by Robert Joseph and Hervé Lalau
The governmental department of statistics in Finland has just announced that alcohol became the leading cause of death in 2005, bypassing cardiovascular diseases, accidents and cancer. Among woman, alcohol is responsible for almost as many deaths as breast cancer. Given the drastic regulation of alcohol use in Finland over the past decades, voices are beginning to ask if education might be a better way to prevent abuse. The issue is being strongly debated in many of Northern European countries, where high taxes and strict reglementations go hand in hand with binge drinking.
