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In a society that has been very liberal about drinking, this move is sure to raise eyebrows. Until now Nepal had no legal drinking age or any system to regulate liquor sales. Anyone with a permit to open a store could sell alcohol, any time, any day, to anyone who was willing to pay.
As a result, alcoholism has spread across the country. Along with health risks and financial ruin, it has contributed to a rise in domestic violence and fractured families. As mentioned earlier, Nepalese society is very liberal about drinking. It is viewed as a harmless social exercise. There is no stigma attached to drinking, unless you find yourself drunk on the streets and homeless. Then it becomes a problem.
In villages around Nepal you can find numerous tiny shacks that serve as local watering holes, filled with men, young and old. The crowd gets thicker as evening wears on. Family breadwinners willingly part with their hard-earned money for the next high. Surprisingly, most of the patrons at these shanty watering holes are poor, with very little education, and work minimum-wage jobs. Alcohol is taking away the little money they have, not to mention the damage to their health and to their families.
Educated, middle-class city dwellers in Kathmandu or any other city in the country are not doing any better resisting temptation. Investing in a bar in Kathmandu is probably the best business decision a Nepali business owner could make. It is sure to turn a profit, as people are eager to drink. Another disturbing part of the alcoholism problem in Nepal is that every year more and more young people are sucked into it.
The number of college students that drink is rising every year. This is true even among girls. Traditionally drinking was taboo for Nepali women, but now the young crowd sees it as a sign of being “modern.” A leading Nepali-language weekly even ran a long report recently, essentially celebrating women actors and celebrities who were “brave” enough to drink or get drunk in public. You cannot get more laissez faire than this.
In this scenario, the government’s decision to control alcohol sales in the country is a welcome sign. If implemented properly it will help contain underage drinking, unrestricted sales and also add to tax revenues. But the effort should not stop here; more needs to be done to battle alcohol’s ill effects in Nepal.
The public should demand more investment in programs to help alcoholics and their families recover. Private donors and the government could jointly establish rehabilitation facilities for alcoholics, launch a nationwide awareness campaign to share information about the effects alcohol has on one’s health, finances and family, and about the dangers of drunk driving.
The Nepalese government has taken a step in the right direction. Now it is the public’s turn. It is time for the Nepalese to take alcohol seriously – to understand that it is a drug and it is addictive.
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(Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance reporter. Her articles have been published at OhMyNews, NepalNews, Toward Freedom, Telegraph Nepal, Himal South Asian and ACM Ubiquity. She is also a regular contributor to News Front Weekly, in Kathmandu, and Nepal Abroad, in Washington D.C. She can be reached at bhumika_g@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Bhumika Ghimire.)
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