It’s been quite a few years since I prophesied that, having won in the fight against tobacco, the medical establishment would turn its attention towards alcohol.

And pretty much every week since, they’ve done exactly that.

There should be a ban on all alcohol advertising, including sports and music sponsorship, doctors say.

The British Medical Association said the crackdown on marketing was needed, along with an end to cut-price deals, to stop rising rates of consumption.
…
Doctors said action was essential as alcohol was now one of the leading causes of early death and disability.

The BMA then goes on to lie:

“The BMA is not anti-alcohol. As doctors our focus is to ensure that individuals drink sensible so they do not put their health and lives in danger.”

Why is that a lie? Because the BMA want there to be only one side to the tale; they want those that oppose to be alcohol to be the only ones to be able to speak to the public. Those of us that a) enjoy alcohol and b) see alcohol advertising as one of the few entertaining genres of advertising out there will be sorely disappointed if we expect to hear any voices that agree with us.

And once they’ve done that, once they’ve silenced their opponents, it will be easier to ban drinking in more situations. And then we’ll be as ostracised as smokers.

On a related note, recently I’ve been walking past an ad from Drinkaware twice a day, which mentions that alcohol has been “distorting reality since 10,000 BC”. Which is a fantastic claim. What amuses me greatly is that Nanny thinks she can overcome this 12,000 year history of humans enjoying alcohol with some bitchy whining and a ban on advertising. Good luck with that, bitch. And even if you do go the whole hog, pretty much every knows someone who could operate a still in times of emergency. Bring back the poteen home-distilling industry, that’s what I say…