The UK Has a Drinking Problem Because … :: The English Guy’s Personal Blog

Apparently we have a drinking problem. All of us, collectively, here in the UK. And to be fair, if you went out on a weekend you’d see that for yourself. Youths, and yes I mean youths, not 20-somethings, out getting hammered for no other reason than getting hammered.

So why, I ask? Did I not do this when I was young? Sure I did, although I had perhaps a little bit of self-restraint that I controlled it, especially after I had been mickey-finned in a pub and nearly died. As you get older you realise the stupidity and futility of it, and realise just how much money you waste doing it.

How to solve it? Well the drinking campaign that the drinks industry is pushing isn’t going to do it. What will? Here are some suggestions:

a national ID card at 18 years old, everyone gets one, free; pubs should card, by default;
put up the drinking age to 21 years old, works in the US; when I moved to Atlanta, I was 21 and I got carded immediately, was a bit of a shock;
put up the price of booze – it’s ridiculously cheap here in the UK compared to the rest of Europe; this will take a strong government and lots of willpower, double the price and see our problem go away;
actually have police that are effective – cart drunk people in the streets off to the clink for the night – this may mean more local jail places, but if it solves drink driving and binge drinking, we should do it;
any violence caused under the influence, make it punishable by massive fines or prison time and make it visible, cleaning streets, chain gangs like the US etc;

Those may seem a bit harsh but this stupid drinks campaign that they’re pushing right now, with drink ASBOs isn’t going to do a damned thing.

Tags: underage drinking

Comments

macbros says:

September 1, 2009 at 1:17 pm

IMO, to which you are entitled to, is that youths will find a way no matter what.
Raising the price won’t help. I can remember when I was in my teens we would get some drunk guy to buy us a bottle of $5 wine and buy him one too.
Yea, it was disgusting, but like you said, we did it TO get drunk. (Oh the memories. Puking my brains out. No wonder I hate wine now. But it sure was fun.)

We got away with it because there was no policing in the town we were in. We would go out back into the woods and light a bonfire and party all night. Only once did I see a cop show up, but that was because people were vandalizing the airport lights.

I think the key is policing. Raising the price will just have them buying the cheaper stuff.

lisa says:

September 4, 2009 at 5:51 am

one time me and my friends got caught drinking alcoholo in form two an every one was shock to know that lisa 13 years drinking alcoholo

David says:

September 15, 2009 at 10:32 am

Excessive drinking. *sigh* IMO, one of the best tools for dealing with such behavior is to hols individuals FULLY responsible for all their acts, no matter whether they are “impaired” by drink or not. Drive drunk and cause property damage or bodily harm (to oneself or others)? Require the drunk driver to PAY ALL DAMAGES, even if insured (sure, allow the insurance company to pay but also allow the in surance company to collect all damages even from policyholder if he/she was drunk at the time). Any sort of endangerment of others or rodyism associated with drunkeness? Fully responsible for all damages. Personally, I’d like to see universal laws enacted in the US (Britain may be too wussy to even contemplate such a thing–even terrorists can only be jailed, not executed) that would REQUIRE anyone who killed another person while driving drunk to be executed by having whatever remained of their car dropped on them until they were just a bloody, greasy mush. In public. Film at eleven. But still, at the very least MAKING DRUNKARDS PAY for harmful results of their drunken misbehavior would be a Very Good Thing. (On the dole? Nuh-uh. Drunk n disorderly resulting in harm to others? Off the dole, sober up and get a job or starve to death, I really don’t care. Underage and drunken misbehavior harms others? Whatever your parents have can go to paying off your harmful acts. Put you or your parents in the “poorhouse”? I don’t flippin’ care. Starve for all I care.)

Drunks harm themselves or their own property? No insurance pay, no freebies from government. Get drunk and smash yourself up? Show me the money.

Next? Allow–no, encourage!–pictures to be taken of drunken louts to be posted with full mocking taunts in papers, on TV and on neighborhood posters, with no legal recourse for the drunks. (Any other recourse they take against such posters of their drunken pusses should be Harshly Dealt With *heh*).

Enact into law the right of sober persons to “roll” any drunk they see for any available cash or valuables.

Start with those lil tidbits and go from there, and a new generation of “responsible driners” might just emerge… or at least irresponsible drinkers might find that Darwin had a point about survival of the fittest.

Now, if some of this sounds a bit harsh, just ask a few folks who’ve lost loved ones to a drunk driver what might be a fair and just reward for such behavior.

melody says:

September 18, 2009 at 5:19 am

What the hell is “mickey-finned?” ??? Seriously. What does that mean?
I’m glad you didn’t die.

richard says:

September 18, 2009 at 6:20 am

Mickey-finned, like someone putting a quadruple vodka in your coca-cola.

a witty tagline explaining that I write mostly anything I feel on here so you’ve been warned: caveat lector

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