In the wake of the release, Wednesday, on Tou.tv, of the documentary blow the ball by journalist Hugo Meunier, he answers in the affirmative to the question “Does Quebec drink too much? “. There is no doubt that this substance is widely consumed and accepted in Quebec. So much so that people who choose not to drink alcohol testify to the pressure they feel to do so or the constant need to justify themselves. The question “do we drink too much as an individual, as a society?” therefore deserves attention.
Mr. Meunier’s exit also echoes the report on Canadian benchmarks on health and alcohol tabled a few weeks ago. No one expected science to have such a harsh verdict: the negative health impacts of alcohol increase with each drink and are already considered high from seven drinks per week.
We are far from the recommendations to which we have been accustomed for more than 10 years and which, let’s face it, allow us to treat ourselves to a lot of alcohol, almost every day, without feeling guilty. In short, as we like alcohol, we must give ourselves the time to digest the evolution of science.
While it is wise to seize this opportunity to reflect on the health risks that everyone agrees to take and, if necessary, their reasons for consuming, we should not rule out the introspection that the Quebec government will also have to do in terms of ‘alcohol ! For us, this is an essential aspect of Mr. Meunier’s speech. Consuming alcohol in small or large quantities or not at all is not just a matter of individual choice. The environment around us influences our decisions and our desires, whether we like it or not.
Currently, alcohol production is an industry that the state subsidizes and supports. It is also a product that he massively promotes through the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ). Through its laws, the government also accepts that the public, including children, young people and people in a situation of addiction, are inundated with advertisements and promotions inviting drinking.
Social and traditional media are full of ads promoting alcohol, as are our streets, bus shelters, highways, store aisles and storefronts. Quebec even allows the offer of free or reduced alcohol through the Inspire loyalty card. In short, the government is not a secondary player in this societal issue and we need to talk about it more.
That said, for a government, being involved in a problem also means that it has the power to be part of the solution. In particular, it can reduce the presence of advertisements in public places that are not reserved for adults by reviewing the advertising rules authorized by the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux and drawing inspiration from its own actions regulating tobacco and cannabis.
It can also review the economic mission of its government corporation, the SAQ. To obtain an accurate portrait of the profits of the latter, it is also necessary to consider the costs of the misdeeds of the promotion and consumption of alcohol assumed, among others, by the health care and social services system, public safety and the car insurance. Thus, the alcohol market may not be as lucrative as it seems. While a government corporation is useful in regulating the sale of a product that is harmful to health, its promotion of it is not.
The government can no longer directly or indirectly promote the sale of alcohol and leave so much room for the promotion of a product for which it is paying dearly for the consequences. He must be an actor of transformation of the social norm. Without demonizing or banning alcohol, the facts are clear: we must stop promoting its consumption and trivializing it.