France regards itself as a nation which knows how to take its drink, unlike, say, the Scandinavians or the British. But a hard-hitting report presented to the government suggested the entire country is in a state of alcoholic denial.
One in 10 French people has a drink problem, the report says. Every day, five people die of alcohol-linked accidents or diseases in France.
The semi-official study undermines an argument used by the Blair government for extending Britain’s pub opening hours. Spreading drinking over a longer period, as France does, does not necessarily reduce alcohol-related social ills.
Addiction to alcohol in France is partly rooted in politics, says Herv̩ Chabalier, the author of the report, who is a television journalist and recovering alcoholic. The influence of wine-growers, and the wider drinks industry, on the government means the dangers of drink have never been properly addressed, M. Chabalier said. The one exception Рa law passed in 1991 restricting drink advertising Рwas not fully applied and is now being dismantled, he said.
M. Chabalier, author of a best-selling book last year on his near-destruction by drink, calls for all bottles of wine and other drinks to have a health-warning label. He also wants a national campaign to warn young people – and especially young women – of the dangers of alcohol.
“Culturally, alcohol has always been considered here as something convivial,” M. Chabalier said. “We must stop treating it like an everyday consumer need, like baguettes. It must be de-normalised.”
The chances of M. Chabalier being heeded are slender to non-existent. The French wine industry, reeling from increased competition abroad and falling consumption at home, rejected the report yesterday as “alarmist” and unpatriotic.