“O YOU who have attained to faith! Intoxicants, and games of chance, and idolatrous practices, and the divining of the future are but a loathsome evil of Satan's doing:’ shun it, then, so that you might attain to a happy state!” By means of intoxicants and games of chance Satan seeks only to sow enmity and hatred among you, and to turn you away from the remembrance of God and from prayer. Will you not, then, desist?” Al-Ma'idah (The Table Spread) 5:90-91

Alcohol dependence (Alcoholism) is the most tragic story of many beautiful brains and hearts imprisoned. Many great efforts misdirected, and generations missing the true purpose of life. Millions of people around the country are suffering in silence with alcoholism and drugs addiction and this should not be a lifelong sentence. The average alcohol consumption of an adult drinker in Britain is 10 litres of pure alcohol per year and this has got to change! It is not right for someone to go throughout life intoxicated, and it is not right for a modern society to ignore the issue and the risks it imposes on the wider global community, silencing humanity’s call and neglecting possible protective capabilities. Alcohol has profound effects on the complex structures of the brain, it blocks chemical signals between brain cells (called neurons), leading to the common immediate symptoms of intoxication, impulsive behaviour, poor memory, slowed reflexes, and range of other chronic health effects such as liver, pancreas, and diabetes. Alcohol is a depressant that causes the brain processes to slow down and shrink overtime. It affects children’s brain which continues developing into their early twenties, and negatively impacts problem-solving skills, learning abilities and data processing performance.

Alcoholism has many negative impacts on most of the population of this country, and it implies an alarming national risk on altitudes of levels; Alcoholism causes hate, and it is one of the main reasons many families, and nations are torn apart. Alcoholism is slowing our cultural development and economic growth and it’s the major cause behind taxpayer’s contributions waste. It represents a crisis that is weakening our national health system with many conditions and injuries directly and indirectly linked to it. Alcoholism and consequent drugs addiction are one of the major causes of unemployment, lower productivity and homelessness and imposes huge high risks on the advancement of our industries. Alcoholism is the root cause of suicide and violence. Alcoholism is a major contributor to a higher risk of teratogenic, higher risks of mental health conditions and death rates. Alcohol and drug driving is one of the main causes of road injuries. Alcohol causes major deviations of brain development and higher risk of teenage risk behaviours such as smoking, drug misuse and dependence. Alcoholist parents exposes children to episodes of behavioural instability increasing the risks of developing personality disorders and transferring learned behaviours to school, which in turn affects their relationships and overall school performance and quality of education.

We can only think what next is: Our individual problem of alcoholism is indeed having a catastrophic repercussion on many other nations to whom we have a moral duty of awakening and development. Alcohol harms are far greater than its benefits. Let's be brave and honest with ourselves. Let's take actions today and allow next generations better life chances - They deserve to be in full control of their emotions, they deserve to experience the beauty of meaningful relationships. They deserve to be true and truly be accepted and respected by others. Science has explained the health risks and brain effects of consuming alcohol and drugs substances for regular short sessions or intermittent longer period of use, even at minimum. Regular intake is seen to be causing the same level of pain and numbness to users subconscious mind and causes deficiency to their positive ego. The impacts of nicotine, alcohol, and recreational drugs is seen to be particularly damaging to the formation processes and development of our mental images and the programming and health of our subconscious mind. These harmful social habits are directly affecting the way our inherited group behaviours are formed and learned, the way we express and control our emotions in social and private settings, how we engage with and interpret other’s actions.

We are requesting the government to consider taking urgent reform measures, to reduce the social harms of alcohol through the introduction of a new minimum legal drinking age, and today we are asking every responsible citizen to take the time to reflect on our appeal and think of the global growth ambitions of our country, and importantly our next generations aspirations and future. This is an urgent call for social change. The self-confrontation can feel uncomfortable, but it is necessary. Lifetime rituals are not easy to immediately break but everyone is encouraged to seize the opportunity today and leave behind a great legacy for future generations by supporting the petitioned gradual reformative measures. Reassessing the current age limit is a necessity to safeguard our nations progress and empower a mature generation through the creation of modern controls around a substance that is causing this amount of harm. Children are currently allowed to buy and drink alcohol at the age of 16 and younger age and we strongly believe that this is an irresponsible measure in the light of all the mental crisis and new medical findings around the destructive social impacts of Alcoholism. So, we ask, isn't time to quit?

