Ban alcohol from supermarkets

[Lightshade25]

Selling wine and beer next to food ‘normalises’ a dangerous drug and should be sold at specific outlets

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ical-authority


The New Zealand Medical Association has called for a ban on selling alcohol in supermarkets, saying that having it next to groceries and food normalises a dangerous drug.

The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) said having alcohol in supermarkets normalised the drug, and made buying it cheap and easy – meaning people put a bottle of sauvignon blanc in their trolley alongside their bread, milk and toilet paper without a second thought.

According to the association well over half a million New Zealanders consume alcohol in a hazardous way, with many emergency rooms filled on Friday and Saturday nights with alcohol-related admissions.

The NZMA believes it is the government that is best placed to crack down on heavy consumption – a position supported by many health and social policy academics and Alcohol Healthwatch.

Dr Kate Baddock, the chair of the association, said evidence suggested alcohol was worse than methamphetamine, marijuana and heroin, because it was a cheap, addictive, psychotropic drug.

“Alcohol contributes to domestic violence, many cancers, and car accidents,” said Baddock, who pointed out supermarket alcohol was an everyday “temptation” for alcoholics trying to stay sober. “If you are putting alcohol next to your bread and milk, you are essentially saying having alcohol is the same as having bread and milk on a daily basis.”

New Zealanders are binge-drinkers who consume 10 litres of pure alcohol a year, says Nicki Jackson, the director of Alcohol Healthwatch. That amount is the same as Australia, but more than the US and Canada and less than the UK and Ireland.

Jackson said allowing supermarkets to sell alcohol was an attempt to convert New Zealanders to a Mediterranean drinking culture – having it available “everywhere” – that had backfired badly.

“When wine came into our supermarkets in 1989 you can see this exponential growth in wine consumption ... we are Anglo-Saxon and you can’t change cultures overnight, and having alcohol widely available did not change our culture, it harmed it.”

[Lightshade25]

Seems to me this is largely a cultural issue. In places where you have an actual drinking culture, that is to say you will have a glass of wine with your food because it complements it rather than you drink to get pissed, you have less issues than in those where that culture simply does not exist.

[zhaoyun]

Seems to me this is largely a cultural issue. In places where you have an actual drinking culture, that is to say you will have a glass of wine with your food because it complements it rather than you drink to get pissed, you have less issues than in those where that culture simply does not exist.

Everything in moderation. Alcohol is great. I had to cut back from it cuz I suffered liver issues from binge drinking a few months back.