Attitudes towards alcohol consumption and binge drinking in Finland have hardened significantly, with a majority of Finns agreeing on the need for restraint in alcohol use.
In fact, according to a study on Finnish attitudes to alcohol use, Finns are calling for more restrictions and outright bans on the use of hard liquor.
The research shows that Finns are far less tolerant of binge drinking, and a clear majority says that Finnish society is far too lenient about intoxication. This majority would like to see more restrictions on the sale of alcohol and on serving drunks.
Nearly 70 percent of Finns are prepared to lower the blood alcohol limit for drivers to 0.2 parts per milliliter, a significant increase over four years ago. They also support a limit of .5 parts per milliliter for drunk drivers.
More than 40 percent of Finns would tackle the national drinking problem by hiking alcohol taxes, with more than half of women supporting this measure compared to about one third of men. Furthermore most Finns would prohibit the use of advertising to promote sales of alcoholic beverages.
In every aspect of the study, women proved to be far less liberal than men in their attitudes to alcohol use. However residents of eastern Finland were much more puritanical than any other group in their view of alcohol consumption, with negative positions tending to increase with age.
The study was the third conducted by the Finnish Centre for Health Promotion, and polled about 1,000 Finns between the ages of 15 and 79.
Source: YLE News (Finland), 15/09/10