Brexit and recent pandemic mark the start of a new challenging era for this country, and new beginnings require different effective measures. Drinking do not need to be our cultural custom anymore. It is time to stand up and bravely address the issue and start taking collective measurable steps to manage the norm and control the habit and stopping it passing to next generations. Your country needs you today more than ever. Your action today determines the quality of our direction and destination, and many other nations following our example. Challenging a social norm had been known to be widely resisted by society at its initial stages because of the unconventional measures it brings, and this is no exception. Support the movement and help achieve these milestones for yourself. Don't miss on making this vote your greatest good deed. Contribute to the cause by sharing the message with your family and friends and help inspiring positive change.

We request the government and parliament immediate consideration of the following measures:

1- Alcohol consumption digital tracker ID with raise to the minimum legal drinking age limit to 24: We urge the department of health and social care to review the current age limit from new perspectives; its current and future suitability considering the potential health effects on teenage development and maturity levels in the age of new behaviour influencers and social stressors, such as online social networks, violent gaming, and new technologies. Creating digital monitoring methods to provide alcohol individual stats, we would like to see the government taking steps towards allowing the younger generation grow within healthier environments, experience more meaningful relationships and made empowered of their life choices. Increasing the minimum legal drinking age will prove excellent results if done systematically correct alongside other measures.

2- Introducing health standards to The Civil Service code related to alcohol: Proposing new laws to forbid the use of nicotine products, alcohol, and recreational drugs for all members of the house of commons and the house of lords. Including obligatory routine tests and treatment plans ensuring the highest mental abilities of these valuable key members of the society when performing their key national duties. It is everyone’s duty to protect the political institutions and we believe that creating this new code of conduct will help ensuring the sanity and morality of our policy creators, acting as a benchmark to the fulfilment of their duties and the quality of their decisioning, and consequently, the direction and future of our country. We want to see the moral compass of our political institutions adjusting correctly and resulting in a reach and more inclusive national and foreign policies, with less disharmony and complex challenges left for future generations to struggle with.

3- Advance Drug Enforcement Programs: Proposing firm sentencing and enhanced technology armed drug enforcement programs to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organisations, home and abroad, including new monitoring strategies within prison facilities. We would like to see the government starting to take braver, bolder actions on a national and foreign levels to guard human progress and safeguard the modern age. It is time we take ultra-precautions recognising threats of drugs on the same level we view the risks of nuclear weapons to all nations.

4- National Rehabilitation Program Funding: Making additional funding available to the NHS for the launch of a national rehabilitation program, which includes building state of the art therapy centres with meditation and spiritual growth facilities. Making residential rehabilitation with effective detoxification programs more accessible to people of all class. Focusing the efforts and investing more in people and allowing them another chance and creating ambassadors of change.

5- Social Protection System: Creating new social protection systems and clear zones designed with more focus on children of parents with history of substance abuse. It is vital we start bringing more focus on the issue of substances addiction among lone parents and start taking urgent actions to strengthening the social system to protect the most vulnerable and ensure their best health and future.

6- Fatal Industries Compensation Program: Proposing new bill imposing additional taxes on the tobacco and alcohol industries. Creating obligatory laws to ensure immediate funding of further related medical and psychological R&D, control aid new science experiments, and advance quitting methodologies R&D. Ongoing funding contributions to the national rehabilitation program and compensation programs for patients with chronic diseases linked to substance use disorders.

7- Restricted Products Safety Act: Conducting and publishing research related to the proposed laws drafts concerning the revisioning of consumer protection policies to include new restricted harmful products safety regulations. Restricted Products Safety (Draft Act) which suggests new legislations changes, individual alcohol-dependency categories, industry guidelines, retail and consumption standards, social protective measures, and implementation schedules.

National Control: (1) Declaring Alcoholism a national crisis and initiate an ongoing weekly press conference presented by the Prime Minister & the health minister. (2) Introduce wider national awareness campaigns covering public media, digital channels. Online gaming, education sector, and social clubs’ communities. (3) Introduce Monthly National Alcohol Conference at local authorities, council houses, and roll out Awareness Course for alcohol and drugs related offences.

Marketing Control: (1) The creation of new media standards and marketing regulations banning all form of appearance of scripted, audio, and visual advertisement marketing restricted products on public media channels including social media networks.

Financial Control: (1) Introduction of legislation schedule concerning the delisting of restricted products companies from London stock exchange. (2) Prevention-based pricing policies.

