Cheers to your health! How can we make not drinking the norm?

A beer when going out, a glass of wine with dinner, a glass of champagne on New Year’s Eve: alcohol is still an integral part of everyday life. However, a recent recommendation from the Health Council advises the government to denormalise alcohol. How do you go about doing that with something that is so normal? This is the topic of the Studium Generale knowledge café on 26 November. Lawyer and PhD candidate Tessa Jager is one of the guests.

_{Text: Esther van der Meer}

Is our view of alcohol changing?
“Yes. You can see that some groups are drinking significantly less. Students, for example, are drinking less than they did a few years ago. Among other age groups, alcohol consumption is remaining the same or falling.”

Why is that?
“I’d love to say: because people are more aware that alcohol is bad for your health, they’re drinking less, but it’s difficult to demonstrate a direct link between the two. However, it is slowly but surely becoming more accepted not to drink. I think there could be a lot to be gained from shaping the environment in such a way that it also conveys the message that it’s normal not to drink.”

Just how bad is alcohol for you?
“Alcohol has a social aspect that is important to many people. But it is also bad for your physical health and causes many mental health problems. Quite simply, you cannot say that alcohol consumption poses no health risks whatsoever. Except to say: zero drinks is the norm.

You have just published your first scientific article in which you show that the government can do much more in the area of alcohol regulation.
“In my article, I examined the extent to which health considerations underpin current alcohol legislation. It turns out this is very limited. Most legislation currently relates to the maintenance of public order. There is plenty of scope to incorporate health arguments into alcohol regulation. International and European law do not pose any obstacle to this either.”

Do you also offer advice in your article on what the government should do?
“Not yet. In the next article I’m currently working on, Professor of Health and Safety Regulation Michelle Bruijn and I draw a comparison with the regulation of cannabis and tobacco. One of the key points that emerges is that the industry’s influence on government policy must be limited.” ”

To what extent is it the government’s role to steer this; can’t people make their own choices?
“I believe the government should take on a much greater steering role than it currently does. You often hear that the legislator must wait until society is ready. But there are good examples of measures aimed at protecting people which faced a great deal of resistance beforehand, yet which people are happy with in hindsight. Take smoking in the office or on the train. Nobody can imagine now that that used to be normal.”

Knowledge Café

Studium Generale’s Knowledge Café, ‘Cheers to your health’, takes place on 26 November at 8.00 pm at Forum Groningen. Jelte Posthumus will be in conversation with Tessa Jager, Kor Spoelstra and Sarah Bos. Tickets cost 4 euros; free for students. You can register here.

The article ‘Does the law hold liquor’ was published in the European Journal of Health Law