Binge Drinking

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Binge Drinking

Postby Mori » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:13 pm

We all like a wee swalay now and then... but the recent damaging effect its having on everyday society is now getting out of hand when kids as young as eight being found drunk lying on the streets... where are we going wrong ??

Herald

Minister to crack down on cheap drink sales

Supermarkets and off-sales are to be targeted in a bid to stem Scotland's culture of binge-drinking and antisocial behaviour, the minister in charge of alcohol licensing signalled yesterday.

In his first statements on plans to tackle the country's risky relationship with drink, Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill said supermarket multi-pack beer deals would fall foul of curbs on alcohol promotions.

Mr MacAskill said he wanted "to see licensees smarten up their act" and that alcohol should no longer be seen as being "no different from bananas or soap powder".
The decision to move the licensing brief from local government to his justice remit was defended by the former lawyer on the grounds of alcohol's role in anti-social behaviour.
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Postby lynnski » Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:21 pm

Aye, as much as I like going to the pub and meeting my mates, there's been a definite shift towards young folk just getting utterly wasted. I mean, when I was 16 I was out drinking cider up the swing park like most folk, but not on a daily basis!! It's really disturbing to see young kids swaggering/staggering around the place. It's definitely a good idea to stop all these promotions, this '3 boxes for £20' thing that asda does, that's just daft. That's about 60-70 bottles of beer for £20, works out roughly 30p a bottle!
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Postby scallopboy » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:39 pm

I thought the ASDA promotion was brilliant but then again one case was for somebody else and it was all shared out over 2 days between 3 people. I still have some Carlsberg in the fridge which will probably still be there in a few weeks time. The problem is not cheap booze, it's people who drink too much than is good for them. If you want a nice cool refreshing drink on a hot day, there are alternatives to beer. When the Spanish were over a few weeks ago, were they all pished, shagging up lanes, eating kebabs and fighting? It's okay to have a few beers and then go onto the soft drinks, but in many places it's cheaper to drink the beer than a pint of fresh orange and lemonade.
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Postby lynnski » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:51 pm

scallopboy wrote:but in many places it's cheaper to drink the beer than a pint of fresh orange and lemonade.


That is also part of the problem, when a pint costs just as much as a fresh orange you know something's up. Some friends of mine have been going to Radio on Ashton Lane on Wednesday nights, as it's £1 a drink, all night. But one of my mates doesn't drink, and his can of Irn Bru is £1.50! It's daft, really.
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Postby scallopboy » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:52 pm

lynnski wrote:
scallopboy wrote:but in many places it's cheaper to drink the beer than a pint of fresh orange and lemonade.


That is also part of the problem, when a pint costs just as much as a fresh orange you know something's up. Some friends of mine have been going to Radio on Ashton Lane on Wednesday nights, as it's £1 a drink, all night. But one of my mates doesn't drink, and his can of Irn Bru is £1.50! It's daft, really.


Simple solution, take in you own Irn Bru.
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Postby potatojunkie » Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:55 pm

Politically-motivated quick fixes will surely solve this deep-rooted cultural problem. So long as we continue to mystify alcohol by completely forbidding its consumption until a set age limit, I see no reason why people will take to binges the second they hit that limit, especially not if heavy drinking is glorified in popular culture.

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Postby Peekay » Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:19 pm

Speaking as an alcohol free zone (though with no small amount of experience) I agree with PJ. I'd also add that the promotions in Asda et al aren't the problem. Kids don't buy booze from supermarkets, they buy it from local corner shops or get "Hey Big Man" to go into Threshers for them. Even if they're priced out of drink they'll only go and start buying more Hash, which leads them down as equally a dangerous a path, if not more so.

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Postby scallopboy » Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:28 pm

Peekay wrote:Even if they're priced out of drink they'll only go and start buying more Hash, which leads them down as equally a dangerous a path, if not more so.


Aye, they'll be listening to Jefferson Airplane and thinking she's singing in tune and talking shite, which in reality is still preferable to getting knocked up and fighting.
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Postby james73 » Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:56 pm

potatojunkie wrote:Politically-motivated quick fixes will surely solve this deep-rooted cultural problem.

::): Aye.




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Postby HollowHorn » Sat Jun 02, 2007 9:17 pm

See, the thing is, it's all about pain. In the olden golden days, folk would drink to escape physical pain, nowadays we have all sorts o' pills & potions to take care of that, trouble is we're all in that much fekkin' spiritual pain, we're only too happy to shove assorted chemicals down our throats, into our arms & up our jacksies.
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Postby Josef » Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:59 pm

The primary drive, as HH obliquely pointed out, is to get out of yer head. Increasing the tax on alcohol to a level likely to deter teenagers from drinking would, apart from being politically suicidal, merely drive folk to rather more (immediately) harmful substances.

Although, having said that, you can now get a week and a half's recommended maximum units of alcohol for less than a tenner if you buy a bottle of Asda own-label gin (amongst others). I'm glad to say :D .

It might be helpful to remove the meaningless-other-than-in-shock-horror-newspaper-headlines phrase 'binge drinking' expression from the discussion, since a couple of bottles of beer or glasses of wine qualify as a binge under current guidelines.
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Postby My Word » Sat Jun 02, 2007 11:13 pm

lynnski wrote:this '3 boxes for £20' thing that asda does, that's just daft. That's about 60-70 bottles of beer for £20!


Says it all really. Alkyville here we come.
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Postby DickyHart » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:15 am

take it from me as a youth worker, kids are getting bevvied heavy style these days, there is no problem them getting it,cost is not an issue. and you would be surprised at the folk who are buying it for them.

i tell ya something hash goes along with it...id rather have ten stoned kids in my youth club than 3 drunk ones, awful I know. personal opinion.
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Postby Josef » Sun Jun 03, 2007 12:23 am

DickyHart wrote:i tell ya something hash goes along with it...id rather have ten stoned kids in my youth club than 3 drunk ones, awful I know. personal opinion.


In behavioural terms at that age, aye probably, but there is a huge mental health multiplier on cannabis use prior to eighteen.
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Postby Mori » Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:13 am

ET

Booze culture crackdown


ENGLAND is following Scotland's lead with crackdown on excess drinking of alcohol.

The Government is publishing a new version of its alcohol strategy which is set to focus on encouraging drinkers to take responsibility for their boozing.

It will set out plans to reduce binge drinking among young people and to prevent under 18s getting alcohol.

In Scotland, restrictions on promotions are already coming into force, with pub happy hours to be banned from 2009.

A third strand of the new strategy will focus on educating older people who may be drinking to unsafe levels at home.

Published four years after the first alcohol strategy, the paper has been compiled by the Home Office and the Department of Health.

A Home Office spokesman said the strategy would focus on three groups: "Underage drinkers, binge drinkers and slightly older stay-at-home drinkers who may not know what damage they are doing to themselves."

The link between promotions of alcohol by brewers and retailers is expected to come under the spotlight.

Last year a survey showed supermarket beer prices hit a new low with Stella Artois on sale at one chain for at 11p per 100ml, or 62.48p a pint.

The British Medical Association wants a ban on alcohol advertising. Other suggestions likely to form part of the document include increases to health warnings, changes to labelling and moves to tackle drink-related violence
.
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