A report titled ‘Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere’ was published in May
this year by two neo-temperance research and lobby groups - the UK’s Institute
of Alcohol Studies (IAS) and Australia’s Foundation for Alcohol Research and
Education (FARE). If anyone was in any doubt that so-called ‘public health’ is
a far-left socialist project opposed to consumer capitalism in all its forms,
then take a look at this report and at the organisations that stand behind it.
The report is a comprehensive articulation of one of the three strands
of neo-temperance, anti-alcohol strategy, namely, reducing the physical
availability of beverage alcohol products – hence the title. The other two
strands are affordability and advertising. IAS and FARE want to reduce all
three as part of a whole population approach to alcohol harm reduction. I will
give a detailed analysis of this report in Propel Quarterly, but here’s a
taster:
The report comes up with 10 recommendations, all aimed at reducing
alcohol consumption:
1.
Restrict trading hours for off-licence liquor.
2.
Restrict trading hours of on-licence venues to
limit the availability of alcohol after midnight.
3.
Improve regulation of off-licence liquor sales
by confining alcohol to specific areas within supermarkets to discourage
impulse purchases and reduce alcohol sales.
4.
Enhance community involvement - provide
residents with access to legal resources and advice to ensure that the
community is able to engage with licensing systems.
5.
Clearly define licensing policy to minimise the
cumulative harm associated with higher densities of liquor outlets.
6.
Place the onus on applicants to prove that their
venue is in the public interest.
7.
Include and prioritise public health and/or harm
minimisation objectives in liquor legislation.
8.
Enhance data sharing to facilitate more targeted
policy interventions.
9.
Restrict the sale of high risk products in areas
of concern.
10. Deprioritise
alcohol industry voluntary schemes.
Neo-temperance campaign groups like IAS and FARE believe that it’s the
availability of alcohol that makes people drink it; that supply begets demand.
The fact that such a proposition turns established economic theory on its head
bothers them not one jot. You might think that the wish-list of a bunch or
temperance cranks isn’t worth the effort of rebutting, but these are the same
temperance cranks that hugely influenced the Chief Medical Officers’ of Health
revised ‘low risk’ drinking guidelines. The IAS is very experienced at
insinuating itself and its advocates into positions of influence.
They always play down their temperance aspirations and their broader ideology,
but IAS is owned by a charity called Alliance House on whose board sits a
variety of temperance organisations. Essentially the IAS is the research arm of
the International Order of Good Templars (IOGT) and their offices are located
at the same address in London. So, it’s worth looking at what IOGT believe if
we are to understand the underlying motives of IAS.
IOGT believe that Big Alcohol is part of something they call the
“corporate consumption complex”, which they define as: “an intricate web of organizations including the
multination corporations manufacturing the goods of consumer capitalism, retail
giants selling those products, trade associations doing the political lobbying
as well as advertising and law firms supporting PR and political campaigns
of these industries.”
And then this:
“Together with Big
Tobacco, the food, pharmaceutical, firearms and automobile industries, the
alcohol industry forms the so-called corporate consumption complex – a network
of corporations, financial institutions, banks, trade associations,
advertising, lobbying and legal firms that together promote “hyper
consumption”.
“The corporate
consumption complex has become the most powerful force to impact human health
and the communities in which humans live. It is the primary modifiable cause of
the biggest cause of premature mortality in the 21st century, Non-communicable
diseases.”
So, there you have it - IAS and IOGT aren’t simply opposed to
excessive consumption of alcohol and the health harms associated with that,
they are opposed to the modern world! It’s all a conspiracy! They regard the
pharmaceutical industry as part of this corporate consumption complex – as part
of what causes non-communicable diseases. Have they heard of anti-biotics? And
the automobile industry – get rid of cars! When you read through IOGT’s
detailed analysis of what is wrong with modern society they are not just
enemies of alcohol but are at odds with consumer capitalism – run by a bunch of
bad-guys intent on putting profit before public health; apparently we all
believe it is in our economic self-interest for our customers to die
prematurely!
What is implied by their analysis is that the only way for us to live
is to embrace a kind of woolly, agrarian communitarianism – back to the horse
and cart, lots of brown rice and above all a life free of alcohol or any other
intoxicant by means of which human beings might change their consciousness.
I think both our sector and government needs to be more aware of the
ideology underpinning neo-temperance, and what it means for business and our
society if these crackpots are successful in propagating their influence. Keep
watching this space.
Paul Chase
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