Published: Friday, 5th February, 2010 12:25pm
"Education is key to stop drinking culture"
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Millport man John Burtt speaks about minimal alcohol pricing.
The troublesome drinking culture in the west of Scotland has come under scrutiny as the SNP want to introduce minimum alcohol pricing in order to curb the problem but will it work?
A government health committee submitted a report which stated that the 'most powerful tool' that Scottish ministers have under their power is increasing the price of alcohol to target problem drinkers who supposedly rely on cheap alcohol.
However, is it fair that moderate drinkers who enjoy a tipple at the end of the week or a fine wine should be penalised for the few who have the problem, and this is just the latest tax being used against us? People in Scotland drank 25% more alcohol per head of population than individuals in England and Wales, recent figures suggested.
This week, the "News" hit the local streets to ask whether locals agreed with the controversial policy and their views on finding a solution.
Margaret Brown, who is a community councillor, said: "I don't think it would stop the problem. I think there needs to be better education in the schools from age 10 and upwards about the dangers of drinking excessively. I don't think minimum pricing will solve the problem. I don't think it is fair that moderate drinkers should be taxed further to help solve a problem which really should be solved at school. Alcohol could maybe be a little more expensive, particularly the drinks that teenagers like. Supermarket promotions need to stop. The police also have to get more involved and target the people who are purchasing the drink for under-agers."
Former Millport bookmaker John Burtt likes the odd half pint during the week but was unsure of whether introducing a minimum pricing policy would reap the intended benefits. He commented: "It is a tough one. I think education is important as there is a lot of pressure on younger ones to drink nowadays. They need to learn of its dangers. Putting the price up of drink doesn't particularly bother me. I don't know if it can help, but anything that can help I am in favour of."
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C Jamieson
(Unregistered User)
Feb 7 10 13:47
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It’s a incontrovertible fact that drink is the hem stitch of all social fabric throughout western civilisation. As many of the youth-led social ills we face are not prevalent in most non English-speaking nations, we can conclude that drink itself is not the problem.
In terms of social inclusion, we treat animals better than kids in this country. We ostracise kids at every turn in this country, effectively alienating them into committing booze-fuelled criminal acts.
By the time a kid hits sixteen; same kid is a social cripple with no other option than to drink surreptitiously with gay abandon and to hell with the consequences. This is the only game in town - no alternative exists.
We don’t see these patterns in France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands etc etc. The problem has to be something common to all English-speaking nations; in all likelihood - the law. The common legal system in English-speaking nations is oppressive to both the social development of young adults and any hope of formulating anything less dysfunctional than a nebulised familial grouping. Couple the old maxim that “kids should be seen and not heard” with “forbidden fruit is the sweetest” and it’s not difficult to see why kids are forced into such lowly crass behaviour.
You’d think we would have learned from the folly of prohibition and the many social ills that it spawned. You’d think someone would have noticed the wholesale depreciation in the price of cannabis when it was downgraded in criminality. You’d think someone out there would actually….. well, think! Not a chance. More oppression, more penalties, more social exclusion. Clearly this hasn’t worked; isn’t working and will never work.
Follow the continental model – no rules. Do as you please. No more forbidden fruit. No more criminalisation of young adults. Encourage familial cohesion through familial soc*alising, understanding and control. It’s time to stop beating people up over the small stuff and start thinking outside of the box with respect to youth crime. Ask yourself “would a sixteen year old like to go to a designated pub with his/her family, have a couple of supervised beers and chill with peers in a similarly vetted environment? Of course they would. Parents wouldn’t need to frantically worry about where their kids were and kids wouldn’t be unnecessarily demonized for acting as you’d expect a kid to act. It’s time to embrace modernity and stop being the people we all loathed as kids.
jakeyrollin
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Feb 7 10 17:39
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" and start thinking outside of the box " While I wholeheartedly agree with every word in your letter, the statement above is the problem. We still have an regime unable to grasp this.Our people and government are hell bent on making more money from the ills of society hence the ludicrous minimum price per unit of alcohol. The suppliers and producers must be rubbing their hands together with that piece of nonsense. Alcohol, love it or loathe it is a fact of life. Showing youngsters the good side should be paramount but our archaic law says different. With the current legislation you are effectively offering a challenge to youngsters. I was one once..I know what I would do ! Fortunately, my parents educated me on social drinking and I'm pleased to say I have managed to cope for over 4 decades without incident.Isn't it time or govenors got with the program ?
Marco P
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Feb 8 10 16:44
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I grew up in Italy, where the climate about drinking was and is much different than here.
