News
More women and youth in the lap of liquor
Chaminda,* a 20-year-old law undergraduate likes to down a couple of drinks when he hangs out with friends. It’s a habit he got into in his late teens, he says. “After exams, we go out to de-stress and sometimes drink till we are down. But anything is an excuse when you want to go out and drink — a celebration, to drown your sorrows, relieve stress,” says Chaminda, for whom drinking is a recreational activity.
His early introduction to alcohol is not an isolated incident in a country where a Government initiated drive to reduce alcoholism called “mathata thitha” is yet to take hold.
Recent studies by an independent research organisation shows that alcohol consumption is increasing, especially among urban young males and females with the dangerous trend of binge drinking on the rise.
A study conducted by TKS securities early this year also revealed a shift in public attitude towards drinking. Western cultural habbits are becoming more the norm than the exception, and alcohol consumption is increasingly being viewed as an accepted form of socialising.
Chaminda traces the roots of his habbit to big match days. With about five to six years behind the bottle, he is a firm believer that alcohol enhances his recreational experiences.“When you have had a drink or two, then you don’t hold back. We are rather open then and barriers loosen a bit. So we act a lot less rigid,” he says.
According to the TKS study, 37% males between the ages 15 and 24 consume alcohol.With a 6-7% projected growth for 2012-2015 despite stringent controls by the regulator, the liquor industry has seen an influx of consumers. Director Head of Research at TKS securities, Dhanushka Samarasinghe attributes this mainly to the absence of war.
“A lot of people based overseas studying or working who didn’t want to come back during the war are now returning. As they have lived abroad they are used to the western cultural norm of going out with friends during the weekends, so automatically there would be an increase in the number of people consuming alcohol,” he said.
The report also said that the average age at which a person takes to drinking has been gradually coming down from 20.
Chaminda, however, points out that loosening boundaries and lack of control could have a negative impact especially when women drink.
“It does bother me when women drink, as drinking can cloud one’s judgment. When there are girls’ nights in the clubs, many girls go out together and that’s when things get scary. If they are all drunk and unable to be in control of the situation things can go wrong real fast, especially as there are some men who will take advantage of the situation.”
Twenty-year-old undergraduate Saduni*, who is used to downing a drink when she is out with her friends also realises the danger in lack of self-control when intoxicated. “I am petrified of the possibility that I would have no control over myself and being a girl it could be pretty bad. A girl may regret, something she did while intoxicated, for the rest of her life,” she said.
However, this doesn’t seem to stop some of her friends, she said, recalling incidents where her female friends have had drunken episodes.“I do have a number of friends who get wasted. Most drink due to peer pressure. Some of my friends know how to control their liquor but others go overboard,” Saduni said, describing a recent incident at a party where a girlfriend passed out on the floor after one too many. But she was not bothered about it, probably thought it was cool, she said.
Disturbingly, she said many in her age group consider getting drunk an achievement. “They think it’s cool,” she said.Hasangi* (30) who works in the cooperate banking sector calls herself a ‘late bloomer’ because she started drinking around the age of 25. She admits she’s had a few drunken episodes.
With a preference for whiskey and wine Hasangi says she lets herself go only when she’s assured that she’s in safe, trusted company. “It’s something that happens once in a while. I know my limits so I don’t go overboard usually. If it does happen it is when I’m with really close friends and I am comfortable around them,” she said.
Officials of the Alcohol and Drugs Information Centre (ADIC) told the Sunday Times that they were yet to conduct a survey of the drinking pattern among females as asking questions on that line may be considered as a validation of the practice. However an ADIC official said she believed the number of females consuming alcohol was less than two percent. This observation contrasts with a recent UN report titled, The World’s Women 2010: Trends and Statistics that said 10 percent of Sri Lankan women drink across all age groups. On the other hand the TSK research pointed out that female alcohol consumption was a growing trend in the suburbs.
Many pubs, clubs and bars in Colombo have special promotions targeting this growing segment. With promotions offering free meals and drinks with catchy tag lines as ‘hem above the knee’, ‘meals for high heels’ and attractive discounts during ‘happy hours’ and entrance fee waivers for ladies, the incentives offered to females are mounting.
Many pubs, clubs and bars in Colombo have special promotions targeting women
According to Colombo University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor Premakumara de Silva, who is also a sociologist who researches on youth culture, this trend is a recent development and lacked proper studies. The professor, however, speculated that the increasing numbers of the recently urbanised middle class and the adoption of western values were reasons for the growing habit.
“It is an interesting concept, even though not much research has been conducted to observe the patterns of young adult drinking. But I have observed a growing trend of females drinking and smoking. I suspect this may also be a liberating experience for many who come from conservative backgrounds. But we need to do an in-depth study as the trend may lead to a bigger problem of alcoholism among females as seen in other western countries such as the United Kingdom,” he said.
*Names changed to protect identities