Árdís - 01.01.1954, Side 91

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
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emphasize to the commission—that every possible source of useful
information should be explored. We want the commission to be
thorough in every respect. We want the findings of the commission
not only to be stated, but to be proven; we want what recom-
mendations that are logical and inevitable consequences of demon-
strated facts.” . . . The Liquor Question in Manitoba,” Hon. Ivan
Schultz, Attorney General of Manitoba.
The deplorable and undeniable fact is that the consumption of
alcohol beverage is growing by leaps and bounds all over Canada.
The Temperance Movement
“The Temperance movement has not fostered a stereotype
which pictures all drinking in terms of extreme conditions. It has
deliberately tried to show the social implications and responsibilities
of moderate drinking. The problem is not simply one of alcoholism.
To restrict educational material to the program of the National Com-
mittee on alcoholism would obscure at least two serious problems of
moderation. One is traffic safety . . . This is not primarily a problem
of the alcoholic. It is more a problem of people who think they are
moderate. The second is the effect of alcohol in the area of leader-
ship in 'business and government. Inefficiency, waste and corruption
are notorious by-products, not simply of alcoholism, but the prolific
use of cocktails, both in negotiations and the social amenities,”
(The Voice, Feb. 1954), a publication of the Board of Temperance
of the Methodist Church in the U.S.A.
Defining Intoxication
In a case—an appeal before the Supreme Court of Quebec—a
drunk driving case, October 13, 1951, Justice Bienvenue says, “If I
have to formulate a definition of intoxication, here is how I should
express myself: Intoxication is the stupefied condition of a person
who has imbibed alcoholic liquor in sufficient quantity to make him
lose totally or partially the use of his mental or nervous faculty.”
The comment of an outstanding medico-legal expert on this
definition is as follows:
“The supreme quality, that which must predominate in every
driver of an automobile, is control. Every individual who, due to
consumption of alcoholic liquor, does not possess his full control,
and drives a motor vehicle on the public highway, puts himself, by
the mere fact, in the position of breaking the law.”