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Mail & Guardian
07-07-2025
- Health
- Mail & Guardian
Here's the drinking conversation we need to have
Telling most South Africans they can't drink is a nonstarter. But what we all do need to know is just how dangerous it is — and what we can do to curb it. (Canva) It sounds macho, but there's science behind the idea that bigger men are better at holding their drink. Size matters. A larger person absorbs more alcohol into their body tissue so that means that less goes to their brain, which is when you start to feel its effects. Sex matters, too. It generally takes less alcohol for a female to get drunk than a male. This is But those aren't the only reasons it's hard to predict exactly how much alcohol you can safely drink. It also depends on how long it will take for your body to process it and the amount of pure drinking alcohol (ethanol) that is in your drink. That is measured by In A useful guide to safer drinking is a For example, I weigh 85kg. An hour after drinking two glasses of wine, my BAC is about 0.03%, low enough for me to legally drive home. But if my wife, who weighs 61kg, drinks two glasses of wine over the same time, her BAC would be 0.056%, which is above the While you might only feel really drunk at a BAC of No safe amount In fact, the The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction has produced an excellent A 2025 report on alcohol and cancer risk from the Heavy drinking In a 2024 global report on alcohol and health, the WHO estimated that A study published in the South African Medical Journal in 2018 found that Young people are at especially high risk. Using figures from the But it's the immediate effects of heavy drinking that are most devastating for both the individual and society. In a global analysis of alcohol and risk of injuries, researchers found that after having four or five drinks, you're at The risk curve for alcohol is exponential, meaning that the rate of harm increases with every drink. But every legal drink also contributes to jobs, tourism and taxes. In fact, Moderation The findings present a dilemma for public health advocates in South Africa. On the one hand, we must inform the public that even one drink a day can have serious health consequences for an individual. On the other, drinking patterns here are so extreme that a call for such drastic reduction in drinking would be scoffed at. While there is no doubt that heavy drinking is both bad for society and bad for the economy, we don't need to smash the liquor industry to combat heavy drinking. But we must intervene to optimise its social and economic benefits. Based on the Limit the advertising and promotion of alcohol, which Close on-consumption liquor outlets (taverns and bars) at midnight, as required by the Introducing minimum unit pricing so that liquor cannot be sold extra cheaply in poorer communities, which Inequality in South Africa is so severe that it's hard to make a dent in the armour-proofed vehicles of violence — crime, toxic masculinity and the devaluation of human life. But we can starve them of their fuel, if our political leaders are informed and brave enough to act, to change our culture of heavy drinking in South Africa to one of moderation. David Harrison is a medical doctor and the chief executive officer at the , a public innovator based in Cape Town. This story was produced by the . Sign up for the .
Calgary Herald
19-06-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
City cuts ribbon on first office-to-hotel conversion project downtown
Just in time for Calgary Stampede and the 2025 summer festival season, the city's first downtown office-to-hotel conversion project is complete. Article content City officials were joined Thursday by representatives of Concord Hospitality, PBA Group of Companies and the Calgary Hotels Association to cut the ribbon on Element Calgary Downtown by Westin, a 226-suite hotel at 833 4th Avenue S.W. Article content Article content Article content The property was previously the Canadian Centre, a 12-storey downtown office building that was vacated in 2022. The Canadian Centre was built in 1982 and served for many years as the home of Mount Royal College before it relocated to its present campus site in Lincoln Park. Article content Article content Shortly afterward, PBA Group, a local real estate firm, acquired the building, with the goal of converting it into a sustainable hotel. Article content The new hotel boasts 226 suites and two culinary offerings, including a ground-level cafe and a rooftop lounge and restaurant. Article content The project is a 'shining example' of adaptive reuse to fuel economic growth, Phillips added. Article content 'Just months ago, this was a vacant office tower,' she said. 'Like many buildings in the Calgary downtown core, it sat empty, but full of potential. Today, we can see what this potential looks like fully realized.' Article content Article content The conversion of 170,000 sq. ft. of former office space was made possible thanks to $9.9 million from the city's downtown development incentive program, which provides successful applicants up to $60 per square foot of convertible space to support conversion costs. Article content The incentive program is a component of the city's downtown strategy, which seeks to revitalize vacant or underused office buildings into more active uses, including residential dwellings, commercial operations, or post-secondary satellite campuses. Article content Council approved the initial $200-million strategy in 2021, in response to downtown's worsening office vacancy rate. According to CBRE's figures from the end of 2024, the vacancy rate is currently hovering around 30 per cent. Article content Article content At Thursday's event, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said since the downtown strategy was put into practice, the city has approved or launched more than 20 conversion projects to stimulate the city's core, particularly in the west end.
