Watch Out

MacAskill is unapologetic that the sweep of measures will have an impact on respectable, suburban tipplers. His case is bolstered by an NHS Scotland study, to be published tomorrow, which reveals a growing trend of heavy drinking among the middle-aged middle class.

Almost 200 people were surveyed as part of the study, which found many drank wine every day and most considered consuming a bottle at dinner to be moderate.

“What was really striking in our research was the number of people who were drinking well in excess of what is considered safe,” said Sally Haw, principal public health adviser for NHS Scotland.

Susan MacAskill of the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling, who conducted the research, asked the respondents to compile a diary of what they drank the previous week.

When their nightly pre-dinner drink and bottle of wine with dinner was added up, many were shocked by how much alcohol they consumed. Throw in additional events such as a birthday party or colleague’s leaving drinks at work, and the totals soared.

The respondents’ carefree view of their own drinking habits is reflected in advertising, on television and in the cinema.

Typically, these older, more affluent drinkers saw no relationship between their drinking patterns and those of binge- drinking youths or alcoholics.

Cameron Glen, a 32-year-old public relations manager for a pharmaceutical company, and his partner Lesley Stanhope, a sales rep, live in the west end of Glasgow and admit to spending more than £200-a-week on alcohol in supermarkets, pubs and clubs.

Stanhope, who describes herself as a moderate drinker, has two or three glasses of wine on at least two midweek nights. She goes out on a Friday or Saturday night, drinking three or four glasses of wine, followed by up to five cocktails.

“I think my drinking habits are pretty typical among people my age. I would say I am a fairly moderate drinker,” she said. “I am tempted by the six-for-four or two-for-one promotions on wine in supermarkets; it seems like a good bargain. But I suppose I do drink more than I would if the promotions weren’t on.”

Glen’s drinking habits are similar to those of his partner: during the week he drinks four or five bottled beers and at weekends, when he’s out, he drinks draught lager and bourbon whisky.

“I do buy promotions on bottled beers, and maybe I buy more if it’s on promotion, but I’d still buy the beers I like even if they weren’t on promotions.”

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