To drink on a weekend

Excellent, it's driving me to drink.

Only kidding, I'm going to walk but definitely have an extra pint.

I'm only drinking to forget, but I can't remember what I'm trying to forget so it's working.

People are drinking less - but deaths from excessive drinking are rising steadily, according to government statistics, published by the NHS Information Centre covering the period of 2009 onwards.

 

The NHS figures, revealing a surge in prescriptions for medicines to treat alcoholism and a slight decrease in overall consumption, suggest that awareness of the health dangers and, possibly, the recession [remember the rock bottom house prices of 2011?] may be having some impact. Prescriptions for medicines to treat alcoholism rose by 12% in 2009; more than 150,000 were written for the two main drugs used to treat withdrawal symptoms or induce sickness when alcohol is drunk.

 

Yes it seems a raging alcoholic will still hang on to a bellyful of beer rather than throw up. Despite nature urging a good wretch of a full nine yards, the alki fights evolution and supresses the reflex to give a big yellow speckled hueew right down the corridor and all those present.

 

A cultural divide in boozing habits appears to be opening up between southern softies and the Hard Up North Powerhouse, with far less being drunk in nancy London than anywhere else in the country. Overall, consumption of alcohol in the home (which was rising faster than that outside the home) is down in the latest year. For ‘home’ I include cardboard structures, tents, park benches, mate’s sofa, car or public toilet.

 

Thinking you’re a secret drinker is misguided. We know what goes on behind the bed sheet you call a curtain. The ability to drink at home undisturbed being preferable to have to part with beer money in order to buy cannabis down the pub. Also, the wife has most likely had enough and left the sad sots to themselves. She followed the kids out. It seems any uncle will do in times of crisis.

 

Amongst the young, the news is encouraging. The proportion of pupils [aged 11-15] who have never had an alcoholic drink has increased gradually in recent years according to the study by the Office of National Statistics and the NHS records. Either that or the kids have learned quickly from their parents just how to lie.

 

Then there are the teachers prepared to do anything to hit Ofsted’s targets. Back to the kids, our future, it’s probably also due in part to being revolted by the sight of their drunken, unemployed, emaciated, benefit culture parents. In 2008, 48% of pupils reported having never tried alcohol. Of those 22% were under age cocaine addicted young mums. This compared with 39% in 2003 who said they preferred legal highs to alcohol. Then again kids today are more likely to prefer other drugs altogether to that of old fashioned booze.

 

More up to date figures show that in 2013, 15 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women did not drink any alcohol in the last year. Seems I am not alone. Some of us choose not to drink but can, safely. The ability to live without alcohol does exist. It is possible to join in a toast; one that comes without marmalade. Or taste a wine or have a sip of whatever, without needing to finish the glass, order another, accept a drink or finish the bottle.

 

It’s the same discipline when someone says I don’t eat cheese. For no other reason than you know it is fat and calorie laden. Of course, you can eat it, but you choose not to and there is no weak kneed buckling come Friday night, or standing near the buffet at a wedding reception. So why not with alcohol other than people are simply weak.

 

Whilst 63 per cent of men and 64 per cent of women drank at levels indicating lower risk of harm; harm then but a lower risk. A bit like your chances of being run over by a tank rather than a bus. However, 18 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women drank at an increased risk of harm, the equivalent of playing on train tracks but not at rush hour. While 5 per cent of men and 3 per cent of women drank at higher risk levels or something like crossing the road with a blind fold on and your fingers in your ears. The road being the M62.

 

In 2013, 39 per cent of pupils in years 7 to 11 said that they had drunk alcohol at least once. I’m not sure we should believe this as they were drunk at the time. I blame the misguided parents who reinvented sherry trifle so you could suck it through a straw.

 

This continues the downward trend since 2003, when 61 per cent of pupils had drunk alcohol, and is lower than at any time since 1988, when the survey first measured the prevalence of drinking in this age group. We need a better measuring stick. Make that a bigger stick. One with a nail in.

