Alcohol - The Biggest Burden To The Economy - By Far.

[10ClarionSt]

The case of Ant McPartlin shows how much the effects of alcohol can be. Hospital fees, insurance costs, court costs, personal trauma etc. If he had been seen smoking his head off, the whole country would have been outraged. The cost of alcohol to the NHS is ten times the cost of treating smoking related illnesses. But if you know someone who "likes a drink", it's sort of funny isn't it? Well is it?!

[emmie]

i wonder what the stats are for drink related illnesses, deaths?

[jno]

just adding that to the pot

he smokes that too, DarceyK? There's no end to his depravity.

[ludwig]

It might be a burden on the NHS, but certainly not the economy.

[DarceyK123]

Jno - ha ha! It appears not! Not so squeaky clean as many folk thought.

[bainbrig]

I'm an ex-alcoholic, which doesn't make me an expert in the subject of the NHS and taxes, but does give me some insight into the problem.

A government with morals and balls (or a gender-free equivalent) would treat alcohol, marijuana, and other 'softer' drugs equally. Either legalise them all, or ban them all.

Certainly a good first step would be to make drinking less respectable. Ban it from advertising, including 2nd-hand advertising on TV. Allow drinking, like smoking, in uninviting little booths outside buildings, where addicts could get their fix. Teach abstinence in schools. Jack up the prices. Make drinking in the eyes of future generations like smoking is becoming - socially unacceptable.

It is a drug. That's what it's there for. To distance you from reality.

BB

[Zacs-Master]

Bainbrig, this is precisely why the Govt won’t ostracise or make an example of alcohol users:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/284336/united-kingdom-hmrc-tax-receipts-alcohol-duties-by-type/

[bainbrig]

Zacs. I said "A government with morals and balls", which is one that wouldn't let such mundane matters as 'how much money do we make out of this misery?' a valid question.

And while they were about it, they could BAN fixed odds betting machines, or restrict them to a one-pound bet (every 10 minutes!)

[Garaman]

I wouldn't like to see something banned that many enjoy, simply because some misuse it.