Alcohol moderation could change drinking culture

Oct 31, 2016 | Life, News

By: Laura Dart

Moderation and education go hand in hand when it comes to drinking alcohol, according to LinX Lounge manager at Humber.

The on-campus bar at Humber’s north campus hosts pub nights and music themed events that bring students over 19 to drink and enjoy the night. Daniela Trozzolo, manager at LinX, says staff encourage moderate drinking as opposed to over consumption.

“When it comes to drinking, people don’t always make the smartest choices… You know in our culture, moderation isn’t always the most appealing or prominent message in our culture,” said Trozzolo.

According to an Ontario survey by Toronto based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health the amount of teenagers who drink has actually decreased.

The key to keeping people from over consumption may be the education, said Trozzolo.

“If there is any sort of education in place it should be implemented when people are at a much younger age,” said Trozzolo.

“The problem is that a lot of people don’t get a lot of information on drinking until they start paying attention to popular culture where the message is always excess and so they see that and think that that’s the way people behave, you know, we go pop bottles,” she said.

The Ottawa Public Health board recently released a report to try to reduce alcohol consumption and promote moderation in the city.

The data collected from a survey called “Have Your Say” helped to get more information for the report about how much and how often people drink in Ottawa.

“We put out a survey earlier this year to ask residents what do they think about alcohol what are their concerns. We had so many people share their stories,” said Ginny Warner, a project officer with Ottawa Public Health’s health promotion and disease prevention team.

The goal outlined in the report is to build a community that builds a culture in alcohol moderation.

“We’re really trying to bring awareness to whether or not you drink a lot, or a little, or none at all that alcohol has an effect on everyone and it really is a community concern,” said Warner.