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"I have sponsored this page to help reduce drug abuse among the youth because drugs including alcohol are not good for young people and for their health." Betty Ayieko Mother -Nairobi, Kenya

Kenyans of all ages from the very young to the very old drink all manner of alcoholic beverages licit and illicit for reasons as varied as there are types of alcoholic beverages.

Some of the most common are 'I like the way it makes me feel' and 'they show that I'm mature an adult'. Others are 'these drinks make you look sophisticated', 'they quench your thirst more than other drinks', 'they taste better', 'my friends all drink so I do the same', 'its a way of socialising'. The reason that got me started was 'girls are impressed by tough guys, and tough guys drink!' That simple statement 30 years ago got me started.

However I believe that most people drink because it is a legal effective way to alter ones brain chemistry removing inhibitions and releasing behaviour that is normally held on a tight rein. People find they are the version 'B' of themselves, the version of myself I finally came to hate and fear, a version which is more relaxed and carefree - the adventurer.

If 'booze' did not bring about these changes in people in all likelihood, not as many people would drink it. But what makes us first sample the foul-tasting stuff and even after the initial disgust still persist with it until at some point we actually acquire the taste for it? For your body's first contact with alcohol, is a violent one - violent rejection. Even subsequently however, whenever you consume an alcoholic beverage, your body drops everything else it was doing and concentrates of ridding itself of this drug.

What drives Kenyans to taste alcohol in the first place? Well the simple answer to this is pressure. Pressure to drink alcohol. From advertisements - drink. From peers, drink! Everywhere you turn there seems to be an advertisement exhorting you to drink alcohol.

Open a newspaper or a magazine and there staring at you will be a bunch of happy faces having a good time. Why? Obvious. They are drinking brand 'X' so if you want to join in the fun do likewise. Turn on the television set and there again. Some hero (tough guy) performing some incredible feats of bravery which they tell you are only done after consuming brand 'Y' which then "brings out the power in you!" Turn on the radio and all kinds of competitions advertising goodies to be won including loads of grog. All you have to do is drink Brand 'Z' and hand in two labels to allow you to guess the number of the combination to the safe holding oodles of cash.

Along all the highways and roads as you head to work, massive billboards with their hoards of 'happy people' with their giant billboard eyes that seem to follow you where ever you are going seemingly mocking you for not being in the nearest watering hole having fun as they are. They do this despite the fact that it is 7.15 in the morning totally disregarding the fact that you have a massive hangover and a rotten cotton-wooly, saw-dusty taste in your mouth from last nights indulgence. No. For advertisements do not show people with hangovers or frowning with foul tasting mouths. These little 'details' do not exist in the blissful, always-a-party, permanent fun, place-of-successful-people, social, happy-ever-after 'never-never land' of advertisements.

In fact alcohol is probably the most advertised product in this country for you cannot read a newspaper, watch television, listen to the radio or move about town without being urged to buy one type or another of alcoholic beverage. Most of the concerts or entertainment for young Kenyans are sponsored by alcohol manufacturers, take place where copious amounts of alcohol are being consumed or both.

Still want to keep the kids out of mischief? Well let them play some form of sports. Rugby? Booze is the order of the day. Booze is part and parcel of rugby in Kenya. It is part of the rugby culture, the macho (still remember the tough guy) strong, fast playing, hard drinking image must be maintained. And if you cannot play tough? easy enough drink hard. That counts equally for toughness. Simply put no liquor, no rugby.

So how about pool? Lovely idea played in social halls in the estates wonderful. Organise tournaments, get prizes, young Kenyans will feel good about themselves as they show off their skills win fabulous prizes, make a name for themselves maybe even a career and keep themselves busy to boot. Brilliant idea right? Wrong. Prizes are fabulous all right. Exposure in the print and electronic media, a highly promoted and covered nationwide tournament. No prizes for guessing the catch - once again the sponsor is a major league brewer. True to form all the matches are played not in social, school or church halls around the country but in bars!. That's right folks. Our kids get to go bar hopping all over Kenya as they play.

