Ways to curb drinking problems

[U2fanman]

Some say that the problem of binge drinking and the resultant crime hike in the UK has gotten to a stage of no turning back, but there IS potential for it to be much reduced even if the measures to do so are possibly rather drastic.

Here are a few suggestions I came up with recently:

1. ID cards ( ) for everyone who goes into any bar which has had the most crime problems.

2. Large increase in the price of drinks maybe as much as £5 to deter people spending stupid amounts of drinks every night.

3. Bouncers have the powers to breathalise people who go into bars who look like trouble and also to check their identities and people they may socialize with and then ban them from the bar, other bars and off-licences in the area for a LONG time.

4. Finally, a ration on the amount of drinks ALL people can have in a single day, e.g. everyone who goes into the bars etc is given by the bouncer or whoever is at the door 2-5 tokens which they must hand into the barman to buy a drink (1 token per drink). They cannot be given any more when they enter and if they buy drinks for anyone else, that person must give in the number of tokens that corresponds to the number of drinks they received.

What do you reckon???

 

[Dave A]

Exessive drinking in the UK is a HUGE problem, there is potential to sort it, but it' sorting it out in a way that doesn't hit everyone hard. It's too late for me think hard enough to come up with a comprehendable solution theory right now, but theres probably a few ideas out there.

 

[U2fanman]

Exessive drinking in the UK is a HUGE problem, there is potential to sort it, but it' sorting it out in a way that doesn't hit everyone hard. It's too late for me think hard enough to come up with a comprehendable solution theory right now, but theres probably a few ideas out there.

Yeah, sorry about the last sentence in your quote, but I just had the idea of putting up my ideas I did actually had! (Me being a n*b!)

 

[Danoff]

Some say that the problem of binge drinking and the resultant crime hike in the UK has gotten to a stage of no turning back, but there IS potential for it to be much reduced even if the measures to do so are possibly rather drastic.

Here are a few suggestions I came up with recently:

1. ID cards ( ) for everyone who goes into any bar which has had the most crime problems.

2. Large increase in the price of drinks maybe as much as £5 to deter people spending stupid amounts of drinks every night.

3. Bouncers have the powers to breathalise people who go into bars who look like trouble and also to check their identities and people they may socialize with and then ban them from the bar, other bars and off-licences in the area for a LONG time.

4. Finally, a ration on the amount of drinks ALL people can have in a single day, e.g. everyone who goes into the bars etc is given by the bouncer or whoever is at the door 2-5 tokens which they must hand into the barman to buy a drink (1 token per drink). They cannot be given any more when they enter and if they buy drinks for anyone else, that person must give in the number of tokens that corresponds to the number of drinks they received.

What do you reckon???

I reckon you suggest we punish the crime rather than innocent people who just want to have a drink.

 

[Dave A]

No probs, I think a combination of 3 and 4 would work best, that way you couldn't go from bar to bar using up new tokens in each bar since the bouncers could breathalise you and just not let you in. You'd need to give out tokens based on percentage and/or ammount not per drink because 1 pint would take one token and so would half a pint otherwise.

 

[Danoff]

No probs, I think a combination of 3 and 4 would work best, that way you couldn't go from bar to bar using up new tokens in each bar since the bouncers could breathalise you and just not let you in. You'd need to give out tokens based on percentage and/or ammount not per drink because 1 pint would take one token and so would half a pint otherwise.

That's a brilliant way to punish the innocent.

 

[F1GTR]

Make the drinks so strong that one would be enough

 

[emad]

Make the drinks so strong that one would be enough

... or weak enough that even after a 6 pack of beer, you don't even have a buzz. That way you'd be pissing more than drinking

 

[VIPFREAK]

Don't do it at all or ban alcohol too. 💡

 

[Swift]

That's a brilliant way to punish the innocent.

What's your suggestion?

 

[Danoff]

What's your suggestion?

My suggestion is to not curb drinking since drinking should not be (and isn't) a crime. Fight real crimes. U2 should start a thread about that .

 

[Swift]

My suggestion is to not curb drinking since drinking should not be (and isn't) a crime. Fight real crimes. U2 should start a thread about that .

