POME Wowsers at it Again

POME Wowsers at it Again (2 March)

Those bloody POME wowsers are at it again; at the rate they are going they will so be as bad pesky as those damn bible thumpers who disturb your Sunday afternoon kip.

I have often criticised the narrow minded, puritanical approach of many Americans towards alcohol laws, but the do-gooders in the UK are starting to make the Puritans looked like rabble rousing hooligans.

Whilst I was doing research for this article I came across a UK website called alcohol concern. Talking about one-eyed, bigoted rubbish! I couldn't believe some of the inferred inferences. Here are the first three examples I saw.

According to their "Fact Sheet 10 Summary” it says, “Research shows that alcohol is a factor in criminal behaviour. In 2003 in the UK nearly two-thirds of sentenced male prisoners (63%) and four-fifths of female sentenced prisoners (39 %) admitted to hazardous drinking prior to imprisonment. Offending is more prevalent among heavy drinkers.”

The logic here is astounding. Stating that alcohol is a factor in criminal behaviour is true, but it means about as much as saying that motor vehicles are a factor in road deaths. There are not many cases when the motor vehicle is at fault; there are usually other factors involved, like the driver for instance.

According to another fact sheets, it states "People with bipolar disorder are five times more likely to develop alcohol misuse or dependence than the rest of the population.” That may be true, but bipolar people are also probably five times more likely to go out on a spending binge than people who don't have the disorder. The alcohol is no more the issue (than money is the issue in binge spending); the bipolar disorder is the issue.

And the final fact sheet I looked at states "A range of international studies indicate higher levels of alcohol misuse in this (gay and lesbian) population. Also several of the studies show that in LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, alcohol misuse does not decline with age as it does with heterosexuals.”

A simple question here: is alcohol the problem? Or is the problem a psychological one (or possibly some other factors) for this group.

Alcohol Concern is not the only group concerned with the misuse of alcohol in the UK. According to the British Medical Association, “Alcohol is also an addictive drug, however, and its misuse is associated with a wide range of dose-related adverse consequences that can lead to significant harm to the individual and society…..

Alcohol misuse is associated with crime, violence and anti-social behaviour, and can impact significantly on family and community life. The cost of alcohol misuse in the UK is substantial, both in terms of direct costs (eg costs to hospital services and the criminal justice service) and indirect costs (eg loss of productivity and the impact on family and social networks).

The control of alcohol at a national and international level is therefore essential.”

Humankind has been drinking alcohol for thousands of years, and a small percentage has probably been misusing it for just as long. Here is an in arguable fact. In today's advanced, western society, the vast majority of people are able to drink alcohol without it being a problem. This is even more so for wine drinkers. Yes; there is a percentage of the population that drinks too much. Notice I did not use the words "drinking problem" as in most cases, drinking too much alcohol is a symptom of the issues, rather than the root cause. However, alcohol is a soft target and that is why organisations like the British Medical Association, the UK government, and the interfering do-gooders are going after it.

The real issue is not alcohol per se; the real issue is what causes those people to drink too much in the first place. The problem is that society and governments, have created many of the underlying problems and don't have the guts to face the real issues, let alone try and fix them. That's way too hard, so they target one of the symptoms, rather than the root cause. It makes about as much sense as saying, "your leg is bleeding, let's put a Band-Aid on it, when the root cause is a bullet wound.” If society was truly serious about this matter, they would try and remove a bullet from the wound, rather than dressing it up.

The latest lunatic idea from the British Medical Association is to recommend that retailers start selling wine in 500ml bottles rather than in 750ml bottles. The rationale is that the smaller bottle size is perfect for two people to share over dinner, but the larger bottle encourages people to drink too much. Like all crackpot ideas and government instituted useless programs, responsible people will do the right thing, but those who are not responsible, or want to go out and get plastered will, and this program will be about as effective as putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.

Meanwhile the majority of wine drinkers, who are socially and personally responsible people, are treated like children who don’t know what’s good for them.

Updated 16 April

They are at it again. Let's blame everybody except ourselves. In this press article titled Pubs supersize wine glasses to get people to drink more the blame for people drinking too much has been placed fair and square on the shoulders of the pub industry. The article goes on to talk about people wanting to drink responsibly, but being fooled by glasses of wine must up to twice the size of normal. What a load of pure, unadulterated bullshit. If someone can't tell the difference between 125 ml of wine and 250 ml of wine, then they deserve everything they get. These whingeing POMS should start taking responsibility for their own perceived drinking problems, rather than blaming everybody else for the problem.

