Bottles of Beer, wine and cans of Lager will sport warnings that are meant to deter binge-drinking. These alerts will also be displayed at pubs and supermarkets with messages such as “If you do drink, don’t do drunk.”
Caroline Flint, the Public Health Minister, is pretty sure that these messages will be a common alert on all alcoholic packs within the next 2 years. A BBC survey investigating into the binge-drinking fad analyzed 54 hospital casualty units in the United Kingdom. The survey revealed that nearly 34 of these hospitals were seeing more number of alcohol associated patients as compared to statistics five years ago. Almost 25 hospitals reported that they had seen even 11 and 12 year olds seeking treatment for binge drinking.Pubs are also pulling up their socks and doing their bit to alert customers against bingeing on alcohol, by introducing a standard glass of wine, so that they can keep tabs on how much they drink.
MS Flint said, “Nobody is saying you can’t have a drink, but you know, think about your drinking and its consequences. It is already happening. What we’ve got to look at is whether it is consistent, whether it’s understood by the public. ‘Don’t Do Drunk’ is a good example of what we encapsulate in what we are talking about here.”
Mark Hastings, a spokesman, said: “We are trying to distinguish between responsible and irresponsible drinking. There are already big signs behind the bar in pubs, on menus, on cans and bottles and on beer mats. We support anything that helps people make better decisions about their drinking to ensure they don’t drink to excess.”
