Alcohol: No substan
ce in the wo
rld seems so
familiar
to us and
is so incr
edibly divers
e in its effec
t. Alcohol i
s availab
le everyw
here and this
particular m
olecule has
the pow
er to affect al
l 200 billion
neurons of our
human brain
in completel
y different
ways. But har
dly anyone ca
lls alc
ohol a drug de
spite its psyc
hoactive and
cell-des
troying
effect. Wh
y do we
tolera
te the d
eath of three
million people
every y
ear? Have
we turned a
blind e
ye to th
e dangers and
risks fo
r thousands of
years? Wha
t role does the
powerful al
cohol industr
y play w
ith an annual t
urnover of
1.2 trillion
euros in t
his on-g
oing conce
alment?
The author,
who hims
elf enjoys hav
ing a dri
nk, looks i
nto the questi
on why we d
rink at all,
what alc
ohol does
to us and
to what ex
tent the alcoho
l industry
influen
ces soci
ety and polit
ics. He trav
els around
the world fr
om Germany
via England to
Nigeria to
detect
aggressive tr
ading prac
tices of the g
lobal alc
ohol industr
y seeking growt
h in new marke
ts at all
costs. He also
visits Icela
nd, which
successfully
made the turna
round: Wh
ere 20 years
ago hordes of
drunks
roamed the s
treets,
young peo
ple tod
ay maste
r their need
for relaxa
tion an
d life stimula
nts without
alcohol
. The fi
lm has no inte
ntion to poi
nt a moral f
inger bu
t nevertheless
will significa
ntly change th
e drinking
habits of
the viewer.　
　Alcohol:
No substance
in the
world seems so
familiar to u
s and is so in
credibly
diverse i
n its e
ff