 

In real terms, between 2010 and 2013 household spending on food and drink fell by 3.2 per cent and eating out expenditure by 5.6 per cent. Have people learned to cook a kebab I wonder? There now must be kebab fryers from Argos. Deep fried chocolate kebabs, brandy flavoured.

 

Household spending on alcoholic drinks fell by 5.7 per cent over the same period, whilst that bought for consumption outside the home fell by 13.4 per cent. The average family bath now holds 47 gallons of home brew and plumbers are finding work hard to come by. Plumbers have larger baths installed which hold 74 gallons of stout on average.

 

Despite these considerable reductions the nation continues to get fatter. We need the statistics on donut sales. The beer flavoured ones particularly. Weatherspoons introduced them along with a calorie guide.

 

So it seems that the average Brit is heading towards the cliff determined to beat cancer by any one of the other inflictions that a short life dedicated to booze abuse will bring. I admire their determination and dedication and wish them a speedy success in achieving their goal.

 

They won’t be sadly missed.

How do i put a complaint in to the admin about this insulting person?

They are beyond abusive in many respects which cannot be accepted.

Does anyone know please?

Use the "report post" link on the left hand side.

How do i put a complaint in to the admin about this insulting person?

They are beyond abusive in many respects which cannot be accepted.

Does anyone know please?

It is also possible to add them to your 'ignore' list, which means that you will no longer see their posts (although you can see them if they are quoted by somebody else).

Less wrangling, please; keep on thread topic.

If you are going to post large walls of text with 'facts' post the link to where you got said facts. If this happens again, suspensions will occur.

In this post I offer an opinion. Where I had listed two specific facts I have now removed them at the moderator's request.

I am happy to do this and comply.

Here is my revised argument without any factual evidence to support my views. I still think that having complied with the request by alsionmaniac moderator I hope you enjoy this post and can discuss some of the points I raise.

One respondent referred to the value of tax revenues from alcohol sales but I would question the moral attitude of the alcohol industry.

I’m not alone as questions have been asked in parliament with one MP who has attacked a report predicted to conclude the alcohol industry is not doing enough to foster a culture of responsible drinking.

Such a view has been expressed after leaks suggested the parliamentary inquiry would find the industry had broken pledges to act and should face tougher regulation unless it changed tack.

It may not be true to say the industry is not working hard to bring about more responsible drinking as the amount of time and effort put in by brewers to make the Responsibility Deal (agreed between the Government and food and drinks industry) deliver the kind of changes the Government wants to see. The Responsibility Deal can be googled but quite simply it is what it says: a desire to have the alcohol industry act responsibly, which it does. No one is forced to drink and as we all have personal freedoms of choice, it is the individual who must ultimately act responsibily.

However, a clear concern is that the issue lies with problem drinks rather than the industry as a whole and more work needs to be done on the issue of vodka and slammer-type drinks, which are more popular with young people.

MPs have rejected what reports suggest is likely to be among the key findings of the Commons health select committee inquiry into the Government’s strategy on alcohol.

However, there has been a wholeheartedly endorsement for another of the group’s forecast recommendations — backing for a minimum statutory price limit for alcohol, I would guess, of between 40p and 50p a unit.

When you can buy strong cider cheaper than water we have a problem with the pricing mechanism used by supermarkets. Nobody wants to hit the occasional drinker, but such discounted prices send the wrong message and encourage young people to drink more and more.

The brewers ploughed vast amounts of money into developing and marketing a brand, only for supermarkets to drive down the prices and sell it at huge discounts in order to get people in. The Responsibility Deal aims to persuade the food and drink industry to make voluntary changes instead of being forced to change their behaviour.

It is expected to see changes made by the food industry while highlighting ‘limited’ action by drinks firms.

