OF all the things the majority of adult South Africans appear to be clamouring for in these tough lockdown times, top (or should it be ‘Tops’) of the list is alcohol.
Not masks, sanitisers, gloves, personal protective equipment, Covid-19 testing – but ‘dop’.
It begs the question: is this a reflection on the society we have become?
Is it impossible to go for a few weeks without booze?
Most people would claim they are ‘social’ or ‘recreational’ drinkers, and that alcohol helps them to relax and is a source of harmless enjoyment – and that might well be the case (excuse the pun) for many.
For the (Googled) record, recreational drinking is typically descried as up to four drinks on any one occasion for men, but not more than 14 over the course of a seven-day period.
For women, it’s no more than three drinks on any one occasion and no more than seven drinks over the course of a seven-day period.
It’s also commonly understood that the drinking pattern – not only the amount – is an indicator of potential danger signs.
But when people break the law by smashing into bottle stores, risking arrest and the possibility of a baton on the head or a bullet in the body, perhaps we must be a bit more honest about alcohol and its use or abuse.
I know I am generalising and I apologise in advance to the many who are the exception, but it bothers me that youths, especially, cannot seem to have fun without alcohol.
Drunkenness is the norm for large gatherings, be it in the day or night. The broken glass bears testimony.
I’ll leave it to the likes of SANCA, AA. Alanon and others to debate the sometimes thin line between recreational and wreck-creating use.
Suffice to say that alcohol is classed as a drug and as such it subjects the user to all the addictive possibilities associated with hard drugs.
But my big question is this: where is the booze money coming from?
With unemployment so high, and especially youth unemployment, who is buying the drinks?
They are not cheap; they are pleasures and luxuries, not ‘Absolut’ necessities, which is why the SA Revenue Services classes them, along with cigarettes, in the ‘sin tax’ category.
I for one am hoping Police Minister Bheki Cele sticks to his guns (I mean that figuratively) with regard to his not relaxing trade in alcohol during lockdown.
If we thought there was panic buying after the first announcement, we ain’t seen nothing yet!
The Last Chance Saloon stampede would be uncontrollable.
On a final, lighter note, here’s a thought to confuse you: If alcohol can affect your short-term memory, just think what alcohol could do.
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