Britain's alcohol problem.

reply to post by LittleBirdSaid


Hey LittleBirdSaid,

Oh dear! you haven't gotten down and enjoyed good British food enjoyed with a range of brilliant drinks both alcofrolic and not.

We've clearly been sussed for our love affair with booze. I read somewhere that people here in the Middle Ages
were permanently pis-ed because it was considered better than drinking dirty water in the cities. Even ancient feasts including suckling pig roasts seemed to be enjoyed by copious amounts of alcofrolicking.

One of the acceptable sides of ancestral foreign forraging is that we got to natter about food and drink all over the world and so a wealth of foreign cuisine and products flowed into Britain.

Being older and serious for a moment, one has access back to family memories. Apparently the amount of alcohol drunk during WW2 and after was huge. In fact it was probably tv which stopped people using their local pub as their lounge and slowly alcohol consumption seemed to dip. However today with the stress of the ghastliness and corruption, people need booze anaesthesia again to blot things out for a while. Never mind, when things improve we will turn up, hard-working and with varying degress of 'serfdom' again some time in the future.

I would note that our Police spend their weekends from Friday night racing their Paddy-wagons around our towns and city centres rounding up the easy, though somewhat unpleasant drunken youths. Its a huge means of collecting easy fines and of course is done at the expense of catching burglars and other criminals. You could almost say booze is somewhat vaguely encouraged - not that anyone would admit it.

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


the waiting times in casuality on a friday and saturday night. things i have seen and experienced.

also the many articles that mention it, and the many youtube videos that show how much some people will drink and the results of it.

www.guardian.co.uk...

No worry, when Islam becomes the official religion the alcohol consumption there will decrease dramatically.

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.

Wrong. It is illegal for somebody under the age of 18 to consume alcohol on licensed premises. It is illegal for anyone to sell alcohol to somebody under 18. It is illegal to purchase alcohol on behalf of somebody under 18. An under 18 can accompany an adult on licensed premises if food is being served. There are even restrictions on where within the licensed premises an under age person can be. If I remember correctly you have to be over 14 to accompany an adult to the bar area. The reason I can't remember that secondary age restriction is that Scotland is different from England and I get the 2 confused having boozed in one and lived in the other.

Originally posted by Lynda101
reply to post by LittleBirdSaid

 

Hey LittleBirdSaid,

Oh dear! you haven't gotten down and enjoyed good British food enjoyed with a range of brilliant drinks both alcofrolic and not.

We've clearly been sussed for our love affair with booze. I read somewhere that people here in the Middle Ages
were permanently pis-ed because it was considered better than drinking dirty water in the cities. Even ancient feasts including suckling pig roasts seemed to be enjoyed by copious amounts of alcofrolicking.

Almost. The water was indeed dirty and so in order to clean it up they brewed beer since the alcohol killed the bugs. This is how beer started in Britain. The pub came about because they brewed their own beer and when it was ready they hung a flag outside the window. This became the pub sign!

reply to post by malcr


If the cost of water goes up like the other utilities, we will all be back brewing our own beer again.

it used to be you could have a drink with a meal at 14 (dont know if they changed it since the 1980's) as i can remember going to the pub with my family and luckily my uncle was a copper and said it was ok

i always remember some friends visiting the USA in the early 1990's they drink the place dry and then were banging on the door at 11am ready for some more

Originally posted by malcr

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.

Wrong. It is illegal for somebody under the age of 18 to consume alcohol on licensed premises. It is illegal for anyone to sell alcohol to somebody under 18. It is illegal to purchase alcohol on behalf of somebody under 18. An under 18 can accompany an adult on licensed premises if food is being served. There are even restrictions on where within the licensed premises an under age person can be. If I remember correctly you have to be over 14 to accompany an adult to the bar area. The reason I can't remember that secondary age restriction is that Scotland is different from England and I get the 2 confused having boozed in one and lived in the other.

