DRINK LESS, AUSTRALIA

Victorian Premier John Brumby and I have had our disagreements on a few issues but I agree with him and back him 100% in comments he made in an interview to mark his first 100 days in office.

He told the Herald Sun that alcoholism is the most serious social problem in the state of Victoria. You can go further. Alcohol is the most serious social and health problem not only in this state but throughout Australia.

Booze-associated accidents and illnesses cost this country billions of dollars as governments reap billions in taxes. They tie up our Police, paramedics, ambulances, hospital beds, social welfare services and courts.

Far more than any illegal substance in Australia and there isn’t even a warning on the can or the bottle.

Before I am labelled a hypocrite and explain my personal interest in all this let me confess, again, that over decades I drank too much alcohol. I have threatened my own life through the supposedly harmless camaraderie of booze and mateship. Even once owned my own vineyard.

I’m probably one of Australia’s best-known former drinkers. I can almost count on one hand the days I DID not have a drink between the ages of sixteen and sixty. I prided myself on never missing a day’s work with a hangover (which is, in retrospect, a naïve victory). I thought I was indestructible – when I rarely thought about it at all --  and now have an advanced case of cirrhosis of the liver. Plus a cancerous growth on that vital, life-giving organ, and three cases of near-fatal blood poisoning septicaemia in 12 months behind me.  All because of excessive drinking.

Now I am a teetotaller but not, I hope the boozy equivalent of a born again Christian or a reformed smoker.  I have another interest in all of this because for months I have been quietly working on a project that will be launched in conjunction with the Herald Sun in the next few weeks. I already have the support of the Federal Drug Authority.

I have called it DLA. Drink Less, Australia. I am not going to delude myself (or you) into thinking that Australia can, or will, become an alcohol-free country. It will never happen. And why should it? People enjoy alcohol as part of our culture.

No scare campaign will work. If I lecture you about what excessive booze can do to your body, your life, your career, your family and your longevity you are just as likely to reach for another bottle as you are to stop.

Ditto if I start giving your factual but gruesome details of things like cirrhosis of the liver, kidney failure, erectile problems, incontinence and brain damage. Or quote the road toll and list screeds of statistics about how many hospital beds are filled with drink-affected patients.

So, instead of a ‘drinkless Australia’ I dream of an Australia where you drink less and enjoy it, and life, as much – if not more. Still have your wine and your beer and your whiskey but add another bottle or can to your liquor cabinet. Some de-alcoholised wine or beer. It looks the same, it tastes good, it satisfies the rituals of a drinking habit but has no alcohol.

If you are taking antibiotics, if you are pregnant, if you are in training, if you already have liver problems, you can drink without alcohol.

I believe the timing for people to cut back on their alcohol consumption has never been more appropriate. Daily there are media reports about teenage binge drinkers, drunken footballers’ off-field transgressions, ghastly road tragedies caused by drunks who drive and medical reports showing how too much of  ‘that harmless stuff’ can cause irreparable brain damage.

And think of the money you’ll save!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2007