TOPIC:

Ooooh they have been bothering me recently as I was donating to them, that will stop now with a very clear reason.

I would be very surprised if the Irish Cancer Society as an organisation are supporting this initiative as it a proven fact that red wine is an anti carcinogen and a glass a day us recommend in many cancer survivor diets. Ginger beer also helps alleviate the side effects of Chemo.

A quick bit of research, there was a talk by prof Peter Anderson in relation to the safe levels of consumption and the correlation between binge drinking and cancer. This talk lasted 30mins. There was then a workshops in relation to ways to address the problems discussed(alcohol consumption being only one of them) 150 people were involved in these workshops including the minister for health. At the conclusion of this suggestions were made on how to tackle the issues. The usual raise the price, ban advertising were trotted out. This was then seized upon by the anti alcohol lobby and propagated through social media. These were suggestions by people at the conference and is not yet an official position taken by the Irish Cancer Society.

Article in todays examiner states "The findings are strongly supported by the Irish Cancer Society", so not far off an official position, or at least that's how it is being reported.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/irish-love...cer-risk-232770.html">www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/ir ... 32770.html

It was the Irish Cancer Society doing most of the tweeting from the conference and they seemed to like what they were hearing.

Hear Kathleen O'Meara of the Irish Cancer Society in ger own words on newstalk[/url:3g4x0qgt] (short clip, only a few seconds).

&amp;quot;Kathleen O'Meara&amp;quot;:3g4x0qgt wrote: The conference will be calling for this ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship, in light of the fact that alcohol, y'know, has to be recognized by far more people, including people who drink, as a carcinogenic and we in the Irish Cancer Society believe we can no longer ignore the impact of alcohol. [/quote:3g4x0qgt]

They are not calling for moderation, they are not trying to use persuasion, they are lining up with the prohibitionists and simply targeting alcohol as bad, despite the fact that moderation actually increases life expectancy over abstinence.

My prediction on how the Irish Cancer Society will develop this is that they will target alcohol the exact same way they targeted cigarettes and that puts them in the same club as Alcohol Concern et al.

First you ban advertizing and sponsorship, then it's (one sided) health warnings on all packaging, then it's larger and more shocking health warnings (probably of dubious validity), then it's point of sale display bans, then it's "standard packaging" with pictures of diseased livers, etc. on the bottles. All the time they will demand higher and higher taxes on alcohol. Where do they go after that? Just watch what they do with cigarettes for your answer.

I doubt many microbreweries will survive this process long term. Ever increasing regulation tends to favor the large multinationals who can afford to change their packaging, etc. to comply with the latest harebrained scheme.

I'll be cancelling my direct debit to the Irish Cancer Society too. I think I'll switch to a homeless charity. They try to help the poor, not bully them and make their lives harder and more expensive.

Here is the report <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_determina...lcohol_europe_en.pdf">ec.europa.eu/health/archive/ph_d ... ope_en.pdf
I am disappointed in the stance the Irish Cancer Society has taken. I am also a contributor to the organisation and will be cancelling my donation. The study is comprehensive but contrary to claims made by the ICS does not produce any empirical evidence to support the claims. I'll let you read the rest yourself my head is wrecked from it.