A group at the frontline of alcohol abuse in Kirklees has declared new lower drinking guidelines as “daft”.
The government’s Chief Medical Officer has said men and women should now drink no more than 14 units per week – about six pints of average strength beer or seven 175ml glasses of wine.
The advice is not a change for women but is a reduction from 21 units – about 10 pints – for men.
A report by Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies said new evidence revealed an increased risk of developing cancer from drinking as well as the harms from binge-drinking.
But Alan Walker of Alcohol Support Kirklees said the advice was “scaremongering” and ignored the fundamental differences in alcohol tolerance between men and women.
“I’ve got no problem with someone drinking six or seven pints as long as it doesn’t become a means of escaping from their problems on a permanent basis," he said.
“The lower you make the limit the less people are able to identify with it.
“It’s a bit daft really.
“The previous limits were placed at levels because of the differences between men and women.
“The new one is not being realistic anymore.”
Mr Walker, a former director of Kirklees Alcohol Advice Service, said he felt people could safely drink double or triple the old limit.
And he said he had a problem with the definition of binge drinking issued by health chiefs – about eight units in one go.
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He added: “The people I’m involved with are those who drink big amounts.
“To me binge drinking is complete abstinence interspersed with sessions of drinking to complete obliteration."
The updated guidelines, the first since 1995, also says if people drink, it should be moderately over three or more days and that some days should be alcohol-free.
And pregnant women are now clearly being told they should not drink at all.
Chief Medical Officer for England, Dame Sally Davies, said: “Drinking any level of alcohol regularly carries a health risk for anyone, but if men and women limit their intake to no more than 14 units a week it keeps the risk of illness like cancer and liver disease low.
“What we are aiming to do with these guidelines is give the public the latest and most up- to-date scientific information so that they can make informed decisions about their own drinking and the level of risk they are prepared to take.”
