The Indian Liquor Industry Prohibition Story

Details

Themes: Ethics in Business
Period : 1995-1999
Organization : -
Pub Date : 2002
Countries : India
Industry : Food, Beverages & Tobacco

Buy Now

Case Code : BECG011
Case Length : 08 Pages
Price: Rs. 300;

Tools

<< Previous

Alcohol, Alcoholism & Prohibition

The consumption of alcohol is perhaps as old as civilization itself, and has played a significant role in religion, medicine and culture. Throughout the history of the world, drinking has been associated with revelry and feasting. Over the years, alcohol became an integral part of 'celebrations' - birthdays, holidays and religious events. Alcohol is believed to have the ability to give the consumer an overall sense of well-being. It is also known to help people overcome their inhibitions (Refer Box).

How Alcohol Acts

Consumed in wide varieties across the world, alcohol denotes any drink that has intoxicating properties. Alcohol binds to the receptors on neurons throughout the body. It acts on those regions of the brain that control the autonomic nervous system, responsible for controlling breathing, heartbeat, and other functions over which a person has no conscious control. The action on these cells explains the physical dependence. However, alcohol also affects the brain systems that control motivation and gives vivid, positive feelings and memories of this experience by the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This 'feel-good' effect is what causes people to drink compulsorily.

The moderate use of alcoholic beverages by adults is considered normal and acceptable in most countries. However, it has become the most widely abused substance in the world. In fact, alcoholism is now regarded as a disease in many countries.

Alcoholism is a chronic, often progressive disease characterized by excessive and repetitive consumption of alcohol despite a decline in the health and social/economic functioning of the individual. Addiction leads to dependence, which leads to physiological problems, if a person stops consuming alcohol.

In 1990, 62 million people worldwide were alcohol dependent. The ills of alcohol were first documented in England in the 18^th century. By the end of the 20^th century, studies around the world had confirmed that alcohol consumption often led to addiction, increased the likelihood of various types of injury, and increased the chances of heart disease, cardiovascular disease, liver problems, various cancers and nervous system disorders.

In addition, in developing countries, alcoholism led to serious social problems such as increase in domestic violence, poverty and crime rates. Though analysts have also claimed that mild to moderate alcohol consumption could actually result in a decreased rate of coronary disease, they invariably add that excessive consumption is definitely harmful.

Not surprisingly, alcohol reportedly accounted for 5-10% of the global disease burden and resulted in 2 million deaths annually worldwide. Increasing awareness about the problems associated with alcohol induced governments to introduce prohibition as a tool to control its consumption.

Prohibition refers to the legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages with the aim of obtaining partial or total abstinence through legal means. The history of prohibition is also almost as old as alcohol itself with reports of attempts made in Aztec society, ancient China and feudal Japan. Over the centuries, governments have experimented with prohibition in the Polynesian islands, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and Canada.

However, only a few countries (mostly Islamic nations) have been able to successfully implement prohibition at a national level. Most countries that have experimented with the ban soon lifted it. Finland, for instance, adopted prohibition in 1919 and repealed it in 1931, and the United States adopted it in 1919 and repealed it in 1933 (Refer Box).

Next >>