The Finnish Intoxication

1. The Finnish Intoxication Hannu Ruonavaara

2. The Finns and drinking • Finns get intoxicated mainly by drinking alcohol • The use of illegal drugs is by no means inexistent but it is still much less important than the use of alcohol • Though foreigers often think otherwise… … the Finns' use of alcohol is not in European comparison extremely high • People in many other nations use alcohol in average even more than Finns

4. The distinctive feature? • The Finnish way of drinking: Finns drink relatively seldom but large quantities with the intention of getting drunk • This pattern of "binge drinking" has for a long time been considered typical for Finns' alcohol use • Social historian Matti Peltonen: Partly a myth about non-civilised Finns: • well established even before there was any systematic information about Finns' drinking behaviours • surveys of attitudes towards alcohol show no clear differences between the Nordic countries

5. Alcohol use in Finnish history • A book by sociologist Matti Virtanen: Änkyrä, tuiske, huppeli (1982) – all words about different degrees of intoxication • In old agricultural society alcohol use was restricted to seasonal celebrations  occasions that were considered completely different from everyday life • Christmas, weddings, hunting, harvesting • In history the drink was usually beer, before the 16th century only beer • Drinking was always collective • Drinking on workdays was not usual

6. Celebrations & drinking • (1) Celebrations where it was allowed and even expected that people drink and possibly become intoxicated, for example, weddings • (2) Celeberations where drinking was allowed but getting drunk was not considered appropriate, for example, funerals • In modern Finland the distinction persists: (1) Big, "carnivalistic" holidays: First of May (Vappu), Midsummer Night (Juhannus), New Year's Eve (2) Celebrations concerning some milestone in life: graduation, doctoral degree, anniversary, etc

7. Drinking in modern everyday life • In modern Finland drinking has become more an everyday phenomenon: a bottle of beer while watching television, a quich rush hour drink with colleagues in a bar, wine with food, etc • The number of drinking situations has increased quite a lot but the norm "you should not get drunk" applies to more and more of such situations • Most drinking situations in Finland quite mundane

8. The "Wet Generation" • Until the 1960s abstinence from alcohol use was relatively common and there were large differences in alcohol use between the sexes • This changed with the Wet Generation (name invented by sociologist Pekka Sulkunen): a birth cohort born during and soon after the Second World War • The Wet Generation had a different attitude towards alcohol use than the previous ones • Abstinence became much less usual than before and female drinking became more widespread • Less moderate drinking patterns were adopted

9. …more about the Wet Generation • Between 1968 and 1974 consumption of alcohol doubled in Finland • Reasons, apart from changed attitudes: liberalisation of alcohol policy, increasing prosperity and leisure time • Post-war generations started drinking at an earlier age than before • The WG was the first generation of a new, contemporary drinking culture

10. Gender differences in drinking • Historically the norm "it is not allowed to get drunk" and the exceptions to it apply for the male drinking company • Female drinking in Finland is to a large extent a late 20th century phenomenon: before that drinking was not usual among females • Female norms and customs in drinking are a rather recent development

11. Female drinking culture • Females still drink less than males though the difference is diminishing • Qualitative case research on female drinking customs: • Similarities with male drinking customs: intoxication etc. • Differences: the central role of the hostess who has prepared all the offerings – except the drinks • Eating as a ritual that emphasises the sociability • Talking is very central: relations and children • Verbal overcoming of the male dominance • When males enter, the solidarity is easily broken

12. The "mythology" of male drinking • An analysis of the mythical structure of the drinking scenes in Finnish films 1933-1972: • The male drinking party is removed from the relations with women • disappointment with women the cause of drinking • drinking party vs. the controlling woman • woman as object of desire or agent of control 2. The empty solidarity of the male drinking party • no real opening up or contact between the drinking men • solidarity by rituals of the drinking company 3. The cosmic loneliness of the drunken man • the man is left to meet the big questions of life alone

13. The Finnish alcohol policies • Have been traditionally very restrictive • Prohibition 1919-1932: backed by strong popular opinion • By the late 1920s the popular support had diminished • Smuggling and illegal sale of alcohol became very widespread and difficult to control • The use of illegal alcohol was almost at the same level than the use of alcohol before the Prohibition • In the referendum 71 per cent of voters supported abolishing Prohibition, 28 per cent maintaining it and one per cent liberalising light alcohol beverages

14. ALKO – the State alcohol monopoly • The state wanted to keep the alcohol business in its hands: the manufacturing, import and distribution of all alcoholic beverages  ALKO • Buyer control especially after the 2nd World War (abolished in the 1950s) • Liberalisation of alcohol policies in the 1960s: III beer from the ALKO to the ordinary shops! • Contributed to the increase of alcohol use • The strange double role of ALKO: it sold alcohol at the same time as it sought to control and restrict its use

15. The breaking monopoly • With the EU membership in 1995 Finland had to abolish the ALKO monopoly of import, export, production and distribution • Different branches of ALKO business were separated from each other • Control functions and alcohol-related health education were separated from ALKOs activities • Liberalisation of access to alcohol, opening hours, import, production, etc

16. The key policy instrument: price • Alcohol is severely taxed in Finland: the level of taxation maybe the highest in Europe • Finnish alcohol policy has relied on price control: by regulating the price of alcohol, the extent of alcohol-related problems can be regulated • Some research says that price control works! • When prices go down, alcohol-related deaths and other problems go up, and vice versa • Why? Problem drinkers and risk drinkers start to consume more • A very small proportion of drinkers consume the largest share of alcohol in Finland

17. The latest developments • Use of alcohol has increased considerably in recent years  created quite a lot of concern • Lower prices, liberal import regulations, liberalisation of opening times, improved incomes, etc. • The total annual consumption of pure alcohol was about 10,5 litres per inhabitant in 2005, quadrupled in four decades • Increase in the consumption of wines  "European" drinking habits exist alongside with the "Finnish way of drinking" • Tightening of the alcohol policy