Indonesia will be “alcohol free” soon ?

[sul1995]

On Kontan front page yesterday, ‘Production & Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to be Prohibited’. That includes beer, or anything more than 1% alcohol. Any person caught producing, buying, storing, distributing &/or selling can be jailed from 2 to 10 years or fine from 200 million to 1 billion rupiah. The drafted bill is now in parliament, lawmakers expect to enact it before the end of their terms later this year. Indonesia could become the only secular country where you cannot find even a beer.

[Jaime C]

Certainly would be a stupid thing to do. I'm sure it would cut down tourism in some parts by 50%. And bootleggers would become a major concern.

Every year a lot of stupid bills get proposed, but don't get passed. I'm sure this one will fall into this category.

[ScooterIndo]

It will never happen - bit like their stupid ill conceived pornography law. Too many corrupt politicians make too much money out of alcohol taxes and sales (plus import duties etc) and also the money made from retail sales in stores. Indonesias own Bintang beer must employ tens of thousands of workers for production, distribution and promotion - thats before you talk about associated revenue through advertising and mechandising. How would the tourism industry in places like Bali be affected ?? Think touists would pay for an alcohol free holiday ?? Like Fuck they would !! How many billions of dollars would that lose the government ?? And then there is all the revenue, taxes and jobs created by every bar pub and nightclub in the country - Ban alcohol and you lose a shit load of money and put millions out of work at the same time - Nah aint gonna happen - despite what the "religious types" would want - This isnt Saudi Arabia and for a politician to activly stand behind this bollocks it would be financial and political suicide.

[SomeoneHere]

It will never happen - bit like their stupid ill conceived pornography law. Too many corrupt politicians make too much money out of alcohol taxes and sales (plus import duties etc) and also the money made from retail sales in stores. Indonesias own Bintang beer must employ tens of thousands of workers for production, distribution and promotion - thats before you talk about associated revenue through advertising and mechandising. How would the tourism industry in places like Bali be affected ?? Think touists would pay for an alcohol free holiday ?? Like Fuck they would !! How many billions of dollars would that lose the government ?? And then there is all the revenue, taxes and jobs created by every bar pub and nightclub in the country - Ban alcohol and you lose a shit load of money and put millions out of work at the same time - Nah aint gonna happen - despite what the "religious types" would want - This isnt Saudi Arabia and for a politician to activly stand behind this bollocks it would be financial and political suicide.

not to mention disintegration... Manado or Bali probably would consider to stay with Indonesia (2 highest city in beer consumption at Indonesia)...as for OPM they got more bargain point for freedom... try and do that and i'm sure it would only leed to no good regardless who is Indonesia next President... as for me, wonder if any country is open for an assylum seeker such as me... I love Indonesia, but if its heading the wrong way, i'm out...

[Azni Azziz]

An alcohol free world is a good step.

[SomeoneHere]

On Kontan front page yesterday, ‘Production & Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to be Prohibited’. That includes beer, or anything more than 1% alcohol. Any person caught producing, buying, storing, distributing &/or selling can be jailed from 2 to 10 years or fine from 200 million to 1 billion rupiah. The drafted bill is now in parliament, lawmakers expect to enact it before the end of their terms later this year. Indonesia could become the only secular country where you cannot find even a beer.

this is the reason why i detest Merah-Putih coalition, just because they owned the current Parliement they tought they can do whatever they want... why not just say it out loud i say, just change Pancasila Democracy into Syariah Pancasila before the new legislate member are in and probably declare Prabowo or any coalition figure as Indonesian next Caliph....

[bad_azz]

Back to making the old apple juice for me then...

[lantern]

Back to making the old apple juice for me then...

Despair not. Prohibition spawns unlimited business opportunities.

[ScooterIndo]

An alcohol free world is a good step.

Care to outline the reason behind this train of thought based on your vast experience of drinking alcohol ??

[Michelle O'Brien]

Care to outline the reason behind this train of thought based on your vast experience of drinking alcohol ??

Agree!
Totally.
My business is mine. If I choose to drink alcohol, in moderation and responsibly how can anyone think they can infringe upon my rights here?
Most people are very respectful of others' beliefs and practices, why is the same courtesy seemingly very rarely reciprocated? Really gets my goat.

[martindo]

Michelle, many things are banned in many places. Some bans are foolish (e.g., chewing gum in Singapore); others are misinformed: the attitude toward marijuana here is like something out of Reefer Madness (a movie that was originally made as a spoof, then taken seriously when used for scare-indoctrinating high school students in the 1960s).

