Alcohol prohibition has always been a topic of discussion in the recent past. Especially after Kerala did it, the opposition parties in Tamil Nadu decided to pick this to stage protest against ADMK from a wide range of options that was available.
Anyone with a little common sense could make out that a total prohibition cannot happen immediately. As mentioned by the late Gandhian Sasi perumal, it has to be done in phases which could well span for a minimum 5 years(maximum.. well we know about our govts).
I see this Alcohol prohibition will have two major repercussions.
1. The state government will lose more than 10,000 crore revenue per year. Hence a proper planning has to be done to generate this revenue from miscellaneous sources. (maybe considering to stop giving freebies ?) Also, the existing TASMAC workers should be systematically rearranged into other govt sectors where they can contribute with their work. This should at least help fill up some ground level vacancies that currently exist in govt sector.
2. Then it's about handling the Alcoholics. This should definitely be a daunting task. This is where our brain's habit loop plays an extensive role.
THE HABIT LOOP
Any habit can be disentangled into three parts. Cue, Routine and Reward.
Let's look into an example to get a clear idea. A person has the habit of drinking Coffee everyday. We have to closely look at why he needs to do it every day. Trying to find out why he turns out for a coffee, the reason maybe something like when he feels sleepy or tired. So feeling sleepy is the cue here. The routine is having a cup of Coffee. How he feels after a Coffee? A bit more refreshed? Yes, that's the reward he gets from this routine.
Now we need to perceive that no habit can be changed, but can be replaced with a new one. This can be done by Keeping the Cue and Reward the same and altering just the Routine. Applying the same illustration of Coffee to Alcoholics, their cues might vary from person to person. Some might go to bar when they are in anguish whereas some might drink to just kill time. So we need to start by identifying the cues. Huge sum of money needs to be spent on setting up rehabilitation centers. By assuming that rehabilitation camps are set-up, first we identify cues and try to alter their routine(Consuming alcohol) and still keep their reward(what they get from consuming alcohol) the same.
INSIGHTS FROM CHARLES DUHIGG
Let's take a person who consumes alcohol when he is stressed(Cue). We got to exhort him to listen songs, or indulge in any sport or something of his own interest which would certainly make him feel pacified(Reward). The point here is just to change his routine which would give the same reward. The alternate routine could be anything. It can be something as simple as going to the gym. It will certainly vary from person to person depending on their cue and lots of other factors. This is where the rehabilitation camps play a significant role.
Upon proper guidance and regular practice, mind blowing results can be produced.
I was lucky enough to read the book "The power of habit" where the above mentioned habit loop was elucidated. Thanks to Charles duhigg for coming up with such an insightful book The Power of Habit which makes us look closer into our habits. Numerous examples are mentioned in this book which includes how a football coach helped a sluggish, ever losing team to win tournaments by altering their habits and how alcoholics completely stayed away from it by altering their habit loop.
ALCOHOLISM
Coming back to alcohol prohibition, just trying to be a little practical, I personally feel a total prohibition is not required. All that concerns me is people who get addicted to it and drink a minimum of 5 times a week. Someone who drinks 5 or 6 times in a year is considered OK. He is someone who is self-controlled and not getting hooked up. Of course he should still not drink and drive or lose complete control. The occasional light drink is acceptable (hoping he doesn't get addicted ).
So if the ultimate aim is to reduce people who consume alcohol, then it should start right from school and home. Everyone beginning from childhood should understand that no one has the right to damage a good functional liver. It was a gift isn't it? People should love their body. Being a little health conscious is not a bad thing to do, at least according to me.
Also, we must clearly look into the reasons for why a person goes towards alcohol.
If we Happen to see the location of most TASMAC shops, they are strategically located in the vicinity of high rise construction sites. Construction workers are working on the basis of daily wages and their work mostly gets over by 5 o clock. What do they have to spend their time constructively after 5 o clock? They just can't sleep immediately. So most of them go straight into TASMAC.
THE ONUS IS ON YOU
Every individual should be good at something apart from studies. One should know to play either hockey, football or cricket or play guitar, go swimming or something that he/she can do to elate their mood and spend time usefully. Simultaneously the govt should also focus on building facilities so that people have space to play. Just building high rise apartments won't serve the purpose.
THE DREAM AHEAD
This altering of one's habit might look a bit easy on paper, but it requires a great deal of tenacity. All these can happen only when the alcoholic is desperate in trying to get rid of this habit. This habitual training works only when the patient consciously tries to overcome.
Insights about habit loop holds good for almost every single habit that we do everyday. Habits are like double edged swords. If we are conscious enough to look deep into them, we can alter habits to replace the bad ones with good ones. All we need to do is identity cue, routine and reward.
I will be one happy person to see Tamil Nadu as a state which has negligible alcoholics and far less occasional drinkers. I know its a long shot, but who can restrict me from dreaming of it?
Good habits can be cultivated if desired. Better late than never.
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