Alcohol’s True Cost
Confirmed
by New Report
By Florida News Group (Originally
in English)
On June 30, 2006 the British National Health Service released a shocking report which revealed that deaths from alcoholic liver disease in the UK had jumped 37% in 5 years. Hospital admissions over the past decade have risen more than 100% for alcoholic liver disease, 75% for alcoholic mental disorders, and 60% for alcoholic poisoning. Alcohol is now the #1 killer of young men and women in the UK and a number of other countries. No one on Earth is completely exempt from its destructive effects. (See News No. 164, “The Real Cost of Alcohol.”) The most frightening news from the UK report concerns the rise in drinking by children, with 22% of UK schoolchildren between the ages of 11 and 15 reporting that they had drunk alcohol in the previous week. The amount of alcohol consumed per capita by children in this age group has doubled since 1990. In teens, 15-year old girls now drink more than boys and as a whole, the UK consumes 121% more alcohol per capita than 50 years ago. Why are British schoolchildren destroying their minds and bodies with poisonous alcohol? Public awareness of the harmful effects of alcohol has risen; consciousness about health and spirituality has risen; and yet this strange self-destructive behavior persists! Part of the reason for this deplorable state of affairs is the growth of the alcohol industry. Alcohol is now cheaper to make and cheaper than ever to buy relative to annual household income. The industry has also developed new products which are targeted at young people with slick advertising. For instance, a product called “alcopops” has become extremely popular in the UK, especially among schoolgirls. This drink is made of hard liquor sweetened with sugar and flavorings. Alcopops are now the most popular alcoholic beverage among British schoolgirls. Due to intense pressure from the alcohol industry, the British government passed a law in 2003 to extend hours of alcohol sales. In the past, pubs would have to stop selling alcohol at 11 pm. Beginning in 2006, the government is opening alcohol sales in pubs, supermarkets, gas stations, and other stores to 24 hours per day. The law also allows children to enter restricted pubs and for 16 year olds to be served alcohol at restaurants when accompanied by an adult. 
What is most outrageous about this new law is that it is
opposed by a large majority of the public and condemned by a broad
consensus of health experts. The tide of public opinion has turned:
Even many pub owners have objected to the law. The law is in sharp
contrast to the UK government’s passage of bold new laws against
public smoking. It also goes against a growing trend of alcohol legislation
worldwide. What this predicament shows is that, even as the level
of world consciousness has risen, in some countries powerful companies
have managed to create an illusion that hides the deadly consequences
of alcohol. The ultimate cost is millions of deaths per year, including
those of innocent schoolchildren. Humankind would do well to outlaw
these fraudulent companies and to forsake completely the consumption
of alcohol.
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