Comments on: SVD anti-alcohol series

By: Gwrhyr

Gwrhyr — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:14:16 +0000

I really with agree with Karyl Severson, demonization gets old fast, as it simply does not solve any of the problems associated with whatever is being demonized. Systembolaget is running a propaganda campaign aimed at Brussels about how alcohol is not “just another commodity like rhubarb”; the campaign relies on showing a series of alcohol-related tragedies, and then says, without providing any explanation as to how, that the Swedish alcohol policy works. But the fact is, it doesn’t work. If it worked, SVD would not have the fodder of alcohol scare stories to publish all the time.
As it is, the Swedish policy punishes moderate alcohol consumers and faciliates easier binge drinking. As counter-intuitive as that sounds, it makes sense when you realize that the limited opening hours cause alcoholics to stock up on alcohol and that going to a store that only sells alcohol, where people are surrounded by others making the exact same purchases, can reinforce someone’s denial of a problem they might have with it. Basically, if you treat something neurotically, society will use it neurotically.
This moralism and demonization reminds me too much of my homeland, the USA, where a lot of things are demonized, resulting in no positive change. Swedes, like most foreigners, tend to laugh at those neuroses, but mention a Swedish neurosis like alcohol, and they act like Sarah Palin would if you tried to talk about gun-control.

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By: vinfrihet

vinfrihet — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:53:33 +0000

The main point I believe is that if a product is legally available but has proven negative effects for society (like alcohol and tobacco) then demonizing it does not foster a responsible attitude towards consumption. Swedish public health policy for alcohol has been based upon restriction and highlighting the harmful effects. It does not work.

Everyone should know the harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, unsafe sex, swimming in dangerous places, driving too fast or DUI, throwing things out of high windows or flushing old medicines down the toilet etc but at the same time we teach our children how to resonsibly consume alcohol, have safe consensual sexual relations, learn to swim, get a license and drive a car safely and always take responsibility for your own actions. The government can not replace the role of taking responsibilty for oneself.

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By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:31:36 +0000

RAP – Alcohol is as much a killer as crossing the road (both are preventable), stop all this melodrama please. And before throwing around top 10 lists of preventable deaths, do some research and state fact, putting Alcohol & Smoking 1 & 2 is just a pure lie.

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By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:15:39 +0000

This has been going on for the 6 years I’ve been in this country. You hit the nail on the head with the demonization. The way I see it is tha newspapers are writing about alcohol with big headlines and photos all the time, you could be forgiven for thinking this is just blatant marketing. There is a saying any publicity is good publicity… I come from a French family where from the age of 12 or so I was given half a glass of wine with my meals and educated on the difference of grapes and regions. This meant when all my fellow English friends got to the binge drinking stage (around 16-18 years old), I had learnt to enjoy a drink for the flavour and not for the drunkedness. There problem here in Sweden is there is a lack of real quality alcohol (monopoly = no competition, so what do you expect?!). And I’m not even going to go there in respects to hembr�nt moonshine.

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By: RAP

RAP — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:50:21 +0000

Alcohol is, quite simply, a killer.

In fact, it is the second leading cause of preventable death in the world, just after tobacco.

Appreciate away, but don’t lose sight of the facts.

Perhaps we could discuss it further while having a cigar appreciation night… another refined killer that has now bowed to the facts.

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By: Karyl Severson

Karyl Severson — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:27:37 +0000

Thank you, Mark. Having grown up in the USA where sex is demonized, and now having lived in Sweden for almost 8 years where alcohol is demonized, I can tell you that I am very tired of demonization. You don’t fix problems by classifying things as evil. You fix problems by educating people in a practical, factual way about issues.

Some people regard USA stereotypically as a booze-guzzling nation, but I think the US is pretty average, and binge drinking is not as much of a thing there as it seems to be in Sweden and even the UK.

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By: Charlie

Charlie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:26:56 +0000

An intelligent, down-to-earth piece regarding an issue that has frustrated me ever since I moved to Sweden. The fact that the Swedish government demonises alcohol is, I am convinced, one of the reasons why there is such a problem of alcohol abuse in Sweden- particularly amongst teenagers. It’s a bit like the dieter who tries to abstain completely from doughnuts, only to find themselves at the end of a successful week, covered in powdered sugar after wolfing down 8 of them in a row. Moderation, people. Although Australia is stereotypically regarded as a nation of beer/wine guzzling hooligans, we actually have far fewer problems with this issue- we enjoy a beer at lunch or a glass of wine routinely with dinner, yes. But I rarely saw the kind of binge drinking back home that seems to be the rule rather than the exception here on a Saturday night.

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