Britain's alcohol problem.

In the UK it is a fact that one in every five person dying is dying due to alcohol related problems.

Also it is fact that alcohol related illnesses are costing the NHS health care system in the UK a massive £ 2.7 Billion GBP per year. This was reported in a recent BBC Panorama documentary.

BBC Panorama documentary

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The above charts speak for themselves. My opinion is that Alcohol should be completely banned as in my opinion it is a Class A drug. The NHS [national health service] health care system [tax payer] should no longer be responsible for dealing with alcohol related cases. The full cost and responsibility for dealing with alcohol related cases should fall on the revenues of the alcohol producers. The reason why we are not doing such things is three fold. Firstly the alcohol and drugs abuse will turn you into an autistic psychopath able and willing to kill if ordered [allowed] to do so. Thus alcohol serves a military agenda. Such that asking the government to make alcohol illegal is like asking them to impliment general disarmament. You know that in the world of man it is never going to happen. Secondly the alcohol industry [investors] make huge amounts of income. Their palm has been crossed with the silver. They are suffering the Judas Iscariot syndrome. Thirdly the powers that be are all certified as being addicted to alcohol.

The subject of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS is constantly being ignored in every circle of responsibility. Medical, political and industrial. The main stream media ignors FAS even when making documentarys about alcoholism. In November 2010 I experienced a girl friend in her thirtieth year dying directly as a consequence of untreated FAS and her also untreated extreme alcohol abuse problem. Her alcoholism was so bad that she suffered constant epileptic like fits. Epilepsy proper is easilly treated with suitable medications, however the epileptic like fits suffered by extreme alcohol abusers cannot be treated.



I remind you that I am completely sober with no drug or alcohol addiction whatsoever. Putting up the prices for alcohol will only make the damages done by alcohol worse in that the products would then become a kind of status symbol that only the rich would be able to buy. The problem of alcohol goes back into prehistoric times. It is not a new thing. The problem is not going to be resolved as easilly as we might hope. Legislations alone are insufficient and then the cost of enforcing the law would sky rocket. My opinion is that what ever be the cost of dealing with alcohol related problems always we must put the burden of financial responsibility firmly onto the shoulders of the alcohol producers. They the producers are the cause of the problem in the first place. Make it no longer profitable to produce alcohol and the incentive to produce goes out of the window. Then only a hard core of addicts will continue to produce.

AVE RAEGINA CAELINA LA DEUS NOSTRA CAELI LA VERA DEUS

Originally posted by chocise

Originally posted by CasiusIgnoranze
reply to post by woodwardjnr

 

Marijuana is addictive and kills if overused, yet it is illegal.

Not supporting it, but incorrect on both counts. And it certainly doesn't cost the NHS 2.9bn£ a year. Time for a rational review.

OFFTOPIC:
ehm sorry.
didn´t see this yesterday as i would´ve corrected you then...
but marijuana IS addictive.
not only telling this from personal experience. (i've had sleepless nights the first time i quit smoking after 3 years, sweating like a madman and waking up allmost every hour)
furthermore i've got 2 friends who went to rehab, to kick a marijuana addiction.

so you CAN get addicted to marijuana, i don't care what the literature says.
i'm talking first hand experience.

just needed to add this.

Another Scotsman here.
I work in a petrol station in a small town here.
We sell alcohol and in the 5 years i have worked there,
i have seen people come in maybe once a week to get a few beers,
and have watched over the years as that has progressed to buying a few
beers every 3rd night right down to every night.
I know now at least 4 customers who started that way and are now full
blown alcoholics with there jobs gone too.
Then we got the usual jakies(Alcoholics in Scotland).
They come into the shop every night to buy 2 litre bottles of strong
cider at £3.00 or they blow all there social money on cheap wine.
We dont serve underagers as we are pretty hot on that,we get tested
by the local council every so often.
I think there are two main problems why there is a booze problem here.
One is Escapism,people drinking just to forget about their #ty jobs,
and the stress that goes with it,infact i am one of those people,i will
do three quaters of a bottle of vodka on my night off,just pour a few large ones
play a game or two,come to ats,then sit and chill listening to music till about 3am.
I dont end up pished and i just know when to stop.
The other main problem is teenagers,or more down to the parenting,i see kids
13 to 17 puking in the streets on a friday/saturday night pished out their skulls,
Well i blame most parents for this as most of them are alkies anyway.
.

Originally posted by Skittle

Originally posted by CasiusIgnoranze
reply to post by woodwardjnr

 

Marijuana is addictive and kills if overused, yet it is illegal.

edit on 1-8-2011 by CasiusIgnoranze because: .

Marijuana addictive and kills if overused?
Proof?

I honestly think they mistakenly omitted the word 'Never'. Quite genuinely. I would have hoped so.

