“Politicians have not taken the measure of the January Challenge without alcohol”

Tribune. For decades, public health actors have seemed to preach in the wilderness when they detail the dramatic consequences of alcohol consumption in our country. Neither the tens of thousands of dead, nor the sick (many more still), nor the handicaps, nor the violence seemed to be able to counterbalance a discourse on alcohol which would be the only trigger of the party, or on the traditions and the art of living, of which only the alcohol lobby would be the holder and the guardian. The exceptional mobilization, unexpected at this level, which occurred around the Défi de Janvier (Dry January in French), is indicative in this respect of a gradual shift in opinion. The consumption of alcohol, until then natural, if not compulsory during friendly meetings, professional love affairs or others, is now subject to questioning.

The position of the President of the Republic, whose opposition to the January Challenge was announced on the Vitisphere.com website, certainly drew attention to the event, but cannot explain its repercussions. The media, all media, have moreover been more interested in the operation of social mobilization than in its political twist. The debates focused, rightly, on the interest for each to take stock of his consumption, on the place that alcohol takes in his life, on the capacity to control this consumption and on the benefits that one can wait for a break. This is also the revolution in this prevention campaign: it is about experiencing the benefits of a break for yourself and not just being reminded of the risks to consume.

The consortium of associations, at the origin of this unprecedented operation of social mobilization, knew how to give a playful tone, without moralism, rigorism or guilt, by encouraging everyone to take up the challenge to their measure. Advice from the January Challenge facilitators on social media helped participants realize the importance of social pressure to indulge in alcohol, and gave some tips and tricks to resist it. In this sense, sheltering behind a national, well-publicized operation, reinforces the individual capacity, the very courage, to refuse to drink alcohol on all occasions. The operation is aimed at the general population, or even people who are dependent if they are accompanied by a professional in this process.

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