3
Jan
2013
By Calvin at 13:44 GMT, 13 years ago
In the ‘you-couldn’t-make-it-up’ news today I’ve just come across this article in the Idaho Statesman which reports that there are five inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Institution, near Boise, who are suing some major beer and wine companies, arguing that alcohol led to their crimes and that there should have been labels on the products to warn people that alcohol can be addictive and habit forming. Although they haven’t engaged lawyers they want $1 billion in damages. Needless to say the beer and wine companies haven’t responded to the lawsuit to date.
Like most of you I would be amazed if the lawsuit progressed any further, but there are some serious aspects to this story. We already know that there are serious health and family problems resulting from alcohol abuse and those of us in the UK heard the usual annual warnings from the police and various health organisations about the associated dangers just before the Christmas celebrations began. We also know that there is some relationship (albeit a complicated one) between alcohol abuse and violence, including domestic violence and I have not so fond memories of arresting the usual brace of bloodied drunks on Christmas Eve; a supposed time of ‘good will to all men’, but possibly the most violent and drunken night of the year! And, of course, we should not forget the many hundreds of people who are killed and injured by drunk drivers.
So, in the UK, we’ve got rather simple ‘know your limits’ and ‘please enjoy responsibly’ labels on drink bottles and cans displaying the number of units of alcohol and there’s a website address to find out more – www.drinkaware.co.uk - sponsored by the drinks industry. Personally, I’d like to see some more prominent warnings on tins and bottles, such as:
- Just had an argument with your partner? – don’t drink!
- Tomorrow, boast about the few you drank – enjoy sensibly
- Do you remember what you did last night? Your ex does!
- Everyone remembers a drunk
Minimum alcohol unit pricing and other purchase rules are being introduced throughout the UK this year (already in place in Scotland) as a way to remove cheap booze from our supermarket shelves and I have no doubt that in the fullness of time we will be treated to images of diseased livers and pictures of victims of alcohol related violence on the backs of tins and bottles.
Will any of this help?
I’m sure minimum unit pricing and regular health advice will have a continued impact on the general populace, but I do question if any of this will affect the drunken behaviour we see in some of our town centres or make any difference to the type of person who has a greater propensity for causing violence. However, this subject will be back in the news throughout 2013 and that’s something I can be certain about.
Related websites:
Aquarius, a registered charity for overcoming the harms caused by alcohol, drugs and gambling: http://www.aquarius.org.uk/alcoholandviolence
Alcohol and violence: a PDF Publication (2005) by the Faculty of Health of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom: http://www.fph.org.uk/uploads/bs_alcohol_violence.pdf
Drink Aware, an independent, UK-wide charity, supported by voluntary donations from the drinks industry: http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/
Original story by MEGHANN M. CUNIFF of the Idaho Statesman: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/01/02/2398402/inmates-the-beer-made-me-do-it.html#storylink=mainr1
