The prohibition on the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in Nova Scotia ended Oct. 30, 1929. That era was replaced by government control of liquor sales. At the time, opinion on the issue was very much split. The Temperance question was the live topic during the 1920s and there were those who said, “if the day ever comes that the government of our beloved province is degraded to the stigma of rum selling may some of us be enabled to move out of it, even though we leave our hearts behind.”

I picked up a book recently called The Worship of Bacchus: A Great Delusion. It was published in 1877. Amazingly, they were giving it away at the River John public library. Author Ebenezer Clarke penned quite a prohibition Bible. To my eyes, the book has an amusing side based on its antiquity, but Clarke's basic premise cannot be dismissed. He says, “the very nature of intoxicating drink is to create a craving for more; in this consists its danger.”

Temperance leadership in Nova Scotia 100 hundred years ago was motivated by alcoholic abuse that left children paupers. My great grandparents were lifelong Temperance advocates because they had witnessed what excess drinking could do to Nova Scotia communities. Eventually, the province decided to control the sale of alcohol and prevent bootleggers from getting all the revenues.

Over the last 80 years, towns and villages have held liquor plebiscites and most voted to be ‘wet.’ Public morality around drinking has changed, but some would suggest the weight of opinion has swung too far the other way.

Moderation makes sense

While I’m no teetotaler by any means, moderation makes sense to me. What I’ve observed of the kind of binge boozing behaviour that is ‘cool’ right now frightens me. Young adults so wasted that they don't know where they are is pretty common in our crime column.

Binge drinking is defined as any single drinking session where an individual consumes four or more alcoholic drinks -- that's four for females and six for males.

It is risky because, for starters, binge drinkers are five times more like to have unprotected sex. They tend to drink and drink, fight or cause accidents. I know young males who ask their female friends to ‘tend’ them when they binge. They count on the fact that men are three to six times more likely than women to binge. Bingers are at a higher risk for more than 60 different health conditions.

Not surprisingly the Mayor of London, England, is one leader now backing a ban on the sale of alcohol to youth under 21 in areas where binge drinking occurs. Last week, new statistics indicated that a fifth of British youth aged 11 to 15 had consumed alcohol in the previous seven days. There is at least one borough of South London where the council has backed a voluntary scheme where off-licenses and supermarkets will not sell alcohol to young adults. Councillor Steve O'Connell was quoted as saying that pubs and clubs in Croyden have voluntarily taken a socially responsible stand around limiting sales to youth.

High cost in Canada

Here in Canada, alcohol abuse costs every citizen $463 a year. A study entitled The Avoidable Cost of Alcohol Abuse in Canada, prepared by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto suggested, shockingly, that the health-care costs related to alcohol abuse are higher than those for cancer. Recommendations include lowering blood-alcohol limits and increasing taxes on beer, spirits and wine. Interventions could save 800 lives and roughly $1 billion a year. The biggest savings would come from lowering productivity losses due to alcohol abuse, decreasing health-care costs. Just reducing crime-related costs would save $178 million.

One chilly day last December, the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) apparently had its greatest volume of sales ever; the cash register jingled a total $5.2 million.

July 8, the NSLC released figures reporting overall income from operations of $198.7 million last year, an increase of 5.5 per cent.

“The NSLC exceeded its financial target for the third year in a row,” crowed NSLC CEO Bret Mitchell. “Driving these results was the impressive growth in our wine and beer categories, combined with increased access through the expansion of agency stores and Sunday shopping.” There was growth in all areas of sales, especially wine volume. “During the fourth quarter, the NSLC had the second highest beer volume growth in the country, the third highest wine growth and the largest percentage sales growth in ready-to-drink,” added Mitchell. “The NSLC’s continued focus on increasing wine sales through improved in-store presence and variety is clearly working. Our very competitive beer promotions program is a primary contributor to that category’s strong growth.”

Now, if questioned, I am sure the NSLC can defend its record on social responsibility. They invest in campaigns around water safety, binge drinking, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

But do our elected representatives ever take a sober look at the results of our society’s growing lack of temperance? Do we ever see our government in the cold light of morning examining the morality of milking its liquor cash cow? We could easily point out a few hot spots if there was any interest or just ask Wolfville Mayor Bob Stead about the night he spent on a Main Street bench watching the impact of the growing culture of youth drinking.