We will now resume normal transmission whilst I get back to typing up the 2008 Victorian Tour Dairies, which will be coming to a local station soon!

Feel free to submit your comments!

From: Mark Cohen

03/05/2008 00:19:10 but I bet you the 700ml bottle that crept into the spirits industry
will become a norm one day

every bottle when I was a F'nB manager was 30 x 25ml drinks
now its 28.

cant remember why that change came in to the spirit industry, but the prices never came down

From: mekaal

03/05/2008 16:54:05 Re your comment, "drinking too much alcohol is a symptom of the issues, rather than the root cause." I tend to disagree and would support the Bejerot line of thinking propounded by Noel Pearson:
Bejerot's analysis was that the presence of five factors on their own constitutes a risk that an individual will become an addict, or that a community will be affected by an epidemic of addiction:

* Availability of the addictive substance

* Money to acquire the substance

* Time to use the substance

* Example of use of the substance in the immediate environment

* A permissive ideology in relation to the use of the substance.

The issue here is the fifth factor. In societies such as Pearson's in FNQ there is a great degree of permissiveness. Problem drinking in the broader Australian society likewise can be addressed to some degree by addressing the fifth factor. Bejerot (and Pearson) seek to peel away the defence of underlying issues because that is a distraction from the real causal factors (quoting from Pearson):

"Bejerot attacked the symptom theory of addiction - that addictions are a symptom of other more fundamental personal or socioeconomic problems - and separated five essential factors (which could be described as "the socially sanctioned opportunity to experiment and to later indulge") from all of the other factors that are involved in addiction. Bejerot's point was that all of these other factors should be understood as susceptibility or risk factors. Therefore mental illness may make someone susceptible to drug experimentation and use, but it is not a causal factor. Similarly, poverty may increase susceptibility, but there is no automatic causal relationship with addiction. Many poverty-stricken communities are free of addiction epidemics, as are many people with mental illness.
My basic contention about the nature of addiction and why people are drawn into behaviours that result in addiction is this: we can control for all other risk factors (biological predisposition, trauma, disadvantage and so on), but if the above factors are present, they are sufficient for addiction problems to develop."

For what it's worth, I would be delighted to see 500ml bottles and more half bottles readily available (along with 750ml bottles). I think this would be a great step forward - 500ml would be excellent for a midweek glass or two over dinner with her indoors and half bottles for when I'm on my jack....

From: Craig

03/05/2008 22:11:53 Ric,

I lived in the UK for 2 years and it is this type of attitude that used to drive me crazy (fixing the symptoms and not the cause seems to be something of a national ethos). Even if you take the line that alcohol is actually the problem there are plenty of types of alcohol available and I am guessing that wine is fairly low on the list in terms of going out and getting drunk.

Virtually every UK supermarket has a beer, wine and spirits aisle so that you can buy your alcohol whilst doing the grocery shopping. Not only can you buy all the regular stuff; there is a great range of very cheap, very strong alcohol. How about a 2L bottle of 10% cider for less than the price of 2L of spring water? Or super strength beer (8%+) that's in bigger bottles and cans than regular beer and costs less per bottle or can than regular beer.

Who is going to spend money on wine to get drunk (even cheap French rotgut) when they can buy much stronger beer and cider much more cheaply? One of the proposed solutions was to simply increase alcohol taxes - on all forms of alcohol. How about just taxing/banning the stuff that is clearly sold for the sole purpose of getting people drunk?

There certainly does appear to be an alcohol problem in the UK but I very much doubt that selling wine in 500mL bottles is going to make any difference at all. The problem lies with societal attitudes and ready availability of very cheap alcohol.

I am getting extremely fed up with suggestions that I should be paying more for a good bottle of wine because it will help to reduce problem drinking. Whilst this idiot mentality seems to be reasonably confined to the UK it won't be long before some genius in Australia starts pushing the same agenda.

The one thing you can count on is that although we will have to listen to this sort of rubbish for years it is highly unlikely that they will actually do anything about it. It was only last year that they raised the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18 - enough said really!

