23 July 2011
Amy Winehouse
It was a shock to hear about the death of Amy Winehouse tonight. She was so young and the facts surrounding her death are still to come out, but yet another chilling reminder that alcohol abuse can kill. Unlike drugs, alcohol is a legal commodity, readily available 24 hours round the clock in all-night supermarkets and petrol stations. There are no cast-iron restrictions on its purchase and , unlike cigarettes, children can get hold of it, if they have a mind to. (Some adults even readily give it to their childen as a taster of fine things to come.) Yet alcohol abuse can do just as much harm, if not more, than drugs or cigarettes. It will ultimately lead to addiction, dependency and all kinds of physical internal damage, not least internal hemorrhaging, in which the addict bleeds to death. When is someone in the alcohol industry or the government going to take responsibility for allowing this to happen and take measures to prevent it?
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13 comments:
I suspect it will never change. It is there in our culture from the Romans and even before.
It is too sad, she was too young, but young or old it is so sad.
I wasn't surprised at all. Just waiting to hear the same about Lohan. The thing about addiction is that it convinces us that we are invincible...and then kills us.
Over here (Australia), it is not possible to buy take-away alcohol between midnight and 5 or 6 am. You have to be REALLY dedicated to get it at 5 or 6 am as there are only one or two pubs which sell over the counter at that hour in Sydney (population 5 million)... so basically between midnight and 9 am you can't get booze to take away. And it is only sold in pubs and off-licences, not in supermarkets, convenience stores or petrol stations.
Do you think they should bring this in in the UK? I am an alcoholic in recovery and when I was holidaying in the UK in 2004 I certainly went out at 3 am to get alcohol. I thought that the only reason I could get take-aways at that hour was because I was staying very very centrally in London but clearly it's like that across the country - this I find quite shocking. We have a lot of 24 hour pubs here but they will not hesitate to cut you off if you are too intoxicated and they will usually kick you out as there are laws about serving very drunk people and they can face serious fines - not just the pub but the barman/barmaid themselves.
I have been so desperate at 3 or 4 am for a drink that I have drunk vanilla essence :/
It's nice to be sober.
Hi Addy,
Totally agree. Our laws are too lax here. You only have to see these CCTV problems of town and city centres at weekends to see the devasting effects of alchohol- people lying in their own vomit and fights aplenty.
As you said its too easy to buy and there are kids who wait outside shops asking for adults to buy it for them- eventually they get lucky. There are other shops that turn a blind eye because they are more interested in the profit that the effects of selling to kids. Therefore anyone can become an alcoholic. Its not as easy to become a drug abuser because its not legal.
All the best
Nechtan
I agree but can't see it happening soon. It's not long ago that they introduced pubs extending their licensing hours. I think the whole business needs very careful looking at it but eveyrone's so keen on making money I am not sure it will happen.
27 is very young...too young to die, for whatever reason.
Very sad. Such a talent.
And quite agree re lax laws etc. Saturday nights in lots of cities are scary, often in places of great beauty..
Have just discovered your bog and shall return!!
I wasn't surprised to hear the news of Amy Winehouse but felt very sad for her, her family and all her fans. Such a waste of a young life and talent. A
I think more is needed to be done education-wise - because even if you ban it from being sold, addicts will find a way of getting it somehow.
Amy Winehouse's death is terribly tragic but perhaps some good may come of it if teens and younger see what happened and realise that going out bingeing on drink and drugs is not so clever.
So tragic and too similar to many that have gone before her. Let us hope that this will be the last.
I don't think any legislation will stop the deaths. I read somewhere that changes in drug classifications i.e. something moving up or down the Class A, B, C etc. makes very little difference to the habits of users. Price, availability and the fashion of the time drive the demand.
Ban alcohol and all those that don't like it or aren't bothered will just say - Ok I'll not bother... but the alcoholics will still carry on like in the USA in the prohibition times. Or they will find something else to fill the addiction void - I'm simply an addict who has chosen alcohol as the premium drug of choice.
Her death was very sad and not the first, or the last - although who knows the post mortem and subsequent tests might yet spring a surprise and we find out it was nothing to do with her addictions.
I've read a lot of negative stuff on the web about it all in the last few days - apparently my parents were to blame according to some commentators - I find that deeply offensive. It was no-ones fault but mine. I started, got in deeper and deeper - knew I had an issue but didn't seek help and got in deeper and then... a full blown alcoholic and no love from anyone could help me until I really really wanted it for myself and found the right programme for me.
Her death makes me very grateful that I did find the answer - if her death causes one person to find a similar solution it was not in vain.
Addiction seems to me to be a symptom, not a cause. Is it a symptom of some underlying insecurity? Sometimes the symptom comes out as, for instance, an eating disorder - if you like, an addiction to slimness.
I don't know anything about Amy Whitehouse's singing talent, but am told it was impressive. What worries me is seeing on TV people saying how much they loved her and being totally distraught, though they had never even met her. It's like the reaction to Princess Diana's death. It's unreal, isn't it?
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