Yet another call has been made for the implementation of breathalyser laws in T&T. The call has come from stakeholders who are concerned that the abuse of alcohol in this country is now outpacing that of illegal drugs.
By Cordielle Street?In terms of substance abuse, alcohol is the biggest problem we have in this country,? Gavin Cole, vice-president of the T&T National Council on Alcoholism and other Addictions, said at the media launch of the 29th annual Alcohol and Drug Awareness Week campaign, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo, yesterday.
?Alcohol is so commonplace in our country we have stopped recognising the dangers of it,? Cole added.
The campaign, which officially kicks off on Sunday with the theme Alcohol Abuse a Social and Economic Disaster, will be extended throughout the year, he announced.
The organisation?s executives beseeched the media and advertisers to not only support the campaign, but its print advertisement and television commercial, which utilised a visual of a wrecked and mangled vehicle on its poster.
J. David Ramkeesoon, president of the organisation, estimated that with a population of 1.2 million, T&T has a drinking population of 800,000.
Quoting 1999 statistics gained from the National Drug Abuse Prevention Programme, he said annually, T&T consumes three million gallons of rum, 25 million litres of beer and five million litres of stout.
While the economic loss to the country due to alcoholism has not been calculated in dollars and cents, Ramkeesoon added that, ?in the workplace, at least 14 per cent of all workers in any field are affected by alcohol and drugs ... and out of that 14 per cent, 10 per cent by alcohol and four per cent by drugs.?
These ?troubled employees? can cost a business, through absenteeism, accidents on the job and other dilemmas, approximately a quarter of their salary per year, he said.
Executive director Cheryl Edwards expressed her hope that Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert will continue to push for the implementation of breathalyser laws.
Imbert had previously indicated he would present a new version of the bill to Parliament this month.
?If we don?t get the breathalyser instituted in this country we will continue to die on our roads,? said Edwards.
