No meat in anti-liquor promises

Thiruvananthapuram: Of the numerous promises made by LDF and the UDF in their election manifestoes, the most celebrated is the alcohol policy that they both plan to implement.
But the UDF claim that they will phase out alcohol and undertake an active campaign against drugs and the promise by LDF to set up a people's initiative like the literacy movement of the 90s have several pitfalls, according to experts and excise officials.The programmes by the government to regulate alcohol consumption have already started yielding positive results, but the policy itself is compromised by increasing number of beer and wine parlours, said Johnson J Edayaranmula, director, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC), anti-liquor NGO.
“The unprecedented increase in the number of beer and wine parlours has affected the good results achieved through closure of bar hotels. Beer sales have gone up,“ he said adding that al cohol content in a 650 ml bottle of 6 beer is 39 ml, as against 60 ml whiskey has 27 ml.. According to government figures, beer sales and consumption, which had dropped by 84, 30, 997 litres in 2014-15 saw an increase of 4, 56, 39, 371 litres in 2015-16.
He says a people's movement as promised by the LDF against alcohol and substance abuse will only work if there is a supply reduction. “The LDF manifesto should have been clear on whether they would curb the supply of alcohol,“ he said.
The promises made in the manifestoes on curbing the drug menace is too shallow, said officials of excise department. The consumption of drugs has increased for two reasons less availability of alcohol and ready and cheap availability of drugs like ganja. “A detailed survey will be required to find out the intensive users of drugs, and they will have to be treated. The users of drugs themselves later become sellers. Unless the distribution chain is nipped, awareness is futile,“ said a senior excise official.