Roadshows accompany the highly publicised itinerary with the usual condiment of dancing competitions and quizzes where you stand a chance of winning complimentary beer, and T-shirts, umbrellas, pens and other branded goodies. This makes sure that when you leave you too start pressurizing other Kenyans to drink for you have becoming part of the advertising for when you where or use these items' lo and behold you become a walking billboard.

So what if you want to buy a pool table and put it somewhere in a hall for the kids so that at least they can play away from the bars. Well the government does not want this. They want people to play in bars and drink more beer, so that beer companies make more money and thus pay more taxes. So they come up with an extremely smashing brainwave. Slap a tax on pool table operators. So poof out the window goes any philanthropic idea I might have had of getting together with a few buddies and buying a pool table for the neighbourhood youth. Playing pool is not gambling. Then you might as well have a dart board tax, ajua board tax etc.

All these advertisement seduce you hinting at the good times ahead, you will meet and laugh with handsome men, beautiful sexy women, go to wonderful places and have fun filled outings and generally relax with 'the boys' after a hard days work. Meet you buddies and unwind after long hours of study by knocking back a few.

But how do we as a nation regard alcohol? What do we consider alcohol to be? Are we aware it is a drug and a very dangerous one at that? One with many serious side effects and consequences if used carelessly. Or do we believe the advertisements.

The proliferation of young people drinking themselves silly all over the place with even the reported case of primary school students looting a beer lorry after it had a mishap, students constantly found not only drinking but doing so while clad in full school uniform and students committing heinous deeds after first tanking up on alcohol raise nary a comment from Kenyans.

Evidence on the ground from casual observation would indicate that the Kenyan youth are actively engaged in binge drinking. This is a drinking pattern defined as when the person concerned drinks five drinks in a row at least once in the previous two week period.

Yet binge drinking is extremely dangerous with many horrific consequences such as rape, date rape, violence as well as destruction of property. In school lowered academic performance becomes the norm. In spite of this many seem unaware of their patterns of drinking with dozens of youth I've personally quizzed stating innocently that they hardly drink during the week but weekend ni lazima ni wake (getting drunk during the weekend is a must). Yet when you look around at the social costs too of binge drinking can we really afford it especially when intoxicated young men and women display high levels of immaturity to the detriment of other Kenyans who usually bear the brunt of this and indeed even their peers who suffer extreme levels of harassment, violence and abuse?

At the end of the day the decision to use alcohol or not by a society is mostly determined by the attitudes bred by the culture in which they live. All parameters such as how much, when, what they drink and why are set by the environment in which they are in.

However some factors will affect the rate of alcoholism in that particular community and society. It has been noted that in societies where alcohol has been introduced to children in small amounts and only on special occasions within strong family structures rates of alcoholism are consequently low. At the same time it goes hand in hand with the fact that the act of drinking is also not the main focus of the function, the main 'entertainment' but goes with another activity.

On the other end of the spectrum are the findings that communities and cultures that have no set criteria of what levels and even how to drink end up with high rates of alcoholism. Look around you at how Kenyans drink alcoholic beverages. Which category do you think we fall in? Frightening!

On a more personal level do the questionnaire below and find out how you use alcoholic beverage's.

Do you:

1. Drink more often than you did a year ago?
2. Drink more heavily than you did a year ago?
3. Plan to drink, sometimes days in advance?
4. Gulp or "chug" your drinks perhaps in a contest?
5. Set personal limits on the amount you plan to drink but then consistently disregard these limits?
6. Drink at a rate greater than two drinks per hour?
7. Encourage or even pressure others to drink with you?
8. Frequently want a nonalcoholic beverage but then end up drinking an alcoholic drink?
9. Drive your car while under the influence of alcohol or ride with another person who has been drinking?
10. Use alcoholic beverages while taking prescription or OTC medications?
11. Forget what happened while you were drinking?
12. Find your reputation fading because of alcohol use?

Interpretation :
If you have answered "yes" to any of these questions, you may be using alcohol irresponsibly. Two or more "yes" responses indicate an unacceptable pattern of alcohol use and may reflect problem drinking behaviour.

David Ogot
28.08.03

David Ogot is a freelance journalist/producer with personal experience with alcoholism. He can be reached at goinghomedotcom@yahoo.com

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