Drinking and Driving Solutions

Recently as a result of the North Report 2 (The Revisited) the UK Government outlined it's plans on how to continue the fight against Drinking and Driving.

Some of the measures are welcomed however this must not become a money making, sound bite or lip service to the press exercise.

I have worked with in excess of 18000 convicted Drink Drivers in the UK alone and as such have a unique insight as to why people commit this crime and what we as a society can do about it. The UK Government's response will not stop Drink Driving and will fail to have serious impact on what is fundamentally a disease of sociability.

The Government's insistence that bringing in hand held portable evidential intoximeters and removing blood testing for those who are in a certain banding is without a doubt one of the most ridiculous things in the proposals. Why? Well the intoximeters work on the presumption that there is a defined ratio between blood and breath alcohol concentrations and as such as the majority of people will follow this situation then there can be little error in the intoximeter. This is nonsense and however much the UK Government wish to spin this the reality of the situation is that human beings are different and do not fit into robotic metronomic patterns as far as the physiology of alcohol is concerned.

As a result of this treating everyone the same will ultimately lead to legal challenges that cost time money and effort. Much better to get it right in the first place and develop a system for evidential blood testing that could be a simple and accurate as the testing of blood sugar concentration used by millions of diabetics worldwide.

Secondly the UK Government plans a relaunch of the Drink Driver Rehabilitation Programme.

My question about this is simple. Why wait until after the fact? Why not educate immediately. Take away the old wives tales such as 2 pints and you're ok to drive.

It is far more sensible to prevent than to cure.

If the UK Government is serious about stopping Drinking and Driving within the UK then they need to speak to the people who actually know something about the subject. And much as I respect Sir Peter North he is unfortunately another academic sat in another ivory tower.

Continuing Debate

More debate has been brought forth in recent days over the idea of minimum pricing on super strength alcohol.

As wine now is so strong in the UK that an average bottle contains between 9 and 12 units this must also be a target surely.

Please don't anyone out there fool themselves it is not just the kids in the parks and the tramps in the underpass who are drinking to excess, it's pretty much anyone who enjoys a couple of glasses of a decent wine.

Let's get this debate moving folks

More stupidity

I see this week that there have been two major items of news with regards to alcohol.

1. A report backs the idea of minimum pricing per unit.

2. Gordon Brown is to give local authorities the power to prevent 24 hour licences.

Firstly the idea of minimum pricing is to prevent alcoholics and those with serious alcohol issues from obtaining strong drink. Put simply people in this situation will find the alcohol and the money for it regardless of the cost. It will however increase levels of petty crime and or indebtedness within that particular group of individuals.

Secondly local authorities are often dominated by councillors who have a NIMBY attitude and have no understanding of the nature of this subject. There is little or no education within the authority and even less n the community. Simply using archaic powers will only drive the problems underground.

How do I change ?

One of the most difficult and recurring questions asked of me is How do I change?

The answer to that in many respects is already known to the person involved because everyone is changing constantly that is the very nature of matter. However when it relates to alcohol which ultimately is why I am often asked this question there are some simple ideas to be remembered.

1. What do you seek to change?

2. What do you seek from the change?

3. Where does the power to change lie?

It is vital to understand the beast of change and where the power lies for in doing so the power is restored to the rightful place and control over the process becomes simplified.

How do we decide on the right approach?

I was asked the question today whilst doing an interview for Radio 4 about the effectiveness of my approach to alcohol. I answered with the utmost honesty in saying I don't know how effective my approach is but I can also say that prescribed formulae for dealing with alcoholism don't necessarily work either.

We cannot take a one size fits all approach to addiction or problem drinking. It is individuals who drink and we must use the psychology of learning to overcome individual problems. Each person needs to be treated equally and differently depending on their circumstances.

The debate continues

Some time ago I was asked the question will what I'm drinking kill me? My honest answer to that person was I don't know, and neither does anyone else!

When a group of experts sit down to look at the situation they find they must come up with some guidelines. However where do they get the information from? Recently members of the groups responsible for setting our daily guidelines have been calling into question their own findings.

Essentially the information relies on individuals telling the truth about drinking habits and medical professionals accepting without embellishment those amounts. As this is unlikely to happen the scientists making recommendations do so on shaky ground. The problem is to prove how much booze causes a problem we will have to kill someone with alcohol. Not exactly ethical

Check out the video

Here's part of a recent news broadcast http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/video/Drink-Asbos-To-Ban-Troublesome-Drinkers/Video/200908415371551?lpos=video_Article_Related_Content_Region_4&lid=VIDEO_15371551_Drink_Asbos_To_Ban_Troublesome_Drinkers