Consumption Control: (1) The NHS development of optional use of free healthtech restricted products digital system, to include consumer digital ID linked to unified alcohol point of sales system which allow individual consumption monitoring with pre-set purchase limits linked to health records. (2) The introduction of ban on wine and alcoholic consumption in religious institutions, and civil service buildings. (3) Introducing new food safety regulations prohibiting the use of wine and alcoholic products in food products. (4) Introducing wine and alcoholic products consumption warning at public transport points such as motorway services, train stations and in cabin, airports, and in-flights. (5) Introducing new National Insurance contribution metrics categories offering lower contribution rates to low-risk groups.

Sales Control: (1) The introduction of availability control standards for Wine, Alcoholic & Nicotinic products, with include: removal schedules, restricting based on types, varieties, and brands in nationwide outlets with retail limit of three brands per product form. (2) Introduction of production restrictions of retail unit sizes of over 350ml for wine and alcoholic products. (3) Introduction of production restrictions of glass material containers for wine and alcoholic products (4) The revisioning of concerned laws allowing the creation of new limits on: (1.4) Import and export levels. (2.4) Issuance of new production licenses. (3.4) Crim-level based geographical distribution limits. (5) Introduction of laws obligating alcohol outlets with new compliance category of Alcohol-Free products service, products range availability and service form. (6) Introduction of alcohol service times at public facilities from (4:00 - 7:00 PM on weekdays) and (4:00 - 8:00 PM on weekends) (7) Introduction of Alcohol Contains products sales limit of maximum 100ml/week for male consumers and 80ml/week for female consumers. (8) Introduction of Nicotine Contains tobacco sales limit of maximum 50mg/week to male consumers and 35mg/week to female consumers, and Liquid Nicotine Contain sales limit of 5mg/week to male consumers and 3mg/week to female consumers. (9) Introduction of incentive schemes to encourage alcohol-free facilities.

Production Control: (1) The revision of existing laws widening alcohol, nicotine, and liquid nicotine factory production control standards to include new monitoring policies and systems, new restricted substances, and Contains amount accurate labelling, products identification coding schemes and mandatory registration process within a unified restricted products system. (2) The introduction of an ongoing production and distribution schedules limits review and monitoring technologies. (3) Introduction of new nicotine safety measures including enhanced cigarette filters, reduced diameter, nicotine-free and flavoured cigarettes. (4) Introduction of laws obligating manufacturers with the provision of control aid to be enclosed with each produced unit, e.g., the inclusion of approved nicotine replacements aid, plastic inhalator, nicotine tablet, gum, spray, or patch. (5) Introduction of laws obligating manufacturers to fund and manage nationwide advance support communities, e.g., mandatory free addiction recovery monthly print and digital awareness newsletters, consumption management mobile application, sponsoring group walk, group meditation park events, national marathons, mountain trips, monthly paid healthy holidays. (6) Introduction of funding schemes to support the foundation of alcohol-free public facilities, more socially empowered charities and social groups, healthy living organisations, and campaigners.

National Reports:
Alcohol Charter: 1 Alcohol harms our health, our communities, and our economy Alcohol is harming the country’s health. Every year, there are more than a million alcohol-related hospital admissions in England. Here, if you are aged 15 to 49, there is no greater risk factor to you for premature death, illness, and disability than alcohol.1 In the UK, alcohol is linked to 12,800 cancer cases every year, 2 and unless trends change, is expected to lead to 1.2 million cancer hospital admissions and 135,000 cancer deaths in the next 20 years. 3 Indeed, in England there are now more years of working life lost to alcohol than to the 10 most common cancers combined, 4 while liver disease deaths have increased by 400% since 1970 5 – now the only major cause of death in the UK which is rising. 6 It is not only our health, but our communities that suffer the effects of alcohol harm. Alcohol-related crime is ubiquitous, with more than 40% of all violence in England and Wales being alcohol-related. 7 Our dedicated emergency services personnel suffer more than most; 3 of every 4 police officers have been injured in an alcohol fuelled incident, 8 and 52% of all ambulance staff have been sexually harassed or assaulted by an intoxicated individual. 9 Families and children find themselves impacted. Indeed, there are almost 200,000 children living with at least one alcohol-dependent adult, 10 and more children call Childline concerned about a parent’s drinking than for any other reason. 11 This extensive harm comes at a cost.

