Like most countries in the world Anguilla’s most popular drug of choice is one that is legal and one which is generally considered to be ‘socially acceptable.’ This drug is of course Alcohol.

I’m sure that most of the adult population in Anguilla have had some experience of alcohol and, like most countries, the vast majority of people who use alcohol do so moderately and in a non-problematic manner. Alcohol’s attraction seems to lie in its ability to make people less inhibited socially - a sort of social lubricant. Unfortunately, for various reasons, some people find that their alcohol use has become problematic and is having a detrimental impact on themselves and the people around them.

Fundamentally, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant which slows down breathing, slows the heart rate and dulls the senses. It is a psychotropic drug capable of affecting the mind, emotions and behaviour. People can behave and act in ways they usually wouldn’t and do ‘things’ they would not normally do. Alcohol can make people loud, argumentative and aggressive.

Alcohol is linked to all kinds of social problems from violent crime to domestic violence to car-related deaths. It can also lead to economic costs such as absenteeism from work, reduced productivity as well as the increased costs of criminal justice and medical care.

In the short-term, one drink too many can leave you feeling out of control, slurring your words, losing your balance, vomiting and behaving in a manner that you later regret. Similar to most drugs, serious overindulgence in a short space of time can lead to over-dosing, which could put you into a coma and can be fatal.
In the longer-term excessive use of alcohol increases the risk of illnesses such as liver damage, stomach cancer and heart disease.

Psychological and physical dependence on alcohol can creep up on people. Tolerance gradually increases the more you drink excessively on a regular basis, so you may find you need more alcohol to reach the same state. In other words, you may seem to be getting better at ‘holding your drink’ which is not a good sign and would indicate that you are developing a problem.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

Many people drink alcohol in some form or another, and most of them do so without any problems. Drinking in moderation is unlikely to lead to problems, but how do we define ‘problematic drinking’. Official guidelines recommend that men shouldn’t regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day and women shouldn’t regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day because of the harm that this may cause. Units are a way of calculating how much alcohol we are drinking. As a rough guide 3 – 4 units per day would be equal to 2 bottles of ‘Carib’ lager and 2-3 units per day would be equal to 1 ½ bottles of ‘Carib’. A large shot of rum may reach your benchmark in one drink.

To work out how many units there are in a specific drink we take the ABV % (Alcohol By Volume) which you can find on the label and multiply this by the quantity in mls of the drink and then divide this by 1000 as shown below:

%ABV x Quantity (mls)
1000

For instance, this would therefore show that a litre (1000mls) bottle of 40% ABV ‘Pyrat Rum’ would contain 40 units.

The benchmarks apply to any day when you drink – whether that’s most days, once or twice a week or occasionally. If you are drinking over the bench marks on a regular basis then you are increasing the risk to yourself both physically and mentally.

These benchmarks don’t apply to women who are pregnant or planning pregnancy or to young people whose bodies and minds are still developing and should not be drinking alcohol at all. They may also not apply if a person has an underlying illness or if he or she is on certain medications – under these circumstances a person would have to consult with a doctor.

The guidelines also recommend that after an episode of heavy drinking, it’s advisable to refrain from drinking for at least 48 hours to allow the tissues to recover. In fact there should be at least 3 days of the week where a person does not drink any alcohol whatsoever. This is mainly to give the liver a chance to recover. The liver is a sturdy organ and is the only internal organ in the body capable of regeneration. However, even the liver can succumb to constant long-term alcohol abuse in the form of cirrhosis, which, in other words, is scarring of the liver tissue. There is no possibility of regeneration to an area of scarred tissue, so the liver tissue effectively dies when it reaches this state.

If you have any concerns or feel you may be experiencing problems with your alcohol use, or other people's use, please feel free to contact me on 497 5403 or email me on iain.bibby@gov.ai. Any correspondence will be dealt with in total confidence.

If this article has been of interest to you and you would like to be more aware about alcohol, I will be running two Alcohol Awareness sessions at the Teachers' Resource Centre in the Auditorium on Wednesday 30th September at 6.30 pm and Thursday 1st October at 4.30 pm. Everybody is very welcome to attend.

Iain Bibby (Substance Misuse Worker)

Education Department

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