Drunken disorderly conduct is. Along with drunk driving and a lot of things that go along with drinking. It's trying to stop the source of the problem. I know you're into personal responsibility. But if they don't take it, then what?

 

[Sage]

• Arrest unruly people
• Arrest dangerous people
• Arrest people who are actually causing a problem

That's what you do. Leave everybody else alone.

 

[Quattro20v]

4. Finally, a ration on the amount of drinks ALL people can have in a single day, e.g. everyone who goes into the bars etc is given by the bouncer or whoever is at the door 2-5 tokens which they must hand into the barman to buy a drink (1 token per drink). They cannot be given any more when they enter and if they buy drinks for anyone else, that person must give in the number of tokens that corresponds to the number of drinks they received.

OMG.

 

[Duke]

I know you're into personal responsibility. But if they don't take it, then what?

You thrust it upon them. Just like Sage says, you arrest people who are causing a problem.

 

[standard235]

You thrust it upon them. Just like Sage says, you arrest people who are causing a problem.

See how easy that is?



Now why can't the arseholes who actually get into office see that?

 

[Solid Lifters]

DUKE FOR PRESIDENT!

Give them liver disease. That cured my drinking problem.

 

[Dave A]

That's a brilliant way to punish the innocent.

The innocent wouldn't be drinking 6 pints a night so it shouldn't affect them.

 

[ledhed]

The innocent wouldn't be drinking 6 pints a night so it shouldn't affect them.

And who are you to determine that a person drinking 6 or more pints a night and going along fine with the world is NOT innocent ?

Since when is it OK for someone to be punished for what they might do ?
Who gets to be head mind reader in such a society and then gets to contoll your freedom ?

 

[Dave A]

6 pints will chenge the vast, vast majority of peoples state of mind, it's that change that you need to prevent, so the vast majority of people going out late who arn't planning on getting drunk tend not to drink 6 pints. I maybe shouldn't have said day, since you can drink 7 or 8 pints in a day and be fine, but in the space of a few hours out in town 6 will get 90+ percent of people drunk regardless of what they might brag about in work the monday after.

 

[ledhed]

Hmmmm maybe thats why there are already laws against public drunkeness and driving while intoxicated etc . For those who cant seem to handle the responsibility of drinking .
And your basing your claim on the "vast majority " on what actual facts ?

 

[Duke]

DUKE FOR PRESIDENT!

That's actually the third time I've been nominated for President on this forum...

 

[Dave A]

Facts about the vast majority. Were not discussing drunk driving, thats already illegal and people already get punished for that. Whats happening is people are getting drunk in bars, in the streets and they are fighting, being abusive ect and this needs to be prevented, you need to prevent people getting so drunk they start to get abusive ect.

 

[Duke]

Facts about the vast majority. Were not discussing drunk driving, thats already illegal and people already get punished for that. Whats happening is people are getting drunk in bars, in the streets and they are fighting, being abusive ect and this needs to be prevented, you need to prevent people getting so drunk they start to get abusive ect.

Not everybody is an aggressive, unruly drunk. I'm sure not; I'm a happy drunk. I can sit around all night and drink tequila and have fun without ever once being tempted to pick a fight or sing at the top of my lungs at 0300 or even drive somewhere for a pizza.

So I should get punished ahead of time because I might do those things?

Crack down on people who actually do those things, not on people who might do those things. I don't care if you station cops outside the parking lot of every bar to observe drunken people walking to their cars and driving away, then busting them. I don't care if you have cops around at closing time to keep an eye out for fights or football club song choruses. But the enforecement needs to focus on those who actually break the rules.

 

[Pako]

• Arrest unruly people
• Arrest dangerous people
• Arrest people who are actually causing a problem

That's what you do. Leave everybody else alone.

And when the jails are too full to take any more......

Jail time keeps them off the street for a short period of time, even long enough to sober up, but this doesn't fix the problem.

[edit]
A handy gadget for repeat DUI offenders is a breathalyzer device in their car. They have to pass it in order to start their car. Thought that was cool.
[/edit]

 

[Dave A]

Thats true but to get the people who do thoes things they'd need to have DONE them first, that could and far too often has resulted in someone getting killed, that could be prevented, maybe not completely but certainly lessened. Do you have any suggestions to prevent people actually doing these things without meaning a couple less pints for some people.