I think the current UK society will have a hard job putting alcohol back in its place, largely due to the glorification of binge drinking - as much by the people showing their disgust as those in favour - and the lack of community structures.

I grew up in a rural area. The pub was the focal point of the community and nearly everyone knew who your parents were. We'd often be allowed to drink in the pub with our parents - but not to excess. When we got older and started going on our own, the old locals always had an eye out for the kids. They would have a word in your ear if you weren't pacing yourself, prod if you got out of line or make sure you got home safe when you reached the point of needing to learn from your mistakes.

By the time we got to University we'd learned the value of using pubs for socialising, not getting completely drunk. even now when I go out I tend to drink one, rarely two pints all night. All the other new students though, freshly released from parental restrictions, would hit the bar and drink themselves stupid on a regular basis.

When you stop educating people in how to deal with something and start trying to bully or scare them away from it, that thing will end up biting you harder than ever. We are doing the same with knives, firearms, everything that we see as a problem. Why educate when you can legislate? Why teach when you can scare?

They could have tackled the drink proplem sooner but now the Polish have arrived, they don't drink either then...Not. So now we have fuel to the fire because they like drinking and guess what just in my town alone in last 3 years polish people have gone from pub to life in prison, we had that problem anyway in the past it just started again I guess if not worse and they don't understand that here in the UK people can be violent when drunk.

So just in case I am being racist what if 300,000 Scotish people arrived in your city, would there be a drink problem?


Everyone should be treated and then get help, to be honest it is their friends and social pressure that does it and the coolness of being drunk, today there is no shame in it.

reply to post by CasiusIgnoranze


Out of all illegal drugs you put the herb? Yeah, I would have to disagree about it killing you, and being addictive. Totally misinformed

Originally posted by The time lord
They could have tackled the drink proplem sooner but now the Polish have arrived, they don't drink either then...Not.

According to my (Polish born and bred) wife, the problem is that the UK has seen a "dual" influx. There's the sensible young families who keep their heads down and work hard, make money and then go home... and then the Polish equivalent of "chavs". My wife's original wording is perhaps a little strong for the gentle sensibilities of ATS.

Don't blame them for being "Polish", blame them for being "chavs". To do otherwise is to insult all the Polish people who are blameless and welcome guests.

Marijuana is physcologicaly addictive. Alcohol and heroin are physicaly addictive as well as phycological they are some studies sugesting Crack Cocane is also physicaly addictive one of the ideas for this are babys being born from a mother addicted to Crack and showing withdrawl symtoms.

Originally posted by kmeredith
Marijuana is physcologicaly addictive. Alcohol and heroin are physicaly addictive as well as phycological they are some studies sugesting Crack Cocane is also physicaly addictive one of the ideas for this are babys being born from a mother addicted to Crack and showing withdrawl symtoms.

believe me as i say, if you´re a heavy pot-smoker and you suddenly decide to quite.
you're going to some type of withdrawal and that is not only psychological.

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


i never said anything had to be done about it, why do you keep insisting i must provide a solution?
if you cannot see what the problem is from what has already been said and provided in this thread then i will never make you see.

i know there is a problem, not because people drink, but because of the british attitude to it and how we use it, and it effects many major cities and towns. that does not mean all people do it, but on a friday and saturday night there is certainly a culture of drink til you drop, if you can still walk your not drunk enough.

Originally posted by EvillerBob

Originally posted by The time lord
They could have tackled the drink proplem sooner but now the Polish have arrived, they don't drink either then...Not.

According to my (Polish born and bred) wife, the problem is that the UK has seen a "dual" influx. There's the sensible young families who keep their heads down and work hard, make money and then go home... and then the Polish equivalent of "chavs". My wife's original wording is perhaps a little strong for the gentle sensibilities of ATS.

Don't blame them for being "Polish", blame them for being "chavs". To do otherwise is to insult all the Polish people who are blameless and welcome guests.

Well in fairness to Poland, I know that between 50 - 90 Thousand Scots emigrated there in the 17th Century, perhaps they took their habbits with them

Yes you might get some sort of withdrawl as in your body is has been in haling something frequently for a long period of time but actual withdrawls that we are on about here are result of dependancy as in your body physicaly depending on it and in terms of alcohol dependancy your need to reduce the alcohol you take each day by a safe amount under the treatment of a medical proffessional if you stop drinking alcohol suddenly it can be extreamly harmful and dangerous and people have died from this.

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


o.k. mate i give up, there is absolutly no drink problem in britian in any shape or form, it is just the government making it up. we will disagree because i tend to believe my own eyes and what i witness over anything else. i see a problem. i see the culture. i know what people will be doing this friday. getting smashed untill they cause problems for everybody else.

Originally posted by Suspiria

Originally posted by michaelmcclen
reply to post by Suspiria

 

The LEGAL age is 16 in clubs and pubs when accompanied with an adult for a meal.

