What does all this mean? It's hard to say. Even raising the alcohol tax won't stop Finns from getting intentionally drunk the average 32 times a year that they already do. It's likely that they will either go for even cheaper booze, like koskenkorva (much stronger than beer) and drink in their homes instead of in the bars and clubs, or else alcohol will become more precious a commodity and it will be reserved for times when one can really get plastered instead of grabbing a pint after work (yes I know, the finns can't count to one, nonetheless). Even if people drink less frequently it doesn't fix the problem of abuse. Of course this is all just my guessing, but I'd say it's legit and tax isn't the answer.
Gonna try to catch up on posting finally this weekend. Here's the article text in English:
Finnish alarm over alcohol deaths
"I only drank 12 bottles of beer on Friday night."
It is not unusual for young Finnish girls of 15 to make comments like that. The most common cause of death for Finns aged 45+ is brain damage as a result of heavy drinking.
On average, Finns get drunk – deliberately – 32 times a year!
Alarm bells have started to ring among politicians involved in welfare issues.
Markku Heikkilä is a journalist and editorial writer for the popular Finnish newspaper Kalevaas well as a regular contributor to AnalysNorden, the Nordic Council of Ministers' monthly web magazine featuring political analyses from all of the Nordic countries. In the most recent edition of AnalysNorden, which is published today, Heikkilä paints a shocking picture of what a major cut in the price of alcohol can lead to, especially for social groups already marginalised in Finland.
"In the grand scheme of things, the Finns are doing altogether fine," Heikkilä says. But, he continues, averages never reveal the whole truth. Last autumn it emerged that 20-30% of kids in Greater Helsinki grow up in families with abuse problems, violence, crime and other forms of neglect. This number has increased rapidly in an extremely short period of time, much to the shock of the general public in Finland.
Even though the causes are not solely linked to extreme alcohol consumption, Heikkilä points out that a mere two years ago Finland was propelled into a huge socio-political experiment: what happens if duty on alcohol is suddenly cut by a third, and duty on spirits by 40%? The answer is literally to be found, according to Heikkilä, on the streets, with increasing numbers of drunks staggering about towns at the weekend.
So why this the experiment? Well, the main reason for the drastic price cuts was that Estonia was about to join the EU and, as a result, import restrictions had to be abolished. In Finland, it was feared that this would lead to huge amounts of cheap spirits from Estonia flooding the country. Import levels are now under control. So now the Finns are drinking alcohol bought in Finland and abroad, Heikkilä notes ironically.
It now looks as if there is a majority in the population and in parliament in favour of increasing duties, and possibly of cutting opening hours in off-licenses. The next general election is in 2007 and any new government is expected to discuss raising the price of alcohol quite considerably.
Alcohol policies in the Nordic Region will be debated during the Nordic Council Session in Copenhagen 30 October – 2 November. Welfare policies in the Nordic countries will also be an important theme during the general debate this year.
1 comment:
is it just me or does getting drunk deliberately 32 times a year not seem that much??? Maybe it's cos I live in the dregs of Britain. But I can think of students who go out at least once a week to get drunk. That's 52 times a year. But usually it's more. And when I was at home over the summer and we were working every night, we'd go out after work almost every other night, which in 3 months is 45 times! And the crazy thing is I don't go out nearly as much as when we were in Finland. We'd be out at least once a week...usually 3, 4, 5 times a week. The day I met you James started the going out 11 times in 15 nights. So if the average is getting drunk less than once a week, almost as low as once every two weeks is it really such a bad thing?????
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