"It wasnÔÇÖt until I stopped drinking that I realised Aotearoa is swimming in booze".

[Olive]

I found it interesting when I gave up on buying wine for budget reasons and went alcohol free for a good few years, how many people seemed to take offence at my choice. I was actively encouraged to join them, almost as if I was out of step with the mainstream. I have always been a cheap drunk, two glasses is my limit any more and I feel very uncomfortable and the hangover is awful. Same with narcotics and opioids - legal ones, and even weed, though a little of that does help with pain and sleep. Overdo it and I become very disoriented and it is unpleasant.

So, not drinking isn't an issue for me, but I do like the ritual of a cool glass of cheap pinot gris to signal the end of the day. Perhaps for many of us, the ritual and the sociability of sharing a glass or two is the important thing.

If only it could stop at that fewer lives would be damaged.

I stopped drinking alcohol for a couple of years and found that as long as I was holding a glass of liquid (usually water) nobody took much notice. It was much easier than I expected. When I decided to have the occasional glass of wine I found that I couldn't bear the smell of red or white wine any more, the only kind I liked was Champagne or M├®thode Champenoise. So now, like you, I enjoy the ritual of marking the end of the day with a glass of wine, but any more than one and a half glasses I feel woozy and awful. It's all worked out very well.