First of all, drinking is something generically accepted, not "a social plague". Being drunk is. Making drinking alcohol "bad", "dangerous" and forbidden puts a glimmer on it that won't fail to lure teenagers of all kind, who will find any (legal or illegal) way to partake of alcoholic beverages in large quantities.
Also, anyone below the age of 18 is a social leper in the UK. I am not writing that they are "treated as" social lepers, but they actually ARE. Their presence will terrify any pub owner, restaurants will ban them from their premises... the next step will be making them wear a yellow star on their coats to make their stigma known. I grew up in an environment where at 6 years of age I was allowed to taste a drop of red wine (in a huge glass of water) and at 14 I would go into pubs in the evening and have a quiet beer with my friends. And I got drunk three times in my whole life. Because getting drunk is not "cool", as you have access to alcohol anyway. Getting drunk is considered similar to overeating and throwing up on the street. Something stupid, not something criminal to be eradicated by the police.
Prohibitionism makes and will keep making the problem worse.
Last year I had some friends over from Italy - a couple with a 9-year-old son. Besides the fact that they were deeply insulted at the fact that they were not allowed with their child in a pub at 8pm and swore they will never visit the UK again until their son is 18, they happened to be having lunch on a bench, by the sea. We were sharing a bottle of cider as you do, and the kid took a sip off it. I was terrified that somebody would see that and call the police on us.
Make illegal for a Under-18 to be drunk in public, if you wish, but making it illegal for him/her to drink any alcohol will make an alcoholic out of him/her as soon as s/he reaches legal drinking age.
Marco P
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Feb 8 10 16:50
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I grew up in Italy, where the climate about drinking was and is much different than here.
First of all, drinking is something generically accepted, not "a social plague". Being drunk is. Making drinking alcohol "bad", "dangerous" and forbidden puts a glimmer on it that won't fail to lure teenagers of all kind, who will find any (legal or illegal) way to partake of alcoholic beverages in large quantities.
Also, anyone below the age of 18 is a social leper in the UK. I am not writing that they are "treated as" social lepers, but they actually ARE. Their presence will terrify any pub owner, restaurants will ban them from their premises... the next step will be making them wear a yellow star on their coats to make their stigma known. I grew up in an environment where at 6 years of age I was allowed to taste a drop of red wine (in a huge glass of water) and at 14 I would go into pubs in the evening and have a quiet beer with my friends. And I got drunk three times in my whole life. Because getting drunk is not "cool", as you have access to alcohol anyway. Getting drunk is considered similar to overeating and throwing up on the street. Something stupid, not something criminal to be eradicated by the police.
Prohibitionism makes and will keep making the problem worse.
Last year I had some friends over from Italy - a couple with a 9-year-old son. Besides the fact that they were deeply insulted at the fact that they were not allowed with their child in a pub at 8pm and swore they will never visit the UK again until their son is 18, they happened to be having lunch on a bench, by the sea. We were sharing a bottle of cider as you do, and the kid took a sip off it. I was terrified that somebody would see that and call the police on us.
Make illegal for a Under-18 to be drunk in public, if you wish, but making it illegal for him/her to drink any alcohol will make an alcoholic out of him/her as soon as s/he reaches legal drinking age.
Jack F
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Feb 10 10 19:41
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I agree with the above comments. Having worked and lived for many years on the Swiss/French border I never witnessed any drunks - except ironically well educated middle class British at Geneva airport returning to the UK after their ski ing holidays. Whilst the rest of our continental cousins can enjoy a beer or glass of wine in a civilised manner we seem incapable of being able to do so. The evening commuter trains leaving Geneva would be at bursting point with most homeward bound workers enjoying the on board wine bar - can you imagine what our train journeys would be like if our trains offered the same???? And I do believe our upbringing/laws are to blame as we lack the opportunity to sit as children in adult company appreciating the enjoyment of alcohol - in the company of sane,responsible adults!
As has been stated it's the 'forbidden fruit' which is at the root of our problems. And, I agree, our horrible attitude towards our teenagers. In Switzerland youngsters can be served wine and beer in bars quite legally from the age of 16. In all the years I spent there I never once saw any local youngster drunk. Or adult come to that. To be so would be unthinkable. Alcohol is to be enjoyed in a civilised and enjoyable social way.
Bit different from our attitude eh?
As for the bright idea of increasing the price of alcohol - if a youngster can afford a pair of trainers at &80 or so - I rest my case.
Let's get imaginative and maybe try something radical - or is too near to election time for that?
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