Some time ago I gave up alcohol for good (in both senses of the word). On a few occasions since then, I’ve been asked why I no longer drink it. It’s surely the only drug where you’re asked why you don’t consume it, or no longer consume it. Does anyone ever ask another person why they don’t smoke cigarettes or inject heroin? Yet deaths caused by alcohol greatly exceed those caused by all illegal drugs combined. The WHO estimates:

• 400+ million people have Alcohol Use Disorder (Wikipedia automatically redirects those keying in the search words “Alcohol Use Disorder” to their page on alcoholism), 7% of the world’s population
• 209+ million live with alcohol dependence.

In 2024 WHO published a 334-page report, Global status report on alcohol and health and treatment of substance use disorders.

When pressed on why I no longer drink alcohol, I have a range of possible responses, depending on the circumstances, and sometimes the person I’m speaking to. My current favourite short response is:

“Because I wanted to be happier, healthier and wealthier. It’s working wonderfully!”

My current favourite lengthy response is:

“I recently had my annual medical check-up. It was very thorough and the female doctor asked me if I smoked and/or drank alcohol. and if so, how much. I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life. I used to smoke a pipe daily but no longer do. For many years I’ve only smoked cigars, seeking – as with the pipe – not to inhale any of the smoke. She suggested I give up cigars, I smiled and I said I wouldn’t.

(I was inspired by the words of Paul Elam who wrote in his international bestseller Men. Women. Relationships. (2019):

“Men are only as mentally and emotionally healthy as their ability to say no to a woman.”)

I then gave her a sense of my alcohol consumption over the past 50+ years. She frowned and informed me I had long ago passed the maximum recommended alcohol limit for life. I stopped drinking that day.”

It’s worth relating this lengthy response to see the confused expression on the person I’m addressing. Two people have told me they weren’t aware that there exists a maximum recommended alcohol limit for life. Priceless.

Giving up alcohol has prompted me to consider my future, at 67. I remain as committed as ever to campaigning for the human rights of men and boys and challenging feminism and individual feminists, in part by maintaining this blog to the extent I do, which takes up much of my time. Beyond that, I plan to focus more of my time and energy on my creative passion, writing non-fiction books.

My first international bestseller Profitable Buying Strategies was published in 2008 by the major publisher Kogan Page. The paperback edition retails on Amazon currently for a bargain £39.99. Earlier this year Kogan Page returned the copyright to me. I am currently in the process of editing it before publishing a new edition (with a new title) later this year.

I wrote and self-published ten international bestsellers after Profitable Buying Strategies. The list of my books published on Amazon and elsewhere is here. I now plan to write and publish three books a year. In the coming year two of them will be on gender issues. I have so much more to write on the matter.

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