Punch Drunk Dead
Drinking laws are to be relaxed so that we may now drink 24/7. The Government says that it’s for our own good so that we will pace our drinking instead of rushing to get as many pints in as possible before closing time. Surely an over-simplified argument.
Opponents of the move warn that extending opening hours will result in an increase in drink related violent crime as people will drink for longer. Another over-simplified argument?
Our weekly spend on alcohol to consume at home has increased dramatically in the last year alone. Clearly this has nothing to do with opening hours. There are plenty of examples of countries with tighter laws and those with more lax laws than ours that don’t share our capacity for drunken disorderliness. Binge drinking has earnt it’s rite of passage into normalcy in the UK. It would appear that as we fast become a nation of alcoholics the Government channels its attention into opening hours as if that will solve the problem. Call me a cynic but would tax revenue have anything to do with the solution of choice?
posted by turtlebrain @ 5:54 pm
8 comments
8 Comments:
>>That's a bit of a sad indictment of the UK, isn't it?
do you disagree with it?
>>the Spaniards as a nation are far less guilty of the excessive alcohol consumption we see here. They grew up with it, they know it, they know how to drink in moderation
sure but how does a parent who doesn't know how to drink in moderation teach their child to drink in moderation? do you really think that would work here? i agree with your point though, it's about changing the approach and the attitude towards alcohol that's important. maybe a similar campaign to the current non-smoking one which i think is pretty effective
and that website would be of interest to readers of this blog why exactly?
I agree with the 'attempt'. Meaning that I regard it as an attempt only as yet to see whether the binge-ing reduces.
Reason - there's a simple experiement is psychology, which showed that the assembly line workers were most productive when they had (a) music thru individual earphones and the control to mute it, as opposed to (b) music being played over the speakers (c) no music (d) music fed thru earphones without any kind of volume control.
The key point ? Most of the workers used turned the music on *rarely*.
The point being that for most of us, its more important to have the feeling of being 'in control' than the actual act of exercising that control.
With the 24/7 availability; I am sure there WILL be people whose drink more. Hopefully there will be lots more for whom the charm of booze will go away, now that it's available all the time anywhere.
>>They should be introduced to alcohol in a supervised setting (preferably the parental home) long before that time so there is no mystique or "coolness" associated with drinking
it's not that straightforward. there are other countries / cultures that frown upon alcohol and excessive inebriation, and they haven't all turned into binge drinkers. so to imply that forced abstinence is the sole cause of the problem is not enough
some are, some aren't. india as an example is not tee-total, and niether are indian communities within britain.
Uhhh there are plenty of people in the non-tee-total UK that can easily refrian from drinking. I think it's safe to assume that they didn't have diluted alcohol put in their bottles either.
No, this is something else. Clearly the moral standards of british people are declining. Uhh, IMO.
>The point being that for most of us, its more important to have the feeling of being 'in control' than the actual act of exercising that control.
Totally. The cleverest thing my folks did when raising me was to assure me that I was allowed to date and find my own partner in life, and look where that got me.
Personally I don't think this will change a thing. Those that do binge drink will carry on (after all people do have homes to go to). Those that don't still won't. With respect to choice I think this is a good thing, just like a 24 hours Tesco is.
I also have no idea how to stop it. It's probably something to do with education and a change in media and marketing. Perhaps it's worth pricing some out of the market? In anty case I don't care. I accepted that people in general are stupid a long time ago. How about replacing all alcohol with apple juice? I bet people won't even notice they're not getting drunk anymore.
Focussing on binge-drinking is ok, but it has to remembered that drinking/drugs (specially when done in excess) are simply a replacement of other problems -
Loneliness, depression, tragedies, whatever.
Shak's right - the hardcore drinkers/non-drinkers will not be affected.
I think the biggest risk comes from group drinking - that's probably when trouble starts simmering.
>>drinking/drugs (specially when done in excess) are simply a replacement of other problems -
Loneliness, depression, tragedies, whatever
not necessarily. they may be just a result of habit
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