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The dangers of drunkenness

ONE wonders when the spotlight will turn from smokers to drinkers, or is that just a pipedream of mine? Would the no smoking lobby like to tell me on a global scale the following: how many deaths each year are recorded by drunken drivers? How much physical abuse in families by drinkers are recorded each year? How many abortions are recorded as a result of drunken amour? How many rape cases or murders are reported each year by drunks? How many drink driving offences are recorded each year? How much productivity does manufacturing lose due to hangovers the next day? The dollar value of days lost due to drink-related illnesses? The total number of teenage alcoholics? The total number of ''secondary'' people affected by drinking mounts up when you consider the above.

A few years ago in this very paper, a small article from Britain stated that the National Health Services spent more on drink-related illness than either cigarette-or drug-related illnesses.

In Russia only a few years ago they had to reduce the vodka allowed to people due to the loss of productivity by the working population.

By all means continue to say that smoking is one of the biggest problems in the world. But let me ask a question: how long can we keep the alcohol problem quiet before people start to put two and two together, and start on the drinkers? MELVYN BENNETT Wan Chai

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