Broadcast August 6 2010
Usually an opinion poll produces a wide variety of answers. The point is to try and get a sense of our collective attitudes to something.
But last year a poll came back with only one response. The question was: Does Scotland have a drink problem?
And 100% of the people asked said YES - it does.
And tonight, as the weekend begins, we will see the clear evidence of this on our streets. On the other hand, many of us will be going out tonight or enjoying a drink but doing so in a responsible manner.
What can be done about the drink problem? It seems like a malady that is easy to identify but hard to cure.
Nicola Sturgeon has been meeting her fellow MSPs this week to suggest ways forward. And one of those ways includes setting a minimum price on alcohol – as studies show (unsurprisingly) that the lower the price of drink, the more is consumed. This measure is supported by the British Medical Association and faith groups, but has to date found little favour with opposition politicians or the Wines and Spirits manufacturers.
One objection to minimum pricing is that it affects us all. And as a result everyone has to pay for the problem drinking of others. Why should the responsible majority be penalised in order to discourage the minority who abuse alcohol?
Yet maybe the truth goes deeper than that. Excessive drinking is not just an individual problem. It affects the society in which we live. And we all already pay for it in terms of the violence and damage to family relationships that result from alcoholism as well as the diversion of NHS resources that need to be targeted at the associated health issues.
Christianity (and indeed all mainstream faiths), teach that our lives are bound up with that of our neighbours and that the common good matters as much as our own individual wants. In other words, we have a responsibility not only to ourselves but to the society of which we are part.
There may be no simple solution to reverse Scotland’s long-standing drink problem. But there are some steps we can take to make a difference.
Perhaps by choosing to pay a bit more for alcohol we can make a choice to improve the health and wellbeing of all of us.