What are they talking about? Age, alcohol, and addiction

Age, alcohol, and addiction in a conversation these past few days has had a surprising entry: Rats. Yes, rats have been accused by SHO Inderpal Singh of Kotwali Dehat police station in UP as non-paying guzzlers of 1450 cartons of illicit liquor seized by them. When I searched the internet for similar cases, I was surprised to find that that these rodents had been accused of slurping away 29,000 litres of alcohol in 25 out of 30 police stations in Haryana as well – and this included 30,000 litres of English wine and 20,000 litres of beer. Rats in Bihar are no less and they had liquor pawris (parties, for those who are unaware of this term) where 9 lakh litres of alcohol was consumed during a liquor ban phase there in 2017. The malkhanas (stores) in police stations, at this rate, will soon become rodent night clubs, I believe. Something tells me that it is a certain alcohol addicted gang of rodents that travels all over the country to investigate police stations. And I wasn’t altogether wrong in this assessment because a report from 2018 points out that police in Bareilly claimed that a notorious ‘gang of rats’ got tipsy on a thousand litres of seized liquor stacked in their stores.

Some more online-probes led me to a report published some time back that mentioned a 2012 research done at the University of California that around 900 genes contributed to alcoholism in rats. They also helpfully informed us that Champagne improves rat memory and prevents Alzeimer’s and that rats tend to drink when they are under stress. Well, some of these conclusions do sound like we humans have a lot in common with rodents. Well, at least our attraction to being hammered, tanked, wasted, and plastered, if you know what I mean. And I mean no disrespect to Frank Sinatra when he wrote: ‘Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.’

Let us, however, stick to humans and India for a while. We are all aware of how Indians love to drink – though now you also know that even rats love being buzzed, sloshed, smashed, and cooked by all sorts of inebriated states discovered by man. By the way, that research that I was talking about also ‘that dihydromyricetin can clear up rats’ hangover symptoms in no time. What, exactly, are rat hangover symptoms? Generally the same as in humans, but as far as we know, they don’t include nearly as much complaining or endless repetitions that the rat is never going to drink again, for real this time.’ We obviously have a lot to learn from rats.

So, as I said, Indians love to drink. If you disagree, you should have seen the queues outside liquor stores all over the country when the corona virus lockdown was eased last year. They were all there… young, old, poor, rich, men, women… and even teenagers! I don’t think anyone was asking anyone to prove if they were of the age where drinking is legally permitted. One of the reasons for this could be that consumption of alcohol in India goes on everywhere, despite bans. A BBC report points out that ‘by volume, India is the world’s ninth-largest consumer of all alcohol, according IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, a London-based research firm. It is the second largest consumer of spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, liqueurs), behind China. India consumes more than 663 million litres of alcohol, up 11% from 2017. Per-capita consumption is rising.’ The rise in alcohol consumption is reflected in statistics as well. The per person rise in consumption went up from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016 with a 1.5 litre share going to women, according to WHO… and the 11% rise from 2017 mentioned earlier goes on to show that we have become addicted to an annual increase statistically.

Alcohol addiction and genetics in humans has been studied in depth, here are the findings and one of the conclusions published in a paper says that ‘it should be emphasized that while genetic differences affect risk, there is no gene for alcoholism, and both environmental and social factors weigh heavily on the outcome. Genetic factors affect the risk not only for alcohol dependence, but also the level of alcohol consumption and the risk for alcohol-associated diseases, including cirrhosis and upper GI cancers.’ If this is true, the recent order to reduce the age limit for alcohol consumption rightly deserves the sort of hullaballoo that accompanied the government order to reduce the legal age for making it available to youngsters. Of course, we have the powerful alcohol lobby that loves the age limit to be reduced and banning makes things even more desirable. I remember the time when the economy wasn’t as open as it is now and people queued in front of stores where smuggled goods were being sold. Opening up markets does away with the need to clandestine trades and this is equally true of alcohol. States in India where alcohol is officially banned is not enough to deter the determined youth to experiment with the not-so-legal routes. After all, the impetus to see what lies on the other side of a ban or a restriction is too hard to resist. Considering this, I do not find the Delhi Government order to ‘approve a new excise policy, lowering the minimum age for consumption of alcohol to 21 years’ isn’t as draconian as it is made out to be. Earlier, the legal age of drinking in New Delhi was 25.

Are you struggling with addiction and ready to take your first steps toward recovery? You may want to visit a reliable site like luxuryrehab.org.uk for some non judgmental addiction specialists and can help you or your loved one find the best clinic for your individual needs. A good recovery drug and alcohol treatment center similar to recovery center in utah can help you connect with essential resources for recovery to ensure that you can get the treatment you need to heal! Always choose the best rehab center where you can receive the treatment you need to overcome your addiction. Focusing on serene, luxurious recovery, alcohol rehab Los Angeles at Method Center is designed for comfort and effectiveness. In addition, the Inpatient Rehab Centre offers a holistic approach for patients to divert their attention to some creative stuff that they can enjoy without even knowing that they are healing deeply.

The legal drinking age in some of the states and UTs in India varies from 18 to 25 and the list includes Delhi – 21, Haryana – 25, Punjab – 25, Chandigarh (UT) – 25, Uttar Pradesh – 21, Uttarakhand – 21, Himachal Pradesh – 18, Rajasthan – 18, Jammu and Kashmir – 21, Ladakh – 21, Maharashtra – 21 (for beer/wine), 25 (for hard liquor), Madhya Pradesh – 21, Sikkim – 18, Meghalaya – 18, West Bengal – 21, and Kerala which is the only state in India where the legal drinking age is 23. Sale of alcohol is banned in five states namely, Gujarat, Bihar, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. Addiction, after all, is nothing more than a mindset and it is difficult to change habits if our thoughts flow with temptations and nothing more. If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, visit the website to get in touch with the people who can help you recover.

William S Burroughs once wrote that ‘whether you sniff it smoke it eat it or shove it up your ass the result is the same: addiction.’ Awareness has to built about the ill-effects of being addicted more than imposing bans on anything. At RecoveryDeliered.com you will find licensed Tennessee suboxone doctors 100% online.

So yes, bans do not help. There is no point in banning things and I mean everything from books to protests, from love relationships to wanting to make your perspective known to the world, and from anything to anywhere because bans will always be subservient to decision-making for the self.

.

Note: This post is a part of a series of articles written on news and views that have made it to the mainstream media. The post is a part of the #BlogchatterA2Z edition 2021.

.

.

.

.

Arvind Passey
01 April 2021