Suing the drinks industry

[GREBO133]

If a person becomes alcohol dependent, can they not sue the UK drinks industry (and/or government), specifically in cases where alcohol has caused such harm as; loss of career, loss of car license, anti-social behaviour, etc. It cannot be totally the responsibility of the person who drinks the alcohol, as this activity is legal, enjoyable and social. Counting units of alcohol does not work for everybody (and not everybody does it anyway), particularly when a person has become addicted. Also, the majority of problems only happen once the person has become addicted.

[Solad2b]

This is an interesting question, and one i have asked myself many times and dismissed it each time, but people HAVE sued the fast food industry and the tobacco industry so I am convinced that the drinks industry CAN be sued. The best approach would be to get together a collection of affected persons and launch a Group Litigation ,

[STUPID_QUOTE]

I'm sorry to sound cruel by saying this, but isn't that down to excessive use and personal negligence. I'm not defending the alcohol industry, as they don't care who buys the bottle/can as long as it gets sold. my issue is regarding the lack of common sense in society and the inability to accept responsibility for their actions. It costs society in the long run, for example with the alcohol tax because people think its cool or can't say no to that last drink.

[GREBO133]

According to the bulk of the experts, alcoholism is a progressive illness and the majority of the population do not drink alcohol with the intention of becoming alcohol dependent, at a later stage in their lives. Also, there is evidence that genetic and environmental factors play a part in alcohol addiction. Despite the legal and social acceptance of alcohol, it is known to affect brain chemistry (which can affect people’s ability to handle stress and concentration, create and/or increase anxiety and depression) and therefore this contribute to addictiveness, not to mention changing people’s behaviour while under the influence. Knowing this, it is surely the responsibility of the drinks industry to do more to highlight the dangers, rather than just concentrating on glamorising and promoting their product. It is only a matter of time before the alcohol industry will face the same social and legal issues as the tobacco industry has done.

A recent figure indicated that alcohol abuse costs this country up to £25 billion per annum. This suggests that the current measures taken by the drinks industry and the government (which relies on an inadequate and impractical system of counting units, common sense and responsible behaviour) is definitely not working. There are plans to address this problem but there are maybe millions of people whose lives have already been ruined, or lost, because they became alcohol dependent. These are the people (or their families) who should be compensated.