Promoting Alcohol Ban: A Debate
Alcohol causes more harm than all the illegal drugs combined. Is the answer to ban alcohol?
The issue of criminalising the sale and consumption of alcohol is contentious amongst society. Alcohol is condoned by society due the fact the government have not illegalised it; if something is legal it is presumed there is no harm attached to using it. Yet to what extent can we attribute social and individual problems to alcohol to the same level we do illegal drugs. Following a research project he had undertaken to prove the magnitude of negative affects alcohol causes to the individual and society; Professor Nutt stated on a live television broadcast that; “alcohol is more harmful than heroin” (BBC 2010). A statement which publically re-earthed the discussion about the degree of danger alcohol consumption carries compared with drugs which carry a criminal conviction.
Excessive use of alcohol causes physical and mental problems for an individual. ‘Drink Aware’ which is the governments campaign to educate consumers on the safe use of alcohol, advise that people should not regularly drink more than the daily unit guidelines which they establish as 3-4 units of alcohol for men and 2-3 units of alcohol for women (DrinkAware 2012).
The current Prime Minster David Cameron has supported proposals to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in an effort to cut alcohol abuse, this will also affect alcohol offers which encourage multiple purchasing of beverages and subsequently encourage binge drinking. If the proposals became law there would be a minimum price of fifty pence per unit. For example an £8.72 bottle of vodka sold in supermarkets would rise to £10.50 (Financial Times 2012). If the government plans to make steps to make the consumption of alcohol more expensive and therefore less accessible, individuals may simply source alcohol through unregulated channels. We have witnessed this with drugs; for example in 2005 when the horse tranquilizer Ketamine began to
The issue of criminalising the sale and consumption of alcohol is contentious amongst society. Alcohol is condoned by society due the fact the government have not illegalised it; if something is legal it is presumed there is no harm attached to using it. Yet to what extent can we attribute social and individual problems to alcohol to the same level we do illegal drugs. Following a research project he had undertaken to prove the magnitude of negative affects alcohol causes to the individual and society; Professor Nutt stated on a live television broadcast that; “alcohol is more harmful than heroin” (BBC 2010). A statement which publically re-earthed the discussion about the degree of danger alcohol consumption carries compared with drugs which carry a criminal conviction.
Excessive use of alcohol causes physical and mental problems for an individual. ‘Drink Aware’ which is the governments campaign to educate consumers on the safe use of alcohol, advise that people should not regularly drink more than the daily unit guidelines which they establish as 3-4 units of alcohol for men and 2-3 units of alcohol for women (DrinkAware 2012).
The current Prime Minster David Cameron has supported proposals to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol in an effort to cut alcohol abuse, this will also affect alcohol offers which encourage multiple purchasing of beverages and subsequently encourage binge drinking. If the proposals became law there would be a minimum price of fifty pence per unit. For example an £8.72 bottle of vodka sold in supermarkets would rise to £10.50 (Financial Times 2012). If the government plans to make steps to make the consumption of alcohol more expensive and therefore less accessible, individuals may simply source alcohol through unregulated channels. We have witnessed this with drugs; for example in 2005 when the horse tranquilizer Ketamine began to