Alcohol prices + combatting binge drinking

[89 Til Infinity]

With news that Theresa May wants to increase the minimum price of alcohol to 45p per unit (see here). I'm wondering if you think this will actually cut down on binge drinking? If not what do you think would be some better options (should the fact that you like to go for a piss up at the weekend even be any of the governments business?)

Drinks are already about £4+ in a club. I've seen mates easily do £60+ in a night no questions asked, so i'm a bit confused as to how this will do anything other than hit the pockets of people without as much money

 

[Teaboy]

Cut binge drinking? No.

Make massivly wealthy companies like Tesco ever so slightly more wealthy? Yes.

 

[ska invita]

Drinks are already about £4+ in a club. I've seen mates easily do £60+ in a night no questions asked, so i'm a bit confused as to how this will do anything other than hit the pockets of people without as much money

ive cut back my drinking a lot and i think price has been one reason. not the only reason though. This year on visits to the pub i almost always pop out to the offy to buy a miniature or little bottle of something, and just nurse a pint

 

[Ax^]

Kills the pub trade and increase's drinking at home


Great policy

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It won't affect pub prices.

It's those damned poor people drinking too much that are the problem. Make them pay even more to get drunk. That way they'll have even less money to spend on other things.

 

[friedaweed]

another vote for 'It's a load of bollox' option

 

[editor]

Increase the costs of supermarket beer and lower the cost of pub beer, IMO.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Increase the costs of supermarket beer .

Or address the reason why people drink to excess, perhaps? There are plenty of countries where you can buy very very cheap booze from the supermarket but people drink less than they do here. Increasing the price of a substance that people have some kind of dependency on is simply a way of bashing the poor, and causing them potentially to live even more unhealthily as more and more of their income goes on that substance.

 

[editor]

Or address the reason why people drink to excess, perhaps?

Good luck with that one, but I imagine it'll be as fruitless as trying to find out why people like to get smashed on great drugs.

 

[kebabking]

if you want to cut binge - and just plain unhealthy - drinking, you have two options: firstly make getting pissed ruinously expensive, using tax to make, say, a 3 litre bottle of White Lightning cost about £800 (£300 for a bottle of wine, £50 for a can of lager etc...), or decide that people should be free to drink what they like, but stop making everyone else pay for clearing up the mess.

so, for example, if a binge drinker gets plastered and arrives in hospital needing a stomach pump, stitches et al, he shouldn't get it. rather he just gets thrown out onto the grass. if he survives the experience, he can decide whether he's going to get drunk again.

if you have the right to make stupid, self-harming decisions, you have the responsibility to live with the consequences.

i'm sure that after a couple of thousand deaths of the fuckwitted in the first year, the 'need' of a large segment of society to go out and get paralytically drunk will suddenly diminish...

i'm married to the widow of an Alcoholic, can you tell?

 

[Ax^]

Bring back 2 stroke petrol


*shakes fist at sky*

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Good luck with that one, but I imagine it'll be as fruitless as trying to find out why people like to get smashed on great drugs.

Inequality, lack of work, lack of other things to do. Then there are cultural reasons - northern Europeans have long been big drinkers. And in the end, if people want to get pissed, let them. But if drinking is on the increase, there will be ways to look into why.

 

[ska invita]

i'm sure that after a couple of thousand deaths of the fuckwitted in the first year, the 'need' of a large segment of society to go out and get paralytically drunk will suddenly diminish...

history says otherwise

 

[littlebabyjesus]

so, for example, if a binge drinker gets plastered and arrives in hospital needing a stomach pump, stitches et al, he shouldn't get it. rather he just gets thrown out onto the grass. if he survives the experience, he can decide whether he's going to get drunk again.

if you have the right to make stupid, self-harming decisions, you have the responsibility to live with the consequences.

Spectacularly bad idea. There is already a drift in the NHS towards making moral judgements about patients being fat, etc. Important principle that the NHS should treat according to clinical need is worth preserving.

 

[ska invita]

anyong seen stats on drinking in the uK? my impression is people drink less

 

[Pickman's model]

i'm surprised no one's mentioned what a boon this will be for smugglers.

 

[Pickman's model]

anyong seen stats on drinking in the uK? my impression is people drink less

less than what?

 

[Pickman's model]

Spectacularly bad idea. There is already a drift in the NHS towards making moral judgements about patients being fat, etc. Important principle that the NHS should treat according to clinical need is worth preserving.

eric pickles will have to go private

 

[prunus]

This will be an amazing boon for smugglers.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Spectacularly bad idea. There is already a drift in the NHS towards making moral judgements about patients being fat, etc. Important principle that the NHS should treat according to clinical need is worth preserving.

Absolutely. The Tories are clearly looking for the angle to start withdrawing medical care altogether from people who can't afford it. If people want to start advocating that for those who drink (or whatever) they should expect not to be able to get any care themselves in the not too distant future.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

eric pickles will have to go private

Never been a fan of eric pickles jokes. He's a wanker, so the fact that he's fat can be used against him? A bit fucking shit, really.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

anyong seen stats on drinking in the uK? my impression is people drink less

Recent stats do show that iirc, and take less drugs as well.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

i'm surprised no one's mentioned what a boon this will be for smugglers.

Not only that, but you can betcha bottom dollar that they'll be a lot more fake booze about!

Another example of fucked up Tory stupidity

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Recent stats do show that iirc, and take less drugs as well.

So this is a moral panic manufactured to bash the poor, basically. And boost the profits of supermarkets/brewers.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

So this is a moral panic manufactured to bash the poor, basically. And boost the profits of supermarkets/brewers.

Of course. What else could it possibly be?

 

[kebabking]

history says otherwise

then they'll die off quicker. they might be replaced by equally stupid people, but without the various health programmes we devise to keep drinkers from the health consequences of their actions, they too will either wise up, or die off.

 

[ViolentPanda]

i'm surprised no one's mentioned what a boon this will be for smugglers.

And manufacturers of homebrew kits.

 

[Teaboy]

if you want to cut binge - and just plain unhealthy - drinking, you have two options: firstly make getting pissed ruinously expensive, using tax to make, say, a 3 litre bottle of White Lightning cost about £800 (£300 for a bottle of wine, £50 for a can of lager etc...), or decide that people should be free to drink what they like, but stop making everyone else pay for clearing up the mess.

so, for example, if a binge drinker gets plastered and arrives in hospital needing a stomach pump, stitches et al, he shouldn't get it. rather he just gets thrown out onto the grass. if he survives the experience, he can decide whether he's going to get drunk again.

if you have the right to make stupid, self-harming decisions, you have the responsibility to live with the consequences.

No, its universal healthcare not arbitary 'moral value' judgments. Anyway boozers and smokers pretty much pay for the NHS.

i'm married to the widow of an Alcoholic, can you tell?

Not really, no. You seem to have very little understanding of the nature of addiction.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Some stats here:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publi...l_2012/Statistics_on_Alcohol_England_2012.pdf

Key points:

There has been a long-term downward trend in the proportion of adults who reported drinking in the week prior to interview. In 1998 75% of men and 59% of women drank in the week prior to interview compared to 68% of men and 54% of women in 2010
• 13% of secondary school pupils aged 11 to 15 reported drinking alcohol in the week prior to interview in 2010 compared with 18% of pupils in 2009 and 26% in 2001.

 

[ViolentPanda]

then they'll die off quicker. they might be replaced by equally stupid people, but without the various health programmes we devise to keep drinkers from the health consequences of their actions, they too will either wise up, or die off.

Thank you for those social engineering proposals, Sir Francis. We'll get back to you.