Countries have the right to control their populace, as well as the responsibility to get feedback from the people. That's the usual push-pull tug-of-war of moral issues in a democracy, isn't it?

This bill needs to be viewed in the context of the present moment. Every year, Muslim parties childishly demand a "Lebaran gift" from the DPR, and submit various pro- or hyper-shariah bills in the expectation that the milder one(s) will pass.

It's actually an old technique called "washing the eyes" in Asia. You show something bad or low quality to someone, then you show something mediocre and it looks quite good in comparison so the person chooses it. (Reminds me of some recent prez elections here and in the US, actually...)

[Michelle O'Brien]

Alcohol is not illegal. Even in RI.

[DanInAceh]

Oh, THIS topic again. Ah, alcohol, the substance we permit because we're so convinced by the failure of prohibition in a country of alcoholics.

Alcohol is perhaps more detrimental than smoking. We should not seek a ban on alcohol due to religious influence, the insane public health cost of alcohol is more than enough reason to make it a scheduled substance. Let us consider the ways...

1.) Alcohol related vehicular fatalities and injuries. This is a biggie and rather obvious.
2.) Alcohol related liver failure.
3.) Fetal alcohol syndrome/alcohol related brain damage.
4.) Date rape. Alcohol is BY FAR the substance most used to achieve rape. It is also a factor in many unplanned pregnancies.
5.) Domestic violence. Alcohol is seen in most cases of domestic violence. Big surprise, not really.

And we should also consider alcohol's negative impact on productivity...

6.) Lost work hours. Alcohol is a leading cause of "calls in" to work. In addition to lost productivity due to killing people, we lose productivity from useless drunks as workers.

Now, I am willing to listen to arguments about alcohol's benefits for tourism. I am also willing to stack up the costs of all of the above ills with those meager tourist dollars and I gotta say... it doesn't fucking add up.

States DO have the right to restrict harmful substances and they should. Just as Indonesia should restrict cigarettes (or ban them, please?), it should also highly restrict alcohol sales. In the long-term, math is not on the side of those who advocate alcohol consumption. The loss of GDP, the loss of life and all of those public health bills just don't justify a few crappy "tourist dollars." How many dead, injured and raped people do you need in order to justify banning it? When a substance is associated with THAT MUCH HARM, how do you rationally accept its continued use? How could it be ethical to support such an industry, one that kills thousands, if not millions, globally?

[DanInAceh]

To put this in further perspective, the inebriation of alcohol is comparable to another substance, GHB. Your body metabolizes GHB, however, and it's not hard on your liver. It does cause you to lose reaction time or even blackouts in a manner comparable to alcohol. When mixed with alcohol it's quite harmful, if not deadly. GHB is banned in most countries, and is often called a "date rape drug."

Compared with alcohol, it ain't shit. Why is it that alcohol gets a free pass while GHB, a substance that encourages muscle growth (true) and is easily metabolized, is banned? It used to be lawful as a workout supplement, but because of fears of date rapes when mixed with... alcohol... it was banned. Why wasn't ALCOHOL banned?

The reason is obvious: you're drunks. You believe that alcohol is a necessary social lubricant, that you can do it because everyone before you did it. It's too ubiquitous, so you claim, how could possibly enact a real ban? People said the same thing about cigarettes, and now most developed countries are working toward bans on smoking. Why is it that we allow alcohol, an even more harmful substance, to continue unabated?

[DanInAceh]

From the WHO

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs349/en/

• Worldwide, 3.3 million people die every year due to harmful use of alcohol,² this represent 5.9 % of all deaths.
• The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions.
• Overall 5.1 % of the global burden of disease and injury is attributable to alcohol, as measured in disability- adjusted life years (DALYs).³
• Alcohol consumption causes death and disability relatively early in life. In the age group 20 – 39 years approximately 25 % of the total deaths are alcohol-attributable.
• There is a causal relationship between harmful use of alcohol and a range of mental and behavioural disorders, other noncommunicable conditions as well as injuries.
• The latest causal relationships have been established between harmful drinking and incidence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis as well as the course of HIV/AIDS.
• Beyond health consequences, the harmful use of alcohol brings significant social and economic losses to individuals and society at large.

Is it merely shari'a, or should we be considering alcohol a public health crisis bigger than most diseases?