Unless consumption changes, alcohol is set to cost the NHS £17 billion in the next five years alone. 12 In England and Wales, alcohol-related crime costs up to £11 billion a year. 13 It wastes resources, taking up as much as half of emergency services’ time. 14 The total societal cost of alcohol misuse in England and Wales has been estimated to fall between 1.3% and 2.7% of GDP 15 (and possibly as high as £52 billion) 16 – a bill not covered by alcohol’s tax take.17 As Public Health England recognised in their extensive alcohol policy evidence review of 2016, the more alcohol is drunk, the more harm is done; 18 and alcohol consumption in the UK has doubled since the 1950s. 19 In England today, “there are currently over 10 million people drinking at levels which increase their risk of health harm,” 20 and enough alcohol is sold for every drinker to drink more than 20 units every week – substantially more than the Chief Medical Officer's low risk guideline of 14 units a week. 21 These increases in consumption, and consequent harm, are largely driven by alcohol’s increasing affordability and availability.

Since 1980, alcohol has become 60% more affordable. 22 This trend has been even starker in the off-trade, with beer and wine here now 188% and 131% respectively more affordable than 30 years ago. 23 Today, alcohol products like high-strength white ciders and supermarket own brand vodkas are on sale across the country for pocket money prices. Changes to the licensing legislation in recent decades – the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003 – have also made alcohol more available, both physically and temporally. In the last ten years, both numbers of licensed premises and of those with 24-hour licences have increased, by 8% and 16% respectively. 24 As these trends continue unaddressed, harm will only worsen. This is concerning in itself, but more so because evidence suggests a wide range of alcohol harms disproportionately impact the most vulnerable, including children. 25 Half of the 1 million annual alcohol-related hospital admissions occur in the three lowest socioeconomic deciles.

The Alcohol Free Community: ALARMING statistics show that more than 750,000 hospital admissions were due to alcohol-related harm. The figures have been published by NHS Digital which provides health data in the UK for health policy experts. According to Public Health England – which carries research for the government and health authorities – alcohol misuse is the biggest risk factor for death, ill-health, and disability among 15–49-year-olds in the UK, and the fifth biggest risk factor across all ages.

It is a causal factor in more than 60 medical conditions, including: mouth, throat, stomach, liver and breast cancers, high blood pressure, cirrhosis of the liver, and depression. Health experts and leaders in the medical field that England and Wales had been warning long before Covid that we are approaching a “tipping point” in the level of alcohol-related deaths. Alcohol is now understood to be one of the factors linked to heart disease, stroke and 7 types of cancer, while deaths linked to liver disease have risen by 400% in 40 years.

It can also contribute to the worsening of symptoms of many mental health conditions, especially low mood and anxiety, depressive disorder and is often a factor in suicide. Deaths from alcohol misuse hit a new high during the first nine months of 2020, up 16% on the same months in 2019 and the biggest toll recorded since records began in 2001. Campaigners are now warning of a wave of future cases of alcohol harm overwhelming frontline health care workers in the NHS as well as straining mental health services. Tens of thousands of preventable deaths are predicted over the next 20 years despite calls from people in the medical professions, in an ongoing battle, to change behaviour. Notable figures from The Royal College of Physicians, the National Institute of Health Research, together with members of the British Society of Gastroenterologists, predicted up to 210,000 preventable deaths over the next 20 years. The projected figures include a possible 70,000 deaths from liver disease and an estimated financial impact of £2.7bn cost to the NHS from alcohol related disease and the subsequent impact on society. The group has urged the government to address the level of alcohol-related harm through legislative action on pricing, availability, and marketing.

Recent medical research references:
Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank: https://go.nature.com/3PNFj7y  

Gut Microbiota at the Intersection of Alcohol, Brain, and the Liver:  https://bit.ly/3AaeF2F  

Tolerance to alcohol: A critical yet understudied factor in alcohol addiction:  https://bit.ly/3CmfCYo  

Associations Between Drinking and Cortical Thickness in Younger Adult Drinkers: Findings From the Human Connectome Project: https://bit.ly/3AeUosJ  

Moderate Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Breast Cancer: https://bit.ly/3PHlJcK  

Can alcohol promote aromatization of androgens to estrogens? A review: https://bit.ly/3dJ

The proposed measures present an urgent rational question and form an important norm crucial to the development of our nation. The creation of such policy constitutes rightful demand for UK taxpayers that sets forth the grounds to protecting the most valuable national assets and ensuring better life for new generations. We expect the government integral consideration of these measures with clear timelines and would value its openness and flexibility. Responding openly would boost our trust and aspiration of a credible democratic political system and an inclusive integrated society.

Sincerely,
Supporters