What a HUGE problem!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 10
What a HUGE problem!
Does it appear to anyone else that alcohol is a real problem for so MUCH people? There seems to be a growing trend of this don't you think?
Why do you think it is getting/gotten so out of control? Is it because it's legal and readily available.
Just wondering......
Would love to hear your thoughts
Why do you think it is getting/gotten so out of control? Is it because it's legal and readily available.
Just wondering......
Would love to hear your thoughts
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,649
A huge new problem? Nah. It's been around for a long time.
For as long as alcoholics have been around, there has been alcohol.
There has always been a force in society that wants to make money from the sale of drugs and alcohol and there has always been us: happily or miserably wanting to be that customer for that product even if it kills us.
For as long as alcoholics have been around, there has been alcohol.
During the early 18th century, the mortality rate from gin was thought to be so high that it actually stabilised London's rapidly growing population. Concern over the effects of gin on British society led to the Gin Acts, of 1736 and 1751 respectively, which taxed and regulated the production and sale of gin.
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 139
Originally Posted by smacked 
Once I sobered up for a while and stopped hanging out in bars and with other alcoholics, I realized that much of society drinks normally, responsibly, and often not at all.
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Baghdad
Posts: 2,822
Originally Posted by kip
Does it appear to anyone else that alcohol is a real problem for so MUCH people? There seems to be a growing trend of this don't you think?
Why do you think it is getting/gotten so out of control? Is it because it's legal and readily available.
Just wondering......
Would love to hear your thoughts
Why do you think it is getting/gotten so out of control? Is it because it's legal and readily available.
Just wondering......
Would love to hear your thoughts
After I was sober for a while, discovered that most people didn't have a drinking problem or didn't drink at all.
30% of the adult population of the US are classified as non-drinkers.
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Middle Tennessee
Posts: 4
I attend a lot of industry events where alcohol is present. The majority of attendees call it a wrap early and are responsible in their behavior, assuming they drink at all. Fortunately for society, those who drink to excess are in the minority.
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: The Great Outdoors
Posts: 1,992
Beer wasn't even classified as alcohol until recently...that blew me away.
Beer is to be legally classified as an alcoholic drink in Russia for the first time as the Kremlin forges ahead with the toughest anti-alcohol campaign since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The beverage is technically classified as a foodstuff for now, an anomaly that has allowed producers to avoid a sweeping new crackdown on alcohol advertising and night-time sales.
But a new Kremlin-backed bill that passed its first reading in the lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday will abolish beer's special status, dragging Russian alcohol regulation into the 21st century.
"Normalising the beer production market and classifying it as alcohol is totally the right thing to do and will boost the health of our population," Yevgeny Bryun, the ministry of health's chief specialist on alcohol and drug abuse, said.
"We have been talking about and have wanted such a measure for ages. I take my hat off to the parliament."
The new law would restrict beer sales at night, ban its sale in or close to many public places such as schools, and limit cans and bottles to a maximum size of 0.33 litres.
Although vodka, the national tipple, remains extremely popular, Russia's beer consumption has more than tripled in the past 15 years, boosted by low prices, ready availability and lax regulation.
Industry sources say Russia is now the third or the fourth biggest beer market in the world by net consumption after China and the United States. But with a historic penchant for strong spirits such as vodka, many ordinary Russians regard beer as a soft drink. It is not uncommon to see men swigging a can of beer on their way to work or teenagers downing a swift lunchtime beer or two in the park.
The Kremlin is concerned that alcoholism and under age drinking in particular have taken on epidemic proportions however.
Regularly rated among the heaviest five drinkers in the world, the Kremlin estimates that Russians consume 32 pints of pure alcohol per capita per year, more than double the World Health Organisation's recommended maximum. This appears to have seriously dented population growth.
Russia's population fell by 6.4 million between 1991 and 2009 and the federal statistics agency has predicted that it could fall to less than 127 million from just under 142 million now by 2031 in a worst-case scenario.
