ABSTRACT
In recent years, many developing countries and specific subgroups within them have undergone rapid economic and sociocultural changes. During this process, concomitant changes have occurred in the field of alcohol and drug abuse. Populations have been exposed to an increased availability of alcohol and other psychoactive drugs in forms with which they were unfamiliar. Excessive alcohol consumption in developing countries leads to substantial negative effects on the health and also on the quality of life of drinking individuals and their families. It also causes massive direct and indirect costs to these countries that they can ill afford (Saxena, 1997). The present chapter attempts to review the changing drinking scene in India and traces the historical tradition of alcohol use in the country. It also highlights regional differences, the role of sociocultural variables in the acceptance of alcohol consumption, and the challenges to a developing nation posed by free trade and the growth of transnational corporations.
