Bottle conditioned: the binge cult

T he residents of Rabat woke up to a very unpleasant site one Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago. The beautiful recently embellished public garden was brutally vandalised; lamp posts were uprooted and broken and a bench was also uprooted and thrown in the football pitch below. Through the CCTV cameras the police got to know that the perpetrators of this dark fun was a group of youths totally inebrieted with the litres of alcohol they had consumed, as evidenced by the large number of bottles in a litter bin nearby.
If this were just an isolated incident, I wouldn’t have bothered writing about it as I believe that all societies have their criminals in the same way they have their law abiding citizens. Unfortunately, however, it is not the case, as any weary and desperate resident in Swieqi can tell you after countless weekend mornings clearing vomit from their front porches and putting up with all sorts of din in the middle of every weekend and festive night to boot. The same happens at every village festa, every hot summer weekend when at most times there are more alcohol-soaked carcasses and bottles strewn all over the pjazza than confetti and firework remnants. It is a reality for anyone who wants to see it that alcohol is as part of our lives as mobile phones and the internet.
We drink at home, we drink when we go out, we drink when we get married, we drink when a child is born and baptised, we drink to drown our sorrows when someone dies or we are jilted. We drink for every God foresaken reason that pops in our mind and not only that. We give drinking a positive aura of an entity that makes you look hip and cool, something that only the strong and the worthy do. It is there, plastered on every billboard, every commercial, every movie or soap opera where alcohol comes in the picture. People, especially youngsters, who don’t drink are looked down upon as nerds or “no-lifes”, miserable souls who are missing out on life and its most ecstatic pleasures.
It is no wonder that our children are brought up to believe that drinking is an okay thing to do and associate it with pleasure and having fun. Most youngsters nowadays go out intent on becoming of the same composition as their bowel contents, their idea of fun being “bar hopping” or buying whole bottles of alcohol, then drinking themselves senseless on pavements and in pubic gardens. Unlike hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, alcohol is not looked down upon as a criminal activity but is socially acceptable by many, even in its most extreme forms.
While most of us, including parents and educators, would behave like Chicken Licken when faced with a falling sky at the sight of an insulin needle or a suspicious sachet, others, even those in the ecclesiastical sector, turn a very blind eye to alchohol abuse on the false assumption that it does no harm if it happens only a few days a week. However, it does, and how, especially since due to adaptation more alcohol consumption would progressively be required to attain the same inebriating effect.
Research on adolescent brain development showed that heavy alcohol drinking has deleterious effects on brain development resulting in poor academic performance, decreased ability in planning and executive functioning, memory, spatial operations and attention. Too much alcohol also has toxic effects on the body, especially on the cardiovascular system, the liver and the stomach. Heavy alcohol drinkers are more susceptible to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, oesophageal and stomach cancers and varices (enlarged veins which can eventually rupture and cause fatal bleeding), and liver disease especially cirrhosis, which is the progressive destruction of liver cells usually resulting in liver failure.
The depressive effect it has on the nervous system also slows one’s responses and its inebriating effect makes one more reckless in behaviour, especially in the young where irresponsible behaviour is already so characteristic. In fact, there is an increased risk of potentially fatal or maiming traffic accidents and falls, unwarranted sexual behaviour and criminal activity with chronic alcohol abuse in the young age group which goes to stress the Medusa grip this drug can have on our society.
The Chief Medical Officer in the UK recently issued a consultation document on children, young people and alcohol following a significant rise in alcohol consumption in the 11- to 15-year age group in the British Isles. This document, which was drawn with experts in the field together with parents and young people themselves discussed the health implications of alcohol abuse and gave support ideas and advice to young people and to parents in ways to discuss alcohol with their children. An annex was added at the end of the document with a list of questions to give the opportunity to all concerned to give their feedback on the document and any other opinions on ways in which to curb such a social affliction.
This, in my opinion, is a stupendous way both on the part of the state and the medical field in reaching out, not just giving support and advice but also in listening and taking ideas from the public, an idea to emulate and expand upon. Hiding our heads in the sand thinking the problem is not there or that it will go away on its own and playing the shifting blame game is as bad as passing our youngsters the bottle ourselves. Our children are our creation, our choice, our responsibility and they deserve us to be the best role models, the best teachers and the best support. As Whitney Houston said, our role is to “teach them that and let them the way”.

Source: Weekender, February 21, 2009