To drink, or how not to drink

 DRINKING alcoholic beverages like beer, wine and spirits is an enjoyable pastime that helps people to relax or unwind.
A drink to relax after a hard day, a glass over dinner and a few on a night out but when it comes to alcohol, how many of us really know how much is too much?
Earlier this year, National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop talked about the option of amending the Constitution to regulate the use of alcohol. He said a change was necessary to allow police to deal with people who disturbed the community when they were drunk and disorderly.
He wanted people to be issued with licences to control who can buy alcohol.
Parkop said drunkenness and alcohol abuse were not only a public nuisance but the basis for bigger problems in Port Moresby such as violence in families or in the community.
Indeed, alcohol abuse is a national issue that poses many challenges for our society. The introduction of lessons in schools about sensible drinking is an option that cannot be ignored by the relevant authorities.
Children are bound to come across alcohol as they grow older and lessons learnt in school about the good and bad aspects of drinking will help them in the long run.
Every sip adds up, and over time it can have a bigger impact on our health and wellbeing than we realise.
That is why it is important to stick to the sensible drinking guidelines. They say wo­men should not regularly drink more than 2-3 units (equivalent to a 175ml glass of wine) of alcohol a day, and men 3-4 units (equivalent to a pint and a half of 4% lager).  The truth is that drinking alcohol is never going to be risk-free, but regularly going over the sensible drinking guidelines can have a negative effect on your overall health.
Even if one does not have a hangover, the alcohol they have drunk still has an impact on their system. The liver processes alcohol and it can only cope with so much at a time. Drinking more alcohol than the liver can cope with can damage liver cells and produce toxic by-product chemicals.
The more one drinks, and especially above the recommended limits, the greater the risk of developing serious problems. And remember, binge drinking can be harmful even though the weekly total may not seem too high.
Statistics released during the alcohol symposium two years ago showed the unrecorded alcohol consumption in Papua New Guinea is estimated to be 0.5 litres pure alcohol per capita for population older than 15 for the years after 1995 (estimated by a group of key alcohol experts).
The number of fatal road accidents in Papua New Guinea has risen by more than 400 per cent between 1968 and 1978.
Post-mortem blood alcohol levels were above 80 mg per cent in 42 per cent of the victims tested and very high levels were found in a third of the drivers.
A study conducted in Port Moresby found that more alcohol-related accidents occurred at night and on weekends, particularly on pay weekends.
A post-mortem examination of the dead drivers in a study showed that 53 per cent had a blood alcohol level greater than 80 mg per 100 ml while 32 per cent had detectable blood alcohol but at a level less than 80 mg per 100 ml.
In 1991, 40 per cent of hospital admissions were alcohol-related.
A domestic violence study carried out by the Papua New Guinea Law Reform Commission found that 71 per cent of the women interviewed considered alcohol abuse as a major cause of marital problems. Of those who had been beaten by their spouse, 26 per cent related the incident to alcohol.
A recent paper suggests that it is quite likely that some of the renewed tribal fighting since the 1970s is alcohol-related. For example, alcohol-related traffic crashes, especially those resulting in death or injury, often result in tribal fighting between the clan of the driver and the victim’s
Most of the statistics are from 5-10 years ago; just imagine what the statistics are for from 2010 up till today.
While businesses want to make money and the National Capital District Commission needs the fees and taxes to run the services in the city, there is a serious need to look at the cost of alcohol to the community at large.