Swiss entitled to get drunk

Last Thursday a week-long campaign by anti-addiction organisations aimed at encouraging people to use alcohol sensibly started in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung fears that legal limits on alcohol consumption, similar to those on smoking, could be next on the agenda: "We wouldn't miss anything? What about that pleasant kick you get when after the first gulp the alcohol hits your bloodstream and sobriety is replaced by an - initially - gentle high? ... When our health politicians are concerned about the alcoholics and binge drinkers it quite rightly offers help to the groups that need it. But if it uses their example as the basis for imposing restrictions on the majority population this must be opposed. Protecting our youths and educating them about the risks is good; indiscriminate nannying is bad. People like myself are content with just getting a bit tipsy. But if need be we would fight for our right to get drunk against a regime of bans."   

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