‘IN POLICY TERMS
, it’s a relatively new drug on
the block,’ began Colin Drummond, consultant
psychiatrist at the National Addiction Centre.
He emphasised that there was a ‘policy
vacuum’ where alcohol was concerned,
comparing it to tobacco, which had been
tackled much more successfully.
In 2012, the EU alcohol strategy had
expired, and the European Commission had
neither reinstated the old strategy nor
brought out a new one. The House of Lords
had published an EU alcohol strategy report,
laying out the need for policy to be entirely
independent, free from ‘vested interests’, and
without influence from the industry – which
‘had no place at the table when designing
policies,’ he said.
Statistics provided by the AMPHORA
research project identified a huge variation of
access to treatment throughout Europe, said
Drummond – for instance, 23.3 per cent of
problem drinkers had access in Italy,
compared to 6.4 per cent in the UK – with
similar variances across local authorities
within the UK.
In London, for example, things were
‘beginning to get better,’ said Dr Helen
Walters, head of health at the Greater London
Authority (GLA). London alcohol death rates
weren’t as bad as other places in the country
– but alcohol-related crimes had a much
higher rate.
She said that the GLA had focused on
keeping alcohol on the public and government
agenda. We could change how people were
drinking, she said, ‘partly by changing politics,
partly by changing public outlook.’
Putting alcohol policy within a cultural
context, James Nicholls from Alcohol Research
said that ‘there are lessons to be learned from
the history of alcohol policy.’
Consumption levels had gone up and
down throughout history, with the most
significant recent reduction in consumption
among young people – not just in the UK, but
right across the board. ‘Something is
happening here’ said Nicholls, ‘but we don’t
know what it is.’
‘Drinking cultures aren’t static,’ he said –
they have changed and changed quite quickly.
Policy impacts were unpredictable, and
changes occurred differently in different
populations and generations.
There was a need to develop more
advanced theories – policy worked within a
cultural environment, and would have
different effects depending on the culture
around it, he said.
When thinking of new ways to engage
drinkers, ‘being honest about the pleasure of
drugs and alcohol is important,’ said Dr Adam
Winstock, director of the Global Drugs Survey.
There were a wide variety of different
relationships to alcohol across Europe, he said.
The UK, for example, had the highest rate of
turning up to work hungover, but also had
one of the highest rates of awareness of
drinking guidelines.
The countries that tended to drink more
were the ones that wanted help to drink
less – but were also reluctant to change
their behaviour.
ConferenCe report
16 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| May 2015
Colin
Drummond, Dr
Helen Walters,
James Nicholls
and Dr Adam
Winstock
examine
attitudes to,
and differences
in, alcohol
consumption
across Europe.
Speakers called for a fresh look at policy and new ways to engage drinkers at the European Alcohol
Conference, held at the Guildhall last month.
Kayleigh Hutchins
reports
‘We underestimate our personal
vulnerability to harm,’ said Winstock –
pointing out that individuals not only enjoyed
drinking, but rationalised and normalised
their behaviour when it suited them, so they
were more likely to accept the harms of
drinking and drug taking.
The UK had the highest rate of
‘normative misconception’ in the world, with
most people with alcohol dependence going
undiagnosed – people didn’t know they
were alcoholics.
We needed a different way to engage
people, he said. The idea of stopping
completely was difficult to understand,
whereas simply reducing the amount
consumed was more palatable. ‘We need to
start a dialogue with people who drink so they
just drink a little bit less,’ he said.
Shake it up
The UK had the highest
rate of ‘normative
misconception’ in the
world, withmost
people with alcohol
dependence going
undiagnosed – people
didn’t know they were
alcoholics.
