you though, prefer not to let the government do my thinking for me
 
If the problem costs tax dollars, damages public property, causes crime, or leads to the violation of peoples rights, then shouldn't the gov step in?

Isn't that kinda the purpose of the gov - to protect our rights, property and safety?

Bryan

If that's the case then shouldn't they try to control things like,

- food- Maybe we need a food police, the obesity & diabetic epidemic costs tax dollars
- guns- too many shootings going on (killing or injury violates personal rights of the victims)
- promiscuity- STD's cost a lot in tax $'s to help those with advanced disease & teen pregnancies.

See where I'm going? There's no easy answer as how to rein in the ills of society, if there is any at all. Personal responsibility SHOULD be the answer, but there are too many people that are either too self absorbed to care or have none or very little concept of personal responsibility. In order to control all that, there would have to be very stringently enforced rules & laws in which then, there would be NO freedoms or rights to begin with. Basically to live as robots. Part of the price of living with freedoms is the risk of our rights being violated by another.
 
I prefer not to let the government do my thinking for me.

What's never mentioned is how much binge drinkers contribute to the economy. I assume that in England, like here, there's a very high tax on alcohol.


What's never mentioned is how much binge drinkers contribute to the economy.

About as much as smokers, at a guess :D
 
Isn't that kinda the purpose of the gov - to protect our rights, property and safety?

Bryan

I guess it depends on the government. Those three catagories are often at adds. Sometimes what government does to keep us safe, takes away rights. Who is "the government" anyway?

For example, carefully note what the US president and military promise to defend.

US presidential oath... "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."


US military oath of enlistment
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic...

Also take notice of some of the modern day controversies that involve the circumvention of the Constitution (supposedly, in the interest of making us safe) by people who have sworn to protect the Constitution.

I find little in our constitution that seems aimed at a guaranty of safety but rather establishes and aims to guatanty rights and freedoms. It may be an oversimplification but the founders seem to have been far more concerned with freedom than safety. Given enough control, you can probably keep someone very safe...no thanks.
 
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