ALCOHOL, THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY - WHAT HISTORY TEACHES US

Drinkers derive both pleasure and pain from drinking, but ham may come also to others. Through religious or secular rules, societies have so ught to limit these ''externalities'' of drinking. Societal reactions have primarily focused on social harms from drinking; policy attention to casualties and chronic health effects is fairly recent. Drinking b ehaviour varies greatly according to the cultural framing of alcohol; societal policies tend to vary accordingly. Ecological constraints and social norms on preparation and use meant that alcohol was often avai lable only sporadically in tribal and village societies. Alcohol produ ction has been increasingly industrialized and marketing increasingly globalized in the modem era. Now, free trade agreements and the doctri ne of consumer sovereignty increasingly limit the scope of national al cohol control policies. On thc other hand, modem society demands exact ing standards of attention and care incompatible with intoxication, fo r instance when driving a car or minding children. Managing the confli ct between these and alcohol's ready availability is seen as a wholly individual rather than a societal responsibility. Those who fail the t ask are defined as alcoholics, and modem states have increasingly prov ided treatment for them. While there if a renewed public health concer n about the externalities of drinking, substantial availability reduct ions have historically often required the mobilization of strong popul ar movements of remoralization.