No honestly it's NOT.
Care to elaborate the particular places you are referring to? I'm sure the publican is looking forward to losing their license.

edit on 1-8-2011 by Suspiria because: (no reason given)

Yes honestly it IS. You can legally drink at 16 with a meal in a pub or a restaurant. That's a fact as far as I know, it certainly was last time I bothered to check.

Originally posted by michaelmcclen

Originally posted by woodwardjnr

Originally posted by michaelmcclen
reply to post by Suspiria

 

Booze is definatly not cheap like you are saying. I was at a four star hotel out in the sticks for a wedding last week.

One shot of JD with coke and one wkd blue for the missus came to £9.90. How in the hell can I expect to have fun or even get tipsy when everytime I want a drink im forking out a ten'er.

It's the alcohol they sell at supermarkets that is cheap. It's a loss leader. They sell it cheaper than cost price to attract customers.

ill hit you a star for that. Yes I understand that drink is always going to be a loss for supermarkets as they use it to draw you in for your shopping all the evidence you need for this is to watch TV around christmas times and see the supermarkets ads for 40 beers for £15.

This country is dying and the only people to blame is the goverment.

*No smoking in bars
*stupid licensing laws
*Drinks promotions are not allowed

See this is where the debate for me opens up. If you are at a bar completly off your #'s the bar man can turf you out and thats it your walking home to sober up. They act as a watchful eye over you.

Now if your at home with cheap drink from the supermarket and your two sheets to the wind the only person gonna stop you is the person that has to share a bed with you and if they are already smashed then your on your own to drink as much as you can before you pass out.

The solution is to drop the drink prices in bars and clubs, remove this retarted closing time of 3am and let us and heres the big word ENJOY our drink instead of us having to knock asmany back before last orders when we are all dropped out on the street together for the usual 3oclock kicking out time mass brawl.

A huge problem I notice happening amongst my age group with the price of beer in pubs and clubs is people buying from supermarkets or off licenses and getting drunk before they go out! Then at best drinking water while out or at worst continueing to drink while already drunk.

So many people don't even go out now they just drink at home. Especially smokers and kids without much money.

Growing up in England, I'd say there is a pressure to go out drinking when you hit the legal age. For a few years I used to go into town and waste my wages and so did many of my friends, it's just the norm when you hit adulthood. Thankfully I've grown up and haven't touched alcohol in maybe two years, many of my friends are though still stuck in the cycle.

As for people saying weed isn't a killer, it may not be physically (other than paranoia) but in a social capacity, a very horrible culture is being created by these kids who simply think it is 'coo'l. That is more damaging to the 'UK' and in the long run will cost us more in crime, court cases and addict therapy. Drug dealing is rife in England now.

Don't get me wrong, everyone to their own but kids rarely smoke it in small quantities and that's why we have so many 'chavvy' drips hanging on street corners.

Completely agree with you. I think dope is so much stronger than it used to be speaking with people who have been smoking it for 30 years plus say what we call green now is so much stronger then dope avalible years ago. Young people are targeted by older dealers to run drugs for them in turn for drugs for themselves and then when they are old enough they target youg people.

Originally posted by 547000
The drinkers will protest against raising taxes but then the people paying extra because of drinking will want to raise taxes. Whoever wins, someone loses, and the majority will be able to pass laws and programs against the minority.

This is one of the problems with socialized healthcare.

edit on 2-8-2011 by 547000 because: (no reason given)

It's all rather convenient, isn't it? I'll tell you what will happen if taxes are raised and I propose the government are all to familiar with the repercussions and are being actively encouraged.

What will happen is smaller independent shops will start selling imported alcohol from under the counter, as half of them do now with tobacco. What we'll see from this is endless shops getting shut down for breaking the law. And of course, big business getting a further stranglehold and killing local independent business.

Your Asdas and Tescos would love it if the tax went up. They'd win massively in the long-game.

Originally posted by stumason

Originally posted by Deebo
Maybe the rape of your human rights over time has led to people being more depressed. The U.S. isn't far behind you. I mean if 2 armed criminals broke in my house, and I simply punched them, and I was the one charged, id drink like a fish.

Oh right, that explains is it, doesn't it?

What "Human Rights" of ours have been "raped"?

And what are you on about with the burglar comment? Some guy knifed a burglar to death in his home the other week and was let off without charge. Another shopkeeper was robbed last week, knifed one to death and looks like he is going to get off with it too..

Stop stereotyping and actually educate yourself. It isn't hard.

I apologize. I was not meaning to rag on Brits. One right that comes to mind is firearms. And most if not all of the posts I have seen on here about Brits defending themselves, it was the "good guy" who got in trouble. Again the U.S. isn't far behind, in other words, both countries are screwed. Be well.


Deebo