	Snippet
Sydney Time Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008	POME Wowsers at it Again (2 March) Those bloody POME wowsers are at it again; at the rate they are going they will so be as bad pesky as those damn bible thumpers who disturb your Sunday afternoon kip. I have often criticised the narrow minded, puritanical approach of many Americans towards alcohol laws, but the do-gooders in the UK are starting to make the Puritans looked like rabble rousing hooligans. Whilst I was doing research for this article I came across a UK website called alcohol concern. Talking about one-eyed, bigoted rubbish! I couldn't believe some of the inferred inferences. Here are the first three examples I saw. According to their "Fact Sheet 10 Summary” it says, “Research shows that alcohol is a factor in criminal behaviour. In 2003 in the UK nearly two-thirds of sentenced male prisoners (63%) and four-fifths of female sentenced prisoners (39 %) admitted to hazardous drinking prior to imprisonment. Offending is more prevalent among heavy drinkers.” The logic here is astounding. Stating that alcohol is a factor in criminal behaviour is true, but it means about as much as saying that motor vehicles are a factor in road deaths. There are not many cases when the motor vehicle is at fault; there are usually other factors involved, like the driver for instance. According to another fact sheets, it states "People with bipolar disorder are five times more likely to develop alcohol misuse or dependence than the rest of the population.” That may be true, but bipolar people are also probably five times more likely to go out on a spending binge than people who don't have the disorder. The alcohol is no more the issue (than money is the issue in binge spending); the bipolar disorder is the issue. And the final fact sheet I looked at states "A range of international studies indicate higher levels of alcohol misuse in this (gay and lesbian) population. Also several of the studies show that in LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people, alcohol misuse does not decline with age as it does with heterosexuals.” A simple question here: is alcohol the problem? Or is the problem a psychological one (or possibly some other factors) for this group. Alcohol Concern is not the only group concerned with the misuse of alcohol in the UK. According to the British Medical Association, “Alcohol is also an addictive drug, however, and its misuse is associated with a wide range of dose-related adverse consequences that can lead to significant harm to the individual and society….. Alcohol misuse is associated with crime, violence and anti-social behaviour, and can impact significantly on family and community life. The cost of alcohol misuse in the UK is substantial, both in terms of direct costs (eg costs to hospital services and the criminal justice service) and indirect costs (eg loss of productivity and the impact on family and social networks). The control of alcohol at a national and international level is therefore essential.” Humankind has been drinking alcohol for thousands of years, and a small percentage has probably been misusing it for just as long. Here is an in arguable fact. In today's advanced, western society, the vast majority of people are able to drink alcohol without it being a problem. This is even more so for wine drinkers. Yes; there is a percentage of the population that drinks too much. Notice I did not use the words "drinking problem" as in most cases, drinking too much alcohol is a symptom of the issues, rather than the root cause. However, alcohol is a soft target and that is why organisations like the British Medical Association, the UK government, and the interfering do-gooders are going after it. The real issue is not alcohol per se; the real issue is what causes those people to drink too much in the first place. The problem is that society and governments, have created many of the underlying problems and don't have the guts to face the real issues, let alone try and fix them. That's way too hard, so they target one of the symptoms, rather than the root cause. It makes about as much sense as saying, "your leg is bleeding, let's put a Band-Aid on it, when the root cause is a bullet wound.” If society was truly serious about this matter, they would try and remove a bullet from the wound, rather than dressing it up. The latest lunatic idea from the British Medical Association is to recommend that retailers start selling wine in 500ml bottles rather than in 750ml bottles. The rationale is that the smaller bottle size is perfect for two people to share over dinner, but the larger bottle encourages people to drink too much. Like all crackpot ideas and government instituted useless programs, responsible people will do the right thing, but those who are not responsible, or want to go out and get plastered will, and this program will be about as effective as putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. Meanwhile the majority of wine drinkers, who are socially and personally responsible people, are treated like children who don’t know what’s good for them. Updated 16 April They are at it again. Let's blame everybody except ourselves. In this press article titled Pubs supersize wine glasses to get people to drink more the blame for people drinking too much has been placed fair and square on the shoulders of the pub industry. The article goes on to talk about people