Britain has a drinking problem, go to any city centre on a weekend evening and it's not hard to notice it. It isn't a new thing, i did my fair share of getting drunk and throwing up in my youth but it just seems worse these days. Most shocking is the amount of young girls brawling and falling down drunk.
What is different now is the advent of alcopops such as Bacardi breezer and hooch which taste like squash or fruit juice and get knocked back like they are.
The latest wheeze is to put the price of alcohol up so high that it prices out the younger members so they drink less and don't get quite so inebriated.
This solution will punish all and would obviously hit the profits of the brewers so expect them to fight against this idea.
The simple solution would be to reduce the strength of the drinks. Most lagers, beers and alcopops are around 5%-6% proof. Why not just make the standard strength 2%-3% instead?
If the brewers can make it 6%, they could easily make it less and the only victim is the person determined to get off their face.
Personally, i'd raise the age limit to 21 as well as 3 years more maturity before hitting the pubs could only be a good thing.
It's a problem that needs sorting but the solution they are considering is the worst for everyone.
10 comments:
I don't think more prohibitive laws like raising the drinking age, or raising prices, is the real answer. And wouldn't decreasing the alcohol content of drinks simply encourage people to drink twice as much of the stuff, thereby worsening the obesity rate? If someone wants to get totally off their chops, they're going to find a way...
I suspect that treating alcohol as a slightly 'naughty' thing (as they do in the UK, and in NZ for that matter), to be accessed when you're 'of age' is counter-productive, as naturally rebellious types (i.e. teenagers) always want to do 'grown-up' things before their time. In places like France, where a little bit of alcohol is considered a normal part of life for everyone from a pretty early age, you don't get the same 'explosive' results...
As ever, I think tackling the suppy side of the equation won't be as effective as taking on the demand side.
Another thought: I still enjoy getting hammered on booze from time to time... but I never cause anyone any grief when I do so. I don't drive, don't start fights, don't fall on people, I even manage to avoid spilling my drink most times! And I'm not unusual in this. There are millions like me.
That's why I hate it when people who DO do anti-social and criminal things when they're drunk can rock on up to court and blithely tell the judge "Well, of course I did that, yer honour... I was pissed!"...
(Bit like Fergie, eh?)
If we start to make people fully accountable for their crimes, with no 'diminished responsibility' for being tipsy when they committed their crime, then that might be a good start towards making some people think before they have one too many.
hanz,
im for letting people drink. if they want to self-destruct who am i to intervene?
you can offer them alternatives, but they have to decide.
now, there are consequences and i wont be held accountable for their decisions... if they end up living under a bridge so be it - dont come to me for "free" or "subsidized" housing via taxes; if they need a liver transplant and can't pay for it so be it dont come to me for "free" health care via taxes; if they drive and or otherwise harm someone else because they are under the influence of alcohol then the consequences should match...
cold, cold, heart
q
I just can't see how we can tackle the demand side Cheesy. It is a culture passed down by generations to get hammered and i don't have a real problem with that, it is the anti-social side that comes with it that is the problem. The 'dutch courage' that sees the younger ones think they Evander Holyfield after a few or stand on car roofs singing. My solution would see them drink all night but be two thirds less bladdered at the end of the night.
I share your sentiments q, if they want to drink themselves bandy then that's up to them but it affects us all when a no-go area is created on a weekend because of all the drunks there.
"My solution would see them drink all night but be two thirds less bladdered at the end of the night."
Unfortunately, and I'm speaking from experience here, people are only too aware when they're not drunk enough for their own liking... People in that state of mind will ensure that they get there, one way or another, so simply putting the prices up will hurt the responsible majority, and not achieve the stated aim (of curbing the irresponsible minority)... Many pub are having enough trouble already, having to deal with the smoking ban.
I have to respectfully disagree with your un-provoked diatribe against alcohol.
I would enjoy about a dozen shots of bourbon before cabinet meetings, or those dreary meetings with low-level foreign "dignitaries" like Willi Brandt. Can you imagine enduring something like that dry? Sure, I may have lashed out at Pat now and then during my stupor, but it was a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Besides, lowering the alcohol content in your beer would result in making it (to quote Eric Idle) like making love in a canoe: Fucking Close To Water.
And you people thought Nixon didn't have a sense of humor.
yesterday i was reading some french blogs (don't ask what's wrong with me because i have no idea) and they were commenting that while everybody in france drinks, everybody in the UK gets drunk. they were pretty shocked by how many brits they see totally drunk... maybe yawl do have a problem... and here i thought it was the ruskies that were the sots...
q
The ruskies go for the hard spirits (quicker maybe?) while our lush's tend to go for strong lager. It seems ingrained to just drink to get hammered.
Actually we were talking about this issue the other day (in the pub, funnily enough) and it seems that the 'not a problem in France' line is a popularly believed fallacy.
I didnit realise the age limit was 16 in France. Binge drinking, another successful British export.
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