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Light drinker, heavy drinker, social, occasional, periodic - these are all classifications open to a range of meaning. They really have nothing to do with the drinker of alcoholic beverages himself, referring as they do to time, quantity and frequency. More meaningful is the sorting of drinkers into those who are careful and responsible, and into those who are not.

Handling alcohol carefully and responsibly is the only way to assure that one enjoys it as one of the good things of life. It is the only way to see that you do not harm yourself or someone else by the immoderate us of a substance that is habit-forming, poisonous and deadly ("Drunk at the right time and in the right amount, wine makes for a glad heart and a cheerful mind" Si 31:28. See verses 25-31).

There is one basic drinking rule that the careful drinker always sticks to: he drinks with others (not alone, whether in private or in public) along with other activities (not using alcohol for its own sake). This implies a more or less social setting with the drinker either a guest of sorts (responsible for his own drinking) or a host (responsible in part for the drinking of others).

So, in this chapter we will first give a description of the responsible drinker and, next, that of the same drinker in a guest/host situation.

Informed
To the responsible drinker it makes no more sense to drink any alcoholic beverage without knowing what it is and does than it would to take some medicine without any idea of what disease it is meant to cure. The responsible drinker either knows about alcohol or he finds out all he can. He is or becomes an informed drinker. He cares about being careful about drinking alcohol.

Drinking Code
The responsible drinker will have his own drinking code, based on his knowledge and on his experience of what alcohol does to him, and on his observation of what it does to others, those who consistently drink sensibly and those who do not. His judgment of any drinking situation will depend in large measure on his own attitudes towards alcohol, attitudes picked up from family, friends, local customs, advertisements and religious teaching. (Drinking alcohol is learned social behaviour).

Aware of effects
The responsible drinker is conscious that alcohol affects the proper functioning of his brain and therefore of all his faculties, particularly his judgment (common sense - a rare commodity, especially where alcohol is concerned), and he knows that it is habit-forming (tolerance).

As a result, he is careful never to drink beyond a certain daily/weekly quantity and duration that he imposes upon himself and sticks to, no matter what the provocation or attraction may be. Nor will he always drink at set times or always associate drinking with certain activities, e.g. eating away from home.

With him each drink is a deliberate motivated act, and the motive is honest. When he feels he "needs a drink" is when he shouldn't have one - it's the worst time. ("First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink and then the drink takes the man" - Japanese proverb).

Shuns "negative" reason
The responsible drinker will always avoid drinking for reasons one might call "negative": to SUPPRESS unwanted thoughts and painful feelings (loneliness, boredom, self-doubt); to ESCAPE problems with family, superiors; to CURE timidity, cold feet, butterflies; to SUBSTITUTE for close relationships, challenging work. Even the advertisers of alcoholic beverages make no such claims for their products. Can you imagine this: ""Sharpen your wits - Bear with your wife and kids, Silence your guilt, Steady your nerves 'Drink JINJA ALE'!" Drinking never solves anything. It often makes matters worse. The responsible drinker knows that.

Practical tips
A few practical tips for you, if you drink:

• If it is spirits you are drinking measure with a jigger, not your eye. In this way you will know how much you are drinking. Finish one drink before you start another, refreshing or topping it with setups only. Always dilute with any setup close up - soda, ice water, fruit juice - and do not "spike " beer or a cola drink. (Beer drinkers know how much they drink; wine drinkers guess; liquor drinkers don't know. Agree?). And sip, do not gulp;
• On occasion, for no particular reason except to maintain your "independence", instead of drinking a beer, for instance, do something else: go for a walk, shine your shoes, do some press-ups, read Scripture;

And DO NOT:

• Drink with heavy drinkers
• Drink instead of eating, or on an empty stomach;
• Drive a motorcar when you drink, or drink when you drive a motorcar (or ride with such a driver), for at least an hour for each 30 c.c.s. Of pure alcohol you have had to drink (bottle of beer/glass of wine/dose of spirits). Acting otherwise is stupid, irrational and criminally negligent. PETROL AND ALCOHOL DO NOT MIX.

In The guest/host situation
As a GUEST the responsible drinker will not give in to the pressure a host/hostess brings to bear on him "to have another one" if he does not want another one. It is not impolite to refuse a second drink, nor even a first.

No one is ever under any kind of obligation to accept any drink, no more than he need accept the offer of a cigarette. Why should you feel embarrassed in refusing a drink and not so in refusing a cigarette? There is no reason either to feel obliged or to give an explanation for one's refusal. A firm "No, thank you" is all that need be said. To get an insistent host off his back, the responsible drinker will have a stock answer such as "I am still nursing this one". If nothing works he will find some excuse ("it's past my bedtime") to exit early, if he can do this tactfully.

As a GUEST the responsible drinker will not accept a drink unless his host drinks with him (and will make sure by asking), which also means that the host will not offer a drink unless is prepared to drink with his guest.

The HOST/HOSTESS who would be offended by a guest's polite refusal of a drink should learn to respect his freedom of choice. No one would ever be put in the awkward position of feeling that a refusal will be taken as an affront to hospitality. What if the guest does give in and takes that drink, and later becomes obstreperous, or leaves the premises and commits a crime, or goes home to beat his wife - would that not make the host an accessory before the fact? Some courts of law (USA) have held so.

To assure the comfort and enjoyment of all his guests, the responsible HOST will provide alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and offer them on an equal footing, and let the guests decide if and what to drink. For the same reason he will not allow anyone to get out of hand and will make it his duty not to serve anyone who does.

THIS passage is taken from ALCOHOLISM AND YOU by Maurice Gelinas, M. AFR. copyright St. Pauls Communications/Daughters of St. Pauls 1990

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