This limited action results in the massive costs that society has to bear. We are all too aware of these whenever we visit the A&E or watch any documantary programme where hospitals are struggling to function normally.

The erroneous tax benefits of alcohol, which have been posted previously in an attempt to justify the terrible damage done by alcohol across our society, do not come any where near to meeting this cost.

The negative effects of alcohol abuse damage our NHS, but this in financial terms, I would estimate, is only a fraction of the whole negative effect nationally.

We see the ambulances, we are subject to the violence outburst and abuse but we may not be witnessing the lost days in production due to workers being unable to make it into work.

Clearly, the problem, at a cost annually of billions cannot be ignored, excused or tolerated any longer.

I hope this stimulates serious discussion despite it not being possible to post facts because the links, I am told, do not work. I am aware other posters have had similar problems and have been informed of such throughout SF.

Please feel free to contribute.

In this post I offer an opinion. Where I have listed two specific facts I give the links [http://www. Etc ] to where the extracted facts can be found. The Responsibilitiy Deal now has a link.

 

Having complied with the request by alsionmaniac moderator I hope you enjoy this post and can discuss some of the points I raise.

 

One respondent referred to the value of tax revenues from alcohol sales but I would question the moral attitude of the alcohol industry.

 

I’m not alone as questions have been asked in parliament with one MP who has attacked a report predicted to conclude the alcohol industry is not doing enough to foster a culture of responsible drinking.

 

Such a view has been expressed after leaks suggested the parliamentary inquiry would find the industry had broken pledges to act and should face tougher regulation unless it changed tack.

 

It may not be true to say the industry is not working hard to bring about more responsible drinking as the amount of time and effort put in by brewers to make the Responsibility Deal (agreed between the Government and food and drinks industry) deliver the kind of changes the Government wants to see.

 

However, a clear concern is that the issue lies with problem drinks rather than the industry as a whole and more work needs to be done on the issue of vodka and slammer-type drinks, which are more popular with young people.

 

MPs have rejected what reports suggest is likely to be among the key findings of the Commons health select committee inquiry into the Government’s strategy on alcohol.

 

However, there has been a wholeheartedly endorsement for another of the group’s forecast recommendations — backing for a minimum statutory price limit for alcohol, I would guess, of between 40p and 50p a unit.

 

When you can buy strong cider cheaper than water we have a problem with the pricing mechanism used by supermarkets. Nobody wants to hit the occasional drinker, but such discounted prices send the wrong message and encourage young people to drink more and more.

 

The brewers ploughed vast amounts of money into developing and marketing a brand, only for supermarkets to drive down the prices and sell it at huge discounts in order to get people in. Ministers introduced the Responsibility Deal [http://www.igd.com/.../4931/The-Public-Health-Responsibility-Deal] in a bid to persuade the food and drink industry to make voluntary changes instead of being forced to change their behaviour.

The committee is expected to acknowledge changes made by the food industry while highlighting ‘limited’ action by drinks firms.

 

Evidence heard by the MPs [ reference:https://hansard.parliament.uk]showed alcohol kills almost 15,000 people in Britain each year and costs the UK economy more than £21 billion, including £3.5 billion to the NHS [http://www.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx]

Those figures far out- weigh the erroneous tax benefits of alcohol, which have been posted previously in an attempt to justify the terrible damage done by alcohol across our society.

 

The negative effects of alcohol abuse damage our NHS but this in financial terms, I would estimate, is around 15 per cent of the whole negative effect.

 

We see the ambulances, we are subject to the violence outburst and abuse but we may not be witnessing the lost days in production due to workers being unable to make it into work.

 

Clearly, the problem, at a cost annually of £21 billion cannot be ignored, excused or tolerated any longer. By multiplying the NHS cost I estimate the total. It is not a fact, but an estimation on my part. The only fact referred to has been referenced within the NHS site.

 

I hope this stimulates serious discussion.

Ban this trouble causing person please.

I hope this stimulates serious discussion.

