Gin Lane revisited in 2006 style

In the 18th century the English engraver Hogarth did a series of masterful depictions of a metaphorically named London backalley known as 'Gin Lane'. Horrifying in some of its imagery, it showed the down-and-out residents of the neighborhood devastated by the abuse of very cheap booze. How this had come about was that early distillers found that they had a surfeit of cheap rotgut that they could sell to the poor for mere pennies. The result was cheap and deadly intoxication all around. Hey, if you lived the wretched lives these people did, you would want to be drunk, too.

Eventually the government smartened up and realized this booze was devastating to society. Their answer to the problem was a simple and effective one. They slapped a huge excise tax on the liquor. At the same time, they cut down on the excise on beer, and that was how beer became the working-stiff's potable of choice. He could afford it. He could no longer afford the hard stuff.

I was put in mind of this as the result of a two part series I just wrote concerning the out-of-control party scene at a local resort area. Horror stories abounded from this place and no matter how you sliced the tales, the word I got from the cops, from social workers, from residents, and from a youth addictions counselor, was that the culprit in the matter was unhampered access to alcohol on the part of the young.

Thus, there are the tales of 200 or 300 kids on a beach basically drinking themselves senseless and then getting up to the behaviors that overindulgence in booze can bring about. In the last three years there have been three deaths among intoxicated partiers. Girls as young as 14 and 15 have been found face-down in sand and vomit on the beach. That is not to mention the other girls in that age grouping who have been sexually assaulted by predatory males, some as old as their late 20s. All in all, not so very different from the world Hogarth depicted, albeit in a more pastoral setting.

It is statistical fact that alcohol takes more youthful lives than all other drugs combined. Takes 'far' more lives than all other much-feared drugs combined. Why isn't alcohol a "much-feared" drug? Only because it is legal, and because those who make the rules also enjoy a bit of a tipple, either infrequently or even frequently. So, the stuff ain't going to go away. They tried that with prohibition, and look where it got them. It is also a statistical fact that the toll alcohol takes on young females is especially devastating. Surveys in England have found girls as young as 16 in the early stages of liver cirrhosis. Believe me, that is not a pretty way to die.

Don't misconstrue what I am writing here. I am not a prohibitionist. Alcohol used with respect is a perfectly acceptable substance that arguably, for the majority of the population, does more therapeutic good than harm. But, when I was working at my 'other' calling as an addictions counselor, I also saw it at the other end, and there is nothing amusing about the DTs, alcoholic seizures, or cirrhosis. Sometimes in clients who weren't very old.

What I must wonder about is a greed-ridden society that encourages (there is no other word for it) heedless alcohol consumption by the young. Check out TV beer ads if you disbelieve this. I must wonder about a society that markets alcoholic beverages with a youthful consumer in mind. Coolers are a good example. No adult who enjoys a good scotch or gin and tonic is remotely interested in coolers. So, there is a pandering to this huge market-share and an encouragement of the consumption of alcohol at virtually all events. This encouragement is, as I say, especially directed at an age demographic that is not noted for making great judgment calls. It's also an age demographic that is not particularly concerned about the long term effects of a behavior.

When I was younger the legal drinking age here in British Columbia was 21 -- and it was enforced. Sure, we snuck into bars, but it was pretty difficult before you were, say, 19 or 20. You simply looked too young. Furthermore, we literally didn't have the money to spend on the stuff in an unfettered way. A beer bash of any kind was a special occasion thing.

Access to alcohol was also much more difficult. There were no corner liquor stores, and bars were very limited in number, and pretty scrupulous about checking IDs.

As I say, I know that booze is not going to go away, nor would I ever advocate such a thing. I just think there is something wrong with a society that watches young people throw away their health, welfare and possibly their lives in such a frivolous and pointless manner.