First a question. Is smoking an individual habit? Certainly, but the government has intervened to discourage it. Cigarettes have not been banned, but smoking in public is an offence. Also pictorial warnings on cigarette packets are aimed at discouraging smokers by reminding them of the health problems that the habit induces. Advertising is also banned. Another question. Is alcohol consumption an individual habit? Certainly. But what is the State government doing about it? Nothing. Instead it has granted licences to open over 300 bars in the State, at the rate of 100 a year. As a result Goa now has 7,328 bars and this number will increase because no one wants to even debate the dangers of consuming alcohol. Studies conducted by concerned doctors at the Goa Medical College show that nearly 45 per cent of the 14.5 lakh population
is alcohol dependent. Of this, 28 per cent are addicts
and the frightening piece of news is that youth and women are
quickly joining the band of addicts.
Those who watch television
channels would have noticed that
in addition to the message, smoking
is injurious to health, channels
also run a message to indicate that
alcohol is also injurious to health.
What is our government’s view on
the matter? Some two weeks back
the Deputy Chief Minister Francis
D’Souza quite helplessly told a crowd that there are more bars
in Goa than pharmacies and added that it was up to the individual
to curb his desire to imbibe alcohol.
So, does the State have a role in intervening in alcohol consumption?
If the government has a role in granting licences it
cannot ignore its responsibilities. A ban on alcohol is not the
answer. Bans are not enforceable in the long run and if there is
demand there will always be supply. On the other hand freely
issuing bar licences is not the answer either.
Kerala has a partial ban on alcohol. The pernicious brew is
now available only in government run outlets and five-star hotels.
No study has been undertaken to ascertain if the ban is
working or not, but the new government is seriously thinking
of reversing it. Drinking after all is good for the government
coffers. The experience, the world over is that a ban will only
give rise to illegal manufacture and bootlegging.
No one is asking for a ban on alcohol, but we do question
the motive of the government in making liquor cheap enough
to induce binge drinking. Is it right for the government to grant
licences to new bars? If there can be a cap on the number of
casinos, why can’t there be a cap on the number of bars?
The larger problem is that the State government is not willing
to recognize that Goa has a serious drinking problem. The
data gathered by the Goa Medical College and the experience
of doctors working with alcoholics has been swept under the
carpet by the BJP government. Meanwhile the number of alcoholics
is increasing with youth and women joining the band
of drinkers.
What the government has to first accept is that alcohol consumption
is injurious to health. Secondly, it has to accept that
Goa has a problem. Only then can it think of creating a framework
or policy to reduce consumption of alcohol. The government
can no longer bury its head in the sand like an ostrich
and pretend that the problem does not exist. It must act, and
act now.
