London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Much of the discussion on binge drinking consists of recycled arguments from over a Century ago, says new report.

A report out today shows that possible solutions to the problem of 'binge drinking' were put forward well over a Century ago - by the much-misunderstood temperance movement - and that much of the debate going on around the issue today is simply retreading old ground.

On a historic day for British licensing, with the Licensing Act heralding a newly relaxed attitude to licensing laws, the report, 'Temperance: its history, impact on current and future alcohol policy', published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, demonstrates how, perhaps surprisingly, the real history of temperance offers many models for the present, which politicians, scientists, and the drinks industry might do well to consider more closely.

Concerns relating to crime and disorder, out-of-control 'ladettes' and whether alcohol use is good for you or note all echo nineteenth- and early twentieth-century debates. Temperance achieved cultural change through various levers which could be built upon now - the role of women, religion, scientific and medical messages and alliances with criminal justice interests. The movement also had views on how to mobilise education, and the media, and the extent to which local government should be involved.

'The temperance movement has suffered from an image problem, which is understandable, as a big part of its message was about abstinence, and there was a strong moral and religious dimension to what the movement was saying', explains the report's author Professor Viriginia Berridge of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's Centre for History and Public Health. 'But this is not the whole picture - temperance also encompassed ideas about controlled or occasional drinking, as well as total abstinence'.

'The lessons of temperance, its alliances and also its failures have direct relevance to the modern debate on alcohol. Women played a key leadership role in the movement, for example, and such leadership could be developed in the present, given women's educational advances and more central role in society, which are similar to the advances being made a century ago. The temperance movement was also very good at local activism, and the changes in licensing law and the involvement of local government offer new opportunities for people today to build networks and coalitions, and be active locally'.

The movement also had a strong scientific component, and counted among its aims the establishment of a medical, state-funded treatment system for 'inebriates', and the encouragement of scientific discussion about the effects of alcohol, and the harm it could do to the body. The scientific and medical influence on alcohol policy has been less strong in recent history, but there is potential for a clearer alliance and for greater discussion of the possible health benefits of low-level or irregular drinking, or even abstinence.