Will Views on Alcohol Change If We Really Do Elect A New Government?

Only a few hours to go and it all seems very frantic on the election front, I've heard about the economy, Trident, immigration, and hung parliaments, but not much about alcohol.

As the results come in I'm wondering if alcohol will be the first choice to do some 'mind altering' as celebrations and commiserations get underway. Will it be shock and awe, or just more of the same? We'll know soon enough and hopefully the political 'punch and Judy' show will settle into the serious business of making a real difference to the lives of so many people who so desperately need some hope.

To date the political views on alcohol have been generally the same across the three main parties. They all seek to control the alcohol intake of the population by increasing prices and providing fear based messages about the damage alcohol causes to health and so on. So we can expect to see new labelling with stark warnings and 'problem' drinks such as high alcohol content cider and beer increasing in price.

In my opinion these actions will have little effect. I believe that the research that they are based on is straight out of text books but are reliant on the respondents telling the truth. That in itself can be a big problem with alcohol, I told lies about my drinking and almost without exception all of my clients have admitted lying about their alcohol intake when asked.

In our society, the alcohol is not the problem, it is a symptom of a much bigger problem that makes our economic challenges look relatively straightforward. Humans use alcohol to change the way they feel and think in the short term, and more and more drinking is being hidden away and takes place among the politicians favourite 'the hard working families'. Problem 'solving'  is focused on the young 'binge drinkers' and obvious alcoholics while the bigger and growing area of 'middle class' alcohol misuse is largely ignored. From what I see that bubble is ready to burst and may require a dramatic re-think on exactly what a 'problem drinker' really is.

Fact is we need to consider whether drinking alcohol is normal and responsible. Just because we have been drinking alcohol for centuries doesn't make it 'normal'. Consider for a moment what we do. We drink a toxic, poisonous mind altering substance, that gives us no nutrition, no return on our financial investment, damages our bodies and collectively costs us billions a year in health care. Is that really 'normal'?

Will the next government be courageous enough to accept to fully understand and come to terms with why we endorse the use of the recreational drug we call alcohol but not cannabis? What exactly is the difference? Is it perhaps that one produces tax revenue jobs and export income? Is that why we call it normal? Is anyone brave enough to admit that perhaps that could just be that simple? Is the King in the altogether?

I am hoping that whoever end up being elected will be honest and truthful about the fact that they don't really understand what is going on with the UK's alcohol issues.That admission in itself will be a starting point for a strategy to change millions of lives in a way that we can all embrace.