LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Chronicle (Levin), 30 November 1946, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A.

SALMOND.

illusions and facts Sir, — It is a lack of social responsibility in the community rather than a more intellig'ent appreciation of the place of alcohol in social life which causes many people to have few opinions and no eonvictions about tpe control of the liquor trade in New Zealand. The pature and use of a conlmodity which the State insists should be sold under licence, is lost sight of in a welter of personal preference and vague popular prejudice. Alcohol is a wonderful pick-me-up. That illusion has been going the rounds for, a long time now. In industry, art and commerce, alcohol has many uses, but when alcohol is put into the human body it becomes a dangerous narcotic. Scientific investigation has shown that even very moderate amounts of alcohol dull the higher centres of the human brain long before

there is any visible effect on the muscular control of the body. The sense of careless well-being, bodily comfort and mental ease which alcohol influces is the result of nothing other than its narcotic effect on the higher brain centres. There is an attitude of mind existing in the community that gives ready credence td" the statement that only weaklings succumb to over-indulgence in alcohol. A virile man knows when he has had enougli and avoids excess. So far as present knowledge goes, it is those with good. brains and highly' sensitised nervous systems who are most likely to succumb to alcohol. No class of drinker is immune from over-indulgence. In all classes alcohol has the same reactions. It sets up a craving for itself. Drugs have a habit of doing that, and no one who starts drinking in moderation can be sure that he is not going to be among those who are vietims of excess. What some

people will beiieve must sometimes make the angels weep. The statement that bad liquor is the cause of all trouble and that the pure unadulterated stuff would end all the trouble is an example. Chemists tell the world it is ethyl alcohol which has narcotic effects, and ethyl alcohol is the legal ingredient in alcoholic beverages. The higher the percentage of the ingredient, the more potent the drink is. Contrary to what is commonly asserted, the experience of the United States of America was that bootleg liquor was much less harmful than the ordinary article of commerce. The bootlegger was no fool, and saw to it that he added the maximum amount of water his customers would accept. Any alcoholic beverage will produce effects proportionate to the amount of alcohol in it and, if the effects are bad, they will be worse with a higher content of alcohol. We are moving into a world where some people are wondering whether anything they do is their own business. Yet numbers of our fellow citizens come over all solemn when they pronounce, "It's a raan's own business whether he drinks or not." If they added "water" after "drinks" the world would agree, but when a man cannot keep the effects of what he drinks to himself, the loudest assertion of fundamental rights does not win any assent. On the roads the driver under the influence of liquor is a menace to me and »mine and you and yours. Further,. drink is responsible for a considerable amount of economic inefficiency, wasted time, accidents and sicknesses,' and these are of concern to the community as a whole. Drink becomes everybody's business when unwelcome consequences flow from what the drinker claims to be his business alone. So much for some illiisions. Now for some facts, hard and cold enough to satisfy the most exacting. New Zealand's drink bixl in 1945 was £13,480,850, £8 ls per head of the population and 18 per cent. of the total income. Of the total incomfe of New Zealand, about 30 per cent. is spent on houseliold gOods, food, etc., 22 per cent. goes

m rent, and 13 per cent. on clotning and footwear. Eighteen per cent. on drink seems on the steep side in comparison with the lieeds met or values obtained. Facts are stubborn things, and even a most prosperous and fortunate people cannot safely spend eighteen per cent. of its income on a licensed commodity, the effects of which, to say the least, are unproductive and uncreative of any permanent elements of the good life. Yours etc.,

Levin, Nov. 29.