 

[Touring Mars]

you need to prevent people getting so drunk they start to get abusive ect.

Pub landlords and bar staff are already supposed to not serve people who are clearly drunk. Alot of bars (infact, almost every bar I've ever gone to) totally ignore this fact, although as a barman myself, I have refused service to someone because they were drunk.... and he threw a coin at my head

Preventing people from getting drunk at all, however, is not possible and it doesn't address the real problem. Basically, if someone acts like a tw*t when they are drunk, it is a massive over-simplication to blame the booze - they need to look at why they behave that way at all.... People will always have the means to get drunk if they want to... you could simply sit at home and get tanked, and then go out.... but in that case, any self-respecting bar should not admit or serve you. And if someone enters a bar sober but subsequently starts getting very drunk and/or abusive, then the bar staff should stop serving that person and chuck them out.

You only have to look at how successfful prohibition was to see the problems in limiting how much alcohol people can drink. There is already a huge black market in alcohol, and people who buy contraband alcohol are taking a big chance... you only have to look at when Glasgow was hit by bootleg Stolichnaya Vodka that contained methanol...

Although I'm all for pubs taking more responsibility for the state of their customers, I'm totally against blanket rules that penalise the civilised majority who never cause any problems...

 

[Dave A]

Bad behavior when drunk is relatively new, people in general are worse behaive than 100 years ago, people including drunk people use the alcohol as an exuse to go wild and just let go. Some people are capale of more control over themselves when drunk than others but a lot of people don't control themselves becasue they feel they don't have to. You raise valid points about contraband alcohol but what I'm looking at is a solution to help prevent or minimise certain behavior and such people display when drunk.

 

[Touring Mars]

Bad behavior when drunk is relatively new, people in general are worse behaive than 100 years ago,

I'm not being facetious here, but how do you know that? Of course, it's much easier to get drunk now, as there are 100 times more pubs, but I actually think that most people's attitude towards alcohol are far more informed and responsible than ever before... there's more trouble in town centres these days because of offers and prices that promote binge-drinking, and pubs and clubs do not care how drunk their customers get, but the actual difference in the mindsets of individuals is, if anything, better than it used to be...

people including drunk people use the alcohol as an exuse to go wild and just let go.

People have been doing that for generations... the younger generation now are being targeted by alcohol producers more than any other sector (and especially young women), but we are also know alot more about the risks of excessive drinking - people of my father and grandfathers generation sure as hell didn't sit and count up the amount of units written on the backs of their beer bottles before jumping in the car and driving home - drink driving is socially unacceptable now, but who took the lead on that issue? We did (the younger generation)... not one of my drinking buddies ever drinks and drives - the same cannot be said for my Dad's generation... they don't do it now, but they certainly did before...

Some people are capale of more control over themselves when drunk than others but a lot of people don't control themselves becasue they feel they don't have to.

I agree, some people are alot better at controlling themselves, but everybody has to be able to control themselves at some point... if you know you can't control your behaviour when you are drunk, then making the choice to get drunk is effectively making the choice to lose control.... ergo, being drunk is no excuse for bad behaviour. It is your right to make that choice, but it ultimately will lead to either a hospital bed, a prison cell, or worse. But rather than ban alcohol or ban certain people from alcohol (which would be extremely difficult to do), it would be better to continue educating people about the risks of alcohol... that includes educating parents who turn a blind eye to their kids drinking... the drink-driving message is a pertinent example of what can be done... ironically, it was the kids who showed the adults how to behave in that particular scenario...

 

[Danoff]

Thats true but to get the people who do thoes things they'd need to have DONE them first,

Exactly!!! Punish the guilty - not the innocent.

that could and far too often has resulted in someone getting killed, that could be prevented, maybe not completely but certainly lessened.

Yes, by sacrificing freedoms we can prevent wrongdoing from occuring - but taking away freedom is a wrong in-and-of itself. It punishes the innocent. The question is, do you want the state to be the criminal or the enforcer of justice?