LET'S FACE REALITY ON ALCOHOL USE

From Sooke to London to Victoria, our confused and destructive
attitudes toward drugs and alcohol have been on display of late.

In Sooke, Coun. Herb Haldane urged the RCMP detachment to be more
relaxed about enforcing laws against drinking in public. He was
concerned that officers had seized beer from hockey players after a
game.

The acting commander, Cpl. Scott Hilderley, saw it differently. Sooke
has about 50 per cent more alcohol-related files than Ladysmith, which
is a comparable size, he noted. The numerous roadside shrines for
people killed in alcohol-related crashes show why enforcement is needed.

Haldane was reflecting our attitudes toward alcohol. It's part of our
culture and a remarkably popular drug.

But, perhaps because of the way we have chosen to treat other
substances, we're reluctant to acknowledge that it is addictive and
frequently destructive.

Even raising the issue is risky. In London, British Health Minister
Alan Johnson has just fired David Nutt, the government's senior drug
adviser. Nutt is a professor and international expert on drug use. His
offence was to deliver a lecture, based on recent research, in which
he said the evidence showed alcohol and tobacco were more dangerous
drugs than ecstasy, LSD or marijuana.

Johnson didn't say he disagreed with those facts. Nutt shouldn't have
expressed an opinion on the issue, he said.

Nutt was obviously correct. By any measure -- damage to the body, risk
of addiction, social and medical costs, crime -- alcohol and tobacco
are more destructive than the three recreational drugs.

Johnson too was just reflecting our collective hypocrisy. Britain has
a huge alcohol problem. Binge drinking starts early and persists late
into life. Public drunkenness and violence have become embedded in the
culture.

Which leads to Victoria and Halloween. It was striking that, despite
the disruption of the torch relay, that event and the accompanying
protest went off with no arrests, injuries or property damage.

The next night, Halloween, was much different. Police across the
region were kept busy with out-of-control parties. Victoria police
dealt with even more downtown drunkenness, fights and stupidity than
on a typical Saturday night. Two officers were injured keeping the
peace.

The common factor in all that was alcohol abuse.

People aren't going to stop drinking. It is, for most, a useful social
drug. Used in moderation, it helps people relax and makes them more
sociable.

But alcohol is also our second-deadliest recreational drug, trailing
well behind tobacco. The medical expenses are tremendous. The social
costs are even greater, from family breakdown to lost jobs to the
flood of offenders in our courts because of drunken stupidity.

The starting point is to recognize that and craft public policy to
limit the damage done. That means enforcement when laws are broken,
and taking a second look at the way we promote and encourage alcohol
consumption.

Government policy has in recent years treated alcohol much like any
other commodity. The number of places where people can buy it has
increased from 785 to more than 1,300. At almost any hour of the day
or night, a local liquor store is open for business.

Unlike tobacco manufacturers, liquor corporations aren't required to
include warnings about the risks.

Almost 60 per cent of B.C. high school students have had a drink even
though they are under age. Of that group, 45 per cent reported binge
drinking -- consuming five or more drinks within a couple of hours --
within the previous 30 days.

Alcohol remains the drug of choice for our young people, in part
because of its falsely benign image. Yet there is plenty of evidence
of the damage that alcohol can do.

We need to educate everyone, from children to hockey players to
politicians, that it is still possible to have fun while drinking
responsibly.

In many countries -- even in other provinces -- liquor is sold in
corner stores and at all hours, but does not result in mayhem. A
better understanding of alcohol's effects might help us to catch up
with other jurisdictions.

Our attitudes and actions toward alcohol are doing us great harm. We
must move out of denial and face reality.