wanting to drink responsibly, but being fooled by glasses of wine must up to twice the size of normal. What a load of pure, unadulterated bullshit. If someone can't tell the difference between 125 ml of wine and 250 ml of wine, then they deserve everything they get. These whingeing POMS should start taking responsibility for their own perceived drinking problems, rather than blaming everybody else for the problem. We will now resume normal transmission whilst I get back to typing up the 2008 Victorian Tour Dairies, which will be coming to a local station soon! Feel free to submit your comments! From: Mark Cohen 03/05/2008 00:19:10 but I bet you the 700ml bottle that crept into the spirits industry will become a norm one day every bottle when I was a F'nB manager was 30 x 25ml drinks now its 28. cant remember why that change came in to the spirit industry, but the prices never came down From: mekaal 03/05/2008 16:54:05 Re your comment, "drinking too much alcohol is a symptom of the issues, rather than the root cause." I tend to disagree and would support the Bejerot line of thinking propounded by Noel Pearson: Bejerot's analysis was that the presence of five factors on their own constitutes a risk that an individual will become an addict, or that a community will be affected by an epidemic of addiction: * Availability of the addictive substance * Money to acquire the substance * Time to use the substance * Example of use of the substance in the immediate environment * A permissive ideology in relation to the use of the substance. The issue here is the fifth factor. In societies such as Pearson's in FNQ there is a great degree of permissiveness. Problem drinking in the broader Australian society likewise can be addressed to some degree by addressing the fifth factor. Bejerot (and Pearson) seek to peel away the defence of underlying issues because that is a distraction from the real causal factors (quoting from Pearson): "Bejerot attacked the symptom theory of addiction - that addictions are a symptom of other more fundamental personal or socioeconomic problems - and separated five essential factors (which could be described as "the socially sanctioned opportunity to experiment and to later indulge") from all of the other factors that are involved in addiction. Bejerot's point was that all of these other factors should be understood as susceptibility or risk factors. Therefore mental illness may make someone susceptible to drug experimentation and use, but it is not a causal factor. Similarly, poverty may increase susceptibility, but there is no automatic causal relationship with addiction. Many poverty-stricken communities are free of addiction epidemics, as are many people with mental illness. My basic contention about the nature of addiction and why people are drawn into behaviours that result in addiction is this: we can control for all other risk factors (biological predisposition, trauma, disadvantage and so on), but if the above factors are present, they are sufficient for addiction problems to develop." For what it's worth, I would be delighted to see 500ml bottles and more half bottles readily available (along with 750ml bottles). I think this would be a great step forward - 500ml would be excellent for a midweek glass or two over dinner with her indoors and half bottles for when I'm on my jack.... From: Craig 03/05/2008 22:11:53 Ric, I lived in the UK for 2 years and it is this type of attitude that used to drive me crazy (fixing the symptoms and not the cause seems to be something of a national ethos). Even if you take the line that alcohol is actually the problem there are plenty of types of alcohol available and I am guessing that wine is fairly low on the list in terms of going out and getting drunk. Virtually every UK supermarket has a beer, wine and spirits aisle so that you can buy your alcohol whilst doing the grocery shopping. Not only can you buy all the regular stuff; there is a great range of very cheap, very strong alcohol. How about a 2L bottle of 10% cider for less than the price of 2L of spring water? Or super strength beer (8%+) that's in bigger bottles and cans than regular beer and costs less per bottle or can than regular beer. Who is going to spend money on wine to get drunk (even cheap French rotgut) when they can buy much stronger beer and cider much more cheaply? One of the proposed solutions was to simply increase alcohol taxes - on all forms of alcohol. How about just taxing/banning the stuff that is clearly sold for the sole purpose of getting people drunk? There certainly does appear to be an alcohol problem in the UK but I very much doubt that selling wine in 500mL bottles is going to make any difference at all. The problem lies with societal attitudes and ready availability of very cheap alcohol. I am getting extremely fed up with suggestions that I should be paying more for a good bottle of wine because it will help to reduce problem drinking. Whilst this idiot mentality seems to be reasonably confined to the UK it won't be long before some genius in Australia starts pushing the same agenda. The one thing you can count on is that although we will have to listen to this sort of rubbish for years it is highly unlikely that they will actually do anything about it. It was only last year that they raised the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18 - enough said really! Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008