One in three French people would be ready to try the “January Challenge”, that is to say not to drink alcohol during this month. If the operation is acclaimed by addictologists, it arouses less enthusiasm from the authorities… What are the reasons for this reluctance? An extract from “Special Envoy”.
A “dry” month of January, understand without drinking alcohol: in 2020, France wanted to import this challenge launched in the United Kingdom in 2013. This “Dry January” seems to come at the right time to eliminate the excesses of the end of the holidays year… and it would have real beneficial effects for health.
So why doesn’t the Ministry of Health officially support the operation? In 2019, an awareness campaign prepared by the minister at the time even remained on the cards. In “Special Envoy” of January 11, 2023, Agnès Buzyn, who remembers a “very difficult fight” against alcohol, reveals behind the scenes of this affair.
“Too many headwinds”
“There have been campaigns on social media, but noWe did not carry out the large-scale campaign that we would have liked to carry out at the time, regrets Agnès Buzyn. It’s an almost impossible battle to fight in our country, in reality. You have too many headwinds.”
According to her, “the arbitrations were really in favor of agriculture, viticulture, winegrowers”, especially because “the President of the Republic had an agricultural advisor who came from the well-known winegrowers’ lobby called Vin & Société”. And also, because wine is a product “export, it is an image of French culture”. Accused, she said, of “not respecting French culture”, the minister therefore “partially lost the battle”.
Pressure from the wine lobby
To find out more about the position of Vin & Société, “Special Envoy” met Krystel Lepresle, the general delegate of this association, which brings together nearly 500,000 wine growers. She admits to opposing any promotion of “dry January” by the government, since its launch in 2020. “We were not in favor of the establishment of this standard of abstinence supported by the State”, she admits. The lobby had “written to the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and also to parliamentarians” to let it be known.
The sector is in crisis with wine consumption in France falling by 70% in sixty years. According to Krystel Lepresle, due to this structural decline, choosing to advocate abstinence for one month instead of simple moderation, “this is a public health trajectory that we cannot accept.” Would the fact that this year again, the government does not support the alcohol-free operation of the month be a victory for one of the main wine lobbies? “In any case, I think it is a victory for conviviality in our country, for the freedom of everyone to be able to consume as they wish,” welcomes the general delegate of Vin & Société.
Excerpt from “A month without alcohol, does it work?” a report to be seen in “Envoyéspecial” on January 11, 2024.
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