Friday, April 27, 2007

Alcohol Concern

In common with most northern Europeans, the British have an enduring, and some would say unhealthy, obsession with alcohol. The Victorian temperance movements were no more than a blip in over a millennium of hard drinking, which is why Alcohol Concern's latest attempts to foist their revisionist morality on the rest of society stand absolutely no chance of ever becoming law.

The anachronistic, mollycoddling attitudes of groups like Alcohol Concern do more harm than good to young people. Across continental Europe, children who are taught to use alcohol responsibly grow up with far healthier attitudes than British teenagers, who drink only to get drunk as quickly and as cheaply as possible.

In moderation - and for many of us even in excess - alcohol is a normal and enjoyable part of life. If we're serious about tackling alcohol abuse, we need to start teaching more and prohibiting less.

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