Serious discussion? You're joking right? You haven't discussed this with anyone on this thread, nor made any attempt to as far as I can tell. You just keep putting up big walls of text that for the most part aren't your own work.

What's stopping you from actually engaging in a conversation?

In this post I offer an opinion. Where I have listed two specific facts I give the links [http://www. Etc ] to where the extracted facts can be found. The Responsibilitiy Deal now has a link.

 

Having complied with the request by alsionmaniac moderator I hope you enjoy this post and can discuss some of the points I raise.

 

One respondent referred to the value of tax revenues from alcohol sales but I would question the moral attitude of the alcohol industry.

 

I’m not alone as questions have been asked in parliament with one MP who has attacked a report predicted to conclude the alcohol industry is not doing enough to foster a culture of responsible drinking.

 

Such a view has been expressed after leaks suggested the parliamentary inquiry would find the industry had broken pledges to act and should face tougher regulation unless it changed tack.

 

It may not be true to say the industry is not working hard to bring about more responsible drinking as the amount of time and effort put in by brewers to make the Responsibility Deal (agreed between the Government and food and drinks industry) deliver the kind of changes the Government wants to see.

 

However, a clear concern is that the issue lies with problem drinks rather than the industry as a whole and more work needs to be done on the issue of vodka and slammer-type drinks, which are more popular with young people.

 

MPs have rejected what reports suggest is likely to be among the key findings of the Commons health select committee inquiry into the Government’s strategy on alcohol.

 

However, there has been a wholeheartedly endorsement for another of the group’s forecast recommendations — backing for a minimum statutory price limit for alcohol, I would guess, of between 40p and 50p a unit.

 

When you can buy strong cider cheaper than water we have a problem with the pricing mechanism used by supermarkets. Nobody wants to hit the occasional drinker, but such discounted prices send the wrong message and encourage young people to drink more and more.

 

The brewers ploughed vast amounts of money into developing and marketing a brand, only for supermarkets to drive down the prices and sell it at huge discounts in order to get people in. Ministers introduced the Responsibility Deal [http://www.igd.com/.../4931/The-Public-Health-Responsibility-Deal] in a bid to persuade the food and drink industry to make voluntary changes instead of being forced to change their behaviour.

The committee is expected to acknowledge changes made by the food industry while highlighting ‘limited’ action by drinks firms.

 

Evidence heard by the MPs [ reference:https://hansard.parliament.uk]showed alcohol kills almost 15,000 people in Britain each year and costs the UK economy more than £21 billion, including £3.5 billion to the NHS [http://www.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx]

Those figures far out- weigh the erroneous tax benefits of alcohol, which have been posted previously in an attempt to justify the terrible damage done by alcohol across our society.

 

The negative effects of alcohol abuse damage our NHS but this in financial terms, I would estimate, is around 15 per cent of the whole negative effect.

 

We see the ambulances, we are subject to the violence outburst and abuse but we may not be witnessing the lost days in production due to workers being unable to make it into work.

 

Clearly, the problem, at a cost annually of £21 billion cannot be ignored, excused or tolerated any longer. By multiplying the NHS cost I estimate the total. It is not a fact, but an estimation on my part. The only fact referred to has been referenced within the NHS site.

 

I hope this stimulates serious discussion.

Boy this is heavy reading. I don't drink anymore for health reasons but I won't go on and on like this its personal choice at the end of the day this heavy posting will not encourage people to debate it.

 

Having complied with the request by alsionmaniac moderator I hope you enjoy this post and can discuss some of the points I raise.

First can you correct your links so they work and then maybe we could discuss what you allege they say.

He just continues to ignore facts about moderate drinking and bang on about drinking to excess.

Nobody disagrees that drinking to excess is harmful, he's strawmanning with that argument.

The points he fails to engage with (because of cognitive dissonance at a guess) are about moderate drinking and how it's actually beneficial to health, compared to his t-total regime.