Alcohol Consumption in India
Context:
- This year’s Diwali saw record-breaking alcohol sales, according to most media. varying Indian states have varying laws governing the sale of alcohol (some prohibiting it, some regulating it). The laws governing the sale of alcohol appear to be inconsistent throughout states.
How much alcohol is healthy to consume?
- Because alcohol damages the liver and increases the risk of heart disease, it is viewed as detrimental from a medical perspective.
- Based on Western research, medical professionals and the WHO have long maintained that moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial to health.
- The medical community has not always been vociferous about alcohol control, and the way doctors crowd around alcohol counters at conferences suggests that they support alcohol consumption.
To what extent does society allow alcohol abuse?
- According to society, abuse occurs when a person is unable to carry out their responsibilities or frequently causes trouble for other members of their family or the community.
- We only consider a problem worthy of public attention when its externalities—domestic violence, road accidents, and family impoverishment—become more noticeable.
- When someone suffers from an alcohol use disorder, such as liver cirrhosis, the common belief is that there’s no point in showing sympathy.
- The majority of national studies conducted over the past five years reveal that between 20 and 25 percent of males and 1 to 2 percent of women use alcohol, and that one in five of them abuse it or become dependent on it and require treatment.
- Historically, men have tended to abuse alcohol on women. That’s why women have spearheaded the majority of societal protests against alcohol.
Alcohol usage and hypocrisy in Indian society:
- We believe that while the wealthy are free to do as they choose, the impoverished should act appropriately since they cannot afford this behaviour.
- While most tribal tribes openly welcome alcohol usage, upper castes take a moral high ground and link it with “tamasic” food.
- It is blatantly hypocritical of many Indians, especially those from higher castes, to drink alcohol at home but not in public.
- Drinking alcohol is considered as irresponsible behaviour by politicians, especially women, even if it may not affect their performance.
- Despite ample proof that alcohol has long been a part of our culture, some view it as a corruption introduced by Western culture.
- There has always been a religious perspective on alcohol drinking.
- While Christianity views it as permissive and Islam condemns its drinking, nothing in Hinduism prohibits the use of alcohol.
- A lot of religious groups forbid consuming it.
- Society has achieved a balance by forbidding it on certain days while permitting it on others.
The WHO recently changed the alcohol intake limit:
- In response to pressure from public health and activist groups, the World Health Organisation recently modified its stance from “some alcohol is good” to “no alcohol is good.”
- When international goals were being established in 2013, the World Health Organisation and a few nations chose to reduce alcohol use harmfully by 10%.
- India decided to cut alcohol consumption by 10%, not just the hazardous kind.
Examples of inconsistent state laws pertaining to the sale and consumption of alcohol include:
- For instance, Haryana, which experimented with prohibition in the 1990s, now has a licencing system that has led to the placement of alcohol vending machines in Faridabad and Gurgaon every few hundred metres.
- The possibility for alcohol sales to generate cash has motivated these actions.
- Delhi and Haryana have a history of adjusting state taxes in competition. Delhi’s contentious alcohol policy, which was reversed the previous year, permitted discounts from vendors.
- Kerala is an additional instance where the state government reversed its partial restriction because to the necessity of generating cash.
- After experiencing several drunk driving accidents, the Tamil Nadu government decided to sell alcohol through the State Marketing Corporation in order to protect the public.
- The majority of states are afraid of losing money if they include alcohol in the GST system.
- In Gujarat, prohibition is a Gandhian legacy that people are reluctant to touch.
- The predominantly Christian state of Mizoram has long enforced prohibition but recently authorised local vineyards in response to public outcry.
- The idea of official “dry days,” or salary days when alcohol sales and consumption in public are prohibited mostly due to religious beliefs, originated in India.
- Get informed these days so that others are not inconvenienced and can purchase in advance.
- The politicians and the bureaucracy do not prioritise health as the main goal of policy.
What laws can be passed to prevent excessive alcohol consumption?
- A public health strategy to reduce alcohol use is similar to that used to reduce tobacco use, including raising taxes, banning marketing, restricting access (such as licencing and age bars on sales), and increasing awareness.
Regulatory policy enforcement’s shortcomings:
- There is very little enforcement of regulatory policies.
- Despite the prohibition on advertising, alcohol companies have broken the rules by using surrogate advertising, as shown in the current World Cup of cricket.
- The governments have turned a blind eye.
- A suitable legislative remedy may resolve this breach, but governments have not indicated that they intend to do so.
- In conclusion, society needs to have honest, nonjudgmental conversations about this ambivalence and hypocrisy. Debates are necessary regarding the purported importance of religion, the false dichotomy between traditionalism and modernism, and the trade-offs between revenue generating and mitigating health effects.
