Report to the People
Help for Those With Alcohol Problems
As the sun splits the skies, there can be few more pleasant ways to spend an evening than sitting outside, watching the sun set behind the hills and having a couple of drinks.
But while for most of us this is simply an enjoyable way to socialise and relax, many people suffer untold misery as a result of an addiction to drink.
Twice as many people are dependent on drink as on all other drugs put together. In the Argyll & Clyde Health Board area, 82% of adults are drinkers. 7% of those drink six or seven days of the week and nearly a quarter of men have a weekly alcohol intake in excess of 21 units.
People can be dismissive of alcohol problems. But a look at the figures shows us how wrong this is. From liver and kidney problems, to street assaults, to domestic violence, and even to brain damage, alcohol abuse costs the NHS in Argyll & Clyde £14.5 million every year.
But tackling the problem does not only make economic sense. It makes sense for everyone whose lives, whose families’ lives, have been ruined through this addiction. Alcohol is a factor in half of all crime and in 75% of stabbings. It is cited in a third of all divorces and child protection cases.
Last week I attended a rededication ceremony at the Salvation Army’s Fewster House in Greenock, where, in the words of centre manager, Dean Logan, people from all walks of life will be given help to recover from their addiction with "all the expertise of professionals and all the enthusiasm of amateurs."
The Scottish Parliament is determined to play its part in addressing Scotland’s alcohol addiction problems. Some of the recently announced £2 million which is going to those suffering from mental health problems will be used to help people with alcohol related brain damage.
A major consultation has also begun over reform of the licensing laws, amid concerns that Happy Hours and other drinks promotions, combined with fixed closing times, result in binge drinking. Such problems do not exist to the same extent on the continent where licensing laws are far more relaxed. The Parliament is therefore looking at how we can make licensing laws promote public health rather than undermine it.
This action on all levels must continue if we are to address our alcohol problems and be able to carry on enjoying a drink and socialising, without letting it take control.
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