Dying for a drink

In a sobering article in the ever-thoughtful SL Õhtuleht, one of the country's leading tabloid psychiatrists has declared that Estonia is committing national suicide.

Jüri Ennet says that Estonians are drinking themselves into an early [mass] grave, with a surge in alcohol-related deaths in the last decade claiming the lives of thousands. He describes the situation in the country as 'catastrophic'. “With the amount people drink here, the nation's simply killing itself!” he proclaimed, rather dramatically.

Ennet's black view of the nation's fate is based on World Health Organisation data which states that if more than 10 litres of alcohol is consumed in a country per capita each year, things aren't looking too good. The psychiatrist suggests that the figure for Estonia is 13.4 litres. “And we're not talking about tourists here,” he points out. “Every last drop of that is being put away by Estonians!”

As might be expected, and as is probably fair, up to a point, Ennet lays the blame squarely at the government's door. He says that the drug and alcohol problem in Estonia has grown so huge that it should be dealt with personally by the Prime Minister himself. “It's a matter of life and death!”

Salutary words.

http://www.sloleht.ee/index.aspx?id=251696