Vlog about alcoholism issues in the UK

Darryl hits the street to ask Londoners about alcohol and alcoholism in the city. He conducted vox pops with the locals in King's Cross and edited this video during a video blogging workshop delivered by On Road.

Alcohol: What problems does it cause?

Ange, Trish and Paulo asked the public about their understanding around alcohol issues in order to gain a sense of public awareness. They asked them three questions:

1. What do you think alcoholism is?
2. Do you think alcoholism is a choice or an illness?
3. If you or someone you know wanted help with their alcohol use, would you know where to direct them?

Drinking has got me into a lot of problems in my life

It started when I used to go out with my ex-girlfriend.  I was drinking quite a bit, normally about six pints when we used to go out, it started getting worst when she saw me with a few black eyes and sometimes being abusive toward her.

It got to the point where she couldn’t take it anymore. This is when I fell off the bus when I was a bit drunk; when she broke up with me this the drinking started getting worst. When I try to get her I was hanging around her and home, about six pints a day; this is when it started getting me to into trouble with the police and having a lot of convictions and being in prision.

It’s caused lot of problems with my family, arguing and being abusive. Drinking has got to the point where I cannot remember previous; I lost a lot of jobs because of drinking – and a lot of money, and getting into debt, and have lost a lot of accommodations.

Drinking has caused some mental health issues, being in and out of hospital, and as a result of this I have to acknowledge what drinking does. I have lost a lot of friends: people don’t really want to know you any more.

The bad thing about drinking is:

1. it causes anxiety.  
2. your perception of life is different.
3. health.
4. become isolated.
5. aggressive behaviour.
6. mixed emotions.

--Anonymous

bish bash bosh

I wish that life would be bish, bash, bosh.

A tablet or something for having a wash

A chair that would dress you or cut your hair

Now would that be wrong or would it fair

I dare not say how life would be

Beings without an apple in their tree

Obviously I mean metaphorically

Coz if life was that easy ways would be wrong

A life of laziness wouldn’t make me strong

To be who you are it takes some effort

You give it your all to get some merit

You’ve got to cherish life as you are

We’ve come along  way as yet so far

Just be who you are if your heart says so

Life would be fine if I had my own abode

S.L.

Please Drink Responsibly



Image taken from Google Images

When this advice first appeared on beer cans, I, like many others found cause for amusement, after all, alcohol is a drug that causes people to act irresponsibly and as everyone knows, once one has started consuming alcohol, the notion of what is and is not responsible, quickly changes perspective and what was considered irresponsible, is no longer as we are caught up in the moment of irresponsibility, which, incidentally, was the objective in the first place!


So what is responsible drinking and why is not made clear on the product?

Food manufacturers manage to put the ingredients, nutritional content and the guideline daily amounts, GDA, on even the smallest items but with alcohol, all we are told, if we’re lucky, is: the number of units, we are not informed of the GDA or for that matter, the calorie content.

In medical terms, responsible drinking is defined as, 21 units a week for men and 14 units a week for women. This is exceeded by 40% of men and 25% of women. However, given that people who drink too much often lie about how much they drink, this figure is likely to be higher.

In addition, medical guidelines also recommend a daily limit of 3-4 units for men and 2-3 units for women. Effectively without quibbling over the relative strengths of different beverages, we are talking one drink a day, a pint of beer, a glass of wine, a double of spirits, and that’s your lot. Also a 500ml can of super lager at 4.5 units exceeds what is considered medically responsible.

According to a Health Select Committee report in January 2010, the drinks industry is dependent on harmful drinking for three quarters of its sales, which incidentally, would fall by 40 per cent if everyone did drink responsibly.  Therefore, in order for everyone to drink responsibly, alcohol prices would have to rise by 40 per cent to prevent serious job losses in the drinks industry.

Researchers into minimum pricing strategies have claimed that a minimum price of 50p per unit could potentially reduce the cost of alcohol related problems by £9.7 billion, prevent 3,400 deaths and reduce hospital admissions by 98,000. However campaigners against minimum pricing claim that it would be unfair to penalise the majority of responsible drinkers on account of the irresponsible few.

Obviously, the Government’s revenue would also be affected by an increase in responsible drinking. In 2009/10, the Government spent £17.6 million on alcohol awareness compared to £800 million spent by the drinks industry promoting alcohol consumption, that’s 45 times more persuasion than prevention. Research conducted in the Netherlands in 2009 has demonstrated that alcohol on TV does encourage drinking in young people.

The other argument for doing as little as possible is the current economic climate. A report by Transform in 2005 put alcohol as 62 per cent more affordable in 2005 than in 1980, a time when the country was experiencing, similar economic hardships. Also recent research states that supermarkets would benefit from minimum pricing.

However, recent proposals by the Government to introduce a minimum price have been criticised for being so low, as to not have any effect.

Consequently, supermarket chains will continue to lure customers into their stores with the offer of cheap alcohol, no longer confined to the drinks section, but now displayed in mountainous stacks throughout the store, at knock-down prices.

Alcohol is a drug, now considered to be much more dangerous than previously thought, A Lancet study organised by the former Chief Advisor to government on drugs Professor David Nutt, one of the country’s leading experts on the effects of drugs, puts alcohol above heroin and crack in terms of the harm it does both to the user and society.

As with all drugs, addicts provide a more lucrative return than responsible users and the Government, perhaps for reasons of its own financial predicament, seems only too happy to let the irresponsible marketing and selling of this drug continue.

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