While the colour green, shamrocks, leprechauns and folk music are all hallmarks of St. Patrick’s Day, none of them is celebrated quite as much as alcohol.
There is of course nothing wrong with having the odd green beer or two. In fact the Canadian national low-risk drinking guidelines state that women who have three drinks or less and men four or less are at a relatively low risk of injury due to inebriation. According to Dr. Louise Nadeau, a professor in the Psychology department at the University of Montreal, it’s when it becomes 4, 5 or more that things can become dangerous.
“The whole idea to get drunk during one episode is probably the most treacherous and dangerous way of dealing with alcohol,” Nadeau said. “All kinds of unpleasant things can happen. It can be broken bones, it can be cutting yourself or bruises or things that have probably less long-term effect. But it is significant.
A recent study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that alcohol consumption can be the cause of over 200 different diseases and injuries. It’s a concern for Canadians since the same study also cited they drink over 50 per cent more than the global average. Often it’s young men.
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“We’re still struggling with our men 15 to 25 that are drinking large quantities,” Nadeau said. “One of the things we know about alcohol is that when people are in groups they drink more. And when men are together they drink more than when there are women and men.”
Holiday celebrations tend to increase the frequency of excessive inebriation. For instance drunken violence has invaded Quebec City’s Plains of Abraham during the La Fête nationale celebration in previous years.
“There’re about 10 to 20 thousand people and the reason why they go there is to drink too much and cause trouble,” said Hubert Sacy, director of Éduc’alcool, a Quebec-based group, attempting to shame abusers of alcohol into being more responsible.
“We had pictures of people that were abominably drunk to contrast what it is to be drunk and being proud of being a Quebecer ,” said Nadeau, who was also involved in Éduc’alcool.
Statistically, Quebec is about average while Ontario is among the more responsible provinces when it comes to controlling alcohol consumption.
“We have different drinking patterns given different provinces,” Nadeau said. “Quebec is in the middle with an average that’s near the average of Canada. As we move west, except for Ontario, the average of drinking increases.”
A CAMH study comparing alcohol policies from province to province actually gave Ontario the highest rating, citing controlling the availability of alcohol, adjusting alcohol prices based on alcohol content and drinking and driving deterrence strategies as some of the factors.
Despite Ontario’s success in alcohol policy, four to five million Canadians do engage in an excessive drinking, causing a drain on the healthcare system.
“If you fall on your head, a third of the traumatic events are linked to alcohol in this country when they arrive in an emergency room,” Nadeau said. “Broken bones and significant falls also are linked to happen much more frequently with people that have drank in the last six hours.”
There is some evidence though that groups like Éduc’alcool can help. After working with bar owners and police in Quebec City to curb binge drinking habits, incidents requiring hospital care went down.
“We measured the comparative intake in emergency rooms and there was a major difference,” Nadeau said. “Only if you have this collective agreement to work through severe intoxication can you get the results that Quebec City got.”
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