Meanwhile, Russian officials estimate that 500,000 people die for alcohol-related reasons every year, a state of affairs that has prompted President Dmitry Medvedev to declare the country's drinking problem "a national disaster".
Beer is to be legally classified as an alcoholic drink in Russia for the first time as the Kremlin forges ahead with the toughest anti-alcohol campaign since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The beverage is technically classified as a foodstuff for now, an anomaly that has allowed producers to avoid a sweeping new crackdown on alcohol advertising and night-time sales.
But a new Kremlin-backed bill that passed its first reading in the lower house of the Russian parliament on Tuesday will abolish beer's special status, dragging Russian alcohol regulation into the 21st century.
"Normalising the beer production market and classifying it as alcohol is totally the right thing to do and will boost the health of our population," Yevgeny Bryun, the ministry of health's chief specialist on alcohol and drug abuse, said.
"We have been talking about and have wanted such a measure for ages. I take my hat off to the parliament."
The new law would restrict beer sales at night, ban its sale in or close to many public places such as schools, and limit cans and bottles to a maximum size of 0.33 litres.
Although vodka, the national tipple, remains extremely popular, Russia's beer consumption has more than tripled in the past 15 years, boosted by low prices, ready availability and lax regulation.
Industry sources say Russia is now the third or the fourth biggest beer market in the world by net consumption after China and the United States. But with a historic penchant for strong spirits such as vodka, many ordinary Russians regard beer as a soft drink. It is not uncommon to see men swigging a can of beer on their way to work or teenagers downing a swift lunchtime beer or two in the park.
The Kremlin is concerned that alcoholism and under age drinking in particular have taken on epidemic proportions however.
Regularly rated among the heaviest five drinkers in the world, the Kremlin estimates that Russians consume 32 pints of pure alcohol per capita per year, more than double the World Health Organisation's recommended maximum. This appears to have seriously dented population growth.
Russia's population fell by 6.4 million between 1991 and 2009 and the federal statistics agency has predicted that it could fall to less than 127 million from just under 142 million now by 2031 in a worst-case scenario.
Meanwhile, Russian officials estimate that 500,000 people die for alcohol-related reasons every year, a state of affairs that has prompted President Dmitry Medvedev to declare the country's drinking problem "a national disaster".
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego
Posts: 4,451
Nothing new under the sun. I was recently reading a 2,000 year old book by Marcus Aurelius, and he was as dismayed as you by his fellow Romans' drinking habits.
That said, Marcus was pretty obsessive about self-control, so he was probably as hyper-aware of alcohol as we are. Most of the people in my life drink the way I wish I could—occasionally and responsibly.
That said, Marcus was pretty obsessive about self-control, so he was probably as hyper-aware of alcohol as we are. Most of the people in my life drink the way I wish I could—occasionally and responsibly.
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: The Great Outdoors
Posts: 1,992
"many ordinary Russians regard beer as a soft drink. It is not uncommon to see men swigging a can of beer on their way to work or teenagers downing a swift lunchtime beer or two in the park."
My ex husband has this mind set! He should move to Russia!!!
My ex husband has this mind set! He should move to Russia!!!
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
I think there's more awareness in general, that's all.
In addition, once you are focused on something, it seems like you see it everywhere. I know when I bought a new car, every time I turned around I seemed to see another of the same make/model. Before I was thinking about it, I had never noticed them.
In addition, once you are focused on something, it seems like you see it everywhere. I know when I bought a new car, every time I turned around I seemed to see another of the same make/model. Before I was thinking about it, I had never noticed them.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
The more people that are on this planet ....the more problems
I can avoid some of them...but not all.....
becoming a non drinker brought me all sorts of unexpected benefits
Hope everyone is headed into a sober healthy productive future
I can avoid some of them...but not all.....
becoming a non drinker brought me all sorts of unexpected benefits
Hope everyone is headed into a sober healthy productive future
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