‘Link between liquor, NCDs, abuse’

Opposition Leader Bishop Joseph Atherley said Tuesday that more should be done to address the links among young people’s abuse of alcohol, domestic abusers and people with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), who are often found to be heavy drinkers.

His comments came during debate on the new Liquor Licence Bill. The bill to replace a 64-year-old Liquor Licence Act will see, among other changes, the increase in the legal age at which minors can buy or drink liquor from 16 to 18, as well as the establishment of a civil Liquor Licensing Authority that will be responsible for the issuing and tracking of liquor licences instead of the civil courts.

Though Bishop Atherley welcomed the changes, he also expressed worry about the connections seen between liquor use and the high levels of NCDs on the island.

He said: “The incidence of alcohol use becomes a dynamic that creates the potential for an even worse situation among our people, with respect to heart attack and stroke, and some of the other ills that plague our national community. When one pauses to think of the reality, that we are the fourth highest consumer of alcohol in Latin America… with our NCD profile that becomes an area and issue for serious concern.”

The opposition leader also questioned whether domestic violence concerns were taken into consideration while drafting the new legislation, as he noted that it was well known that alcohol abuse is often one of the factors to be found in domestic violence incidences.

He said: “Domestic abuse is a problem, and I wonder if any consideration [or] proper study [in] doing the research on the extent to which alcoholic consumption, bearing in mind we are the fourth highest consumer, on the impact on our domestic relationship situation in Barbados, family life, with respect to alcoholic use.”

Bishop Atherley also pleaded with Government to seriously address the alcohol use currently seen in young people who because they start drinking at such an early age, often develop abusive tendencies.

The lone opposition lawmaker said: “The question is, how is alcohol consumption affecting out student population and what has this administration done, what has any administration in Barbados done, to significantly address what perhaps is a significant problem.

“I tried to look at some research coming out of the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) – they did a report in 2006, then they did a report in 2013 which suggested that the problem was getting worse. In the context of Barbados and in the absence of more up to date reports, one would have to conclude with all of the cultural norms which we have now embraced with the expansion of the economy and the social activities we now engage in as a country, that perhaps the problem has become even more exacerbated.”

Bishop Atherley said that in the reports he saw one in every two primary school class 3 and 4 pupils has had experiences with alcohol. But Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw quickly clarified that the NCSA had published a more recent study in 2020 of alcohol use in primary schools.

Bradshaw stressed the Government was indeed aware of the problem and said she shared the Opposition leader’s concern about the effect liquor use has on the young.

The education minister said: “I share with the Honourable Leader of the Opposition his concerns as well in relation to the public education that has to be out there in the form of parenting programmes within our schools.

“We have a very strong Health and Family Life [Education programme] within the schools, which as a result of this has had to be strengthened to ensure our young people, especially during this pandemic, are exposed to the dangers of substance abuse.” (SB)