Our laws are messed up especially in the way the confused way they are pushed by the establishment.

It is against the law for someone under 18 to drink alcohol in licensed premises, with one exception - 16 and 17 year olds accompanied by an adult can drink but not buy beer, wine and cider with a table meal.

www.direct.gov.uk...

I believe there is a slight difference in Scotland where the 16/17 year olds can pay for their own..

reply to post by lifeform11


That is anecdotal evidence and of no value whatsoever. Are you trying to say that government needs to be involved in private lives if even one person gets drunk on a Saturday night?

The FACTS are that people are drinking less and less. How is this a problem compared to 5 years ago when it wasn't?

What NGO's are looking to get funded here?

tire of control freaks

Originally posted by Maxatoria
it used to be you could have a drink with a meal at 14 (dont know if they changed it since the 1980's) as i can remember going to the pub with my family and luckily my uncle was a copper and said it was ok

i always remember some friends visiting the USA in the early 1990's they drink the place dry and then were banging on the door at 11am ready for some more

It used to be quite legal, but then they started to shove this confused message down peoples throats.. which became the enabler to change the law since no one really knew what the law was to begin with..

Technically it is not illegal for an under 18/over 5 to have a few beers in a park with their parents.. but the way the confused message is being shoved down peoples throats they are (as I am) pretty unclear of the law.

Highlighted by my local lefty council think tank that wanted to allow under 18s to drink in the pubs as they felt learning how to drink responsibly more important than trying to hide the problem which creates irresponsible drinkers..

Originally posted by chocise
A country with no direction, no light at the end of a very bleak tunnel for your children or even their children, bugger all to do, everyone in seats of privilege with their own noses in the trough, a looming pensions crisis on par with the current financial mess. No future. It's inevitable.

edit on 1-8-2011 by chocise because: pensions

I am pretty sure none of your imaginary scary things is even on the mind of the average Joe when Firday swings round.

Originally posted by WildWorld
I don't know much about it but maybe it is the drinking age there? My younger half brother lives there and at 14 yrs old told me about going to the pub with his mum and having a drink or two every weekend. Is this the norm there?

Prohibition does nothing. Look at Europe for example, much more relaxed and they don't have the same problem. Our drinking age is 18, unless your accompanied by an adult and having a meal, then it is 14.

reply to post by DaMod


Legal minimum age is 18.

Originally posted by CasiusIgnoranze
Marijuana is addictive and kills if overused, yet it is illegal.

What rubbish. It is neither.

And it certainly doesn't cost the NHS £3 Billion a year (and the rest - are we counting A&E costs?).. At most, cannabis related mental health issues (tenuosly linked anyway) cost a few tens of millions a year.

reply to post by TiredofControlFreaks


well if you feel that evidence is of no value, then please point out what evidence you would accept if any at all.

i am not suggesting that the governemnt should do anything, i am pointing out there is a problem, instead of pretending there is'nt.

edit to add: i feel the problem lies in the approach many britians take to drinking rather than the act of drinking itself.
the problem lies in attitudes and responsibility of ones actions whilst drinking. we do not have a reputation in spain for nothing.

It keeps the economy going though doesn't it. The ammount of money the govt make in fines from drunks on a weekend could probably pay the police for a year. Iv never understood how drink and cigs are legal when they are both proven to kill you but canabis is ilegal and that doesn't kill you?

I hear the UK has a pretty bad drug problem;
They are hard to find, and expensive!

Originally posted by lifeform11
the waiting times in casuality on a friday and saturday night. things i have seen and experienced.

I've been in an A&E on a Friday and Saturday and never really took that long. One time, after I was bottled for no apparent reason, I was in and out ionside of 2 hours, despite the Friday night "rush"

reply to post by stumason


lucky for you, only being 2 hours that is, so there is a friday night rush? how come?

also bottled for no reason? that happens alot on a friday night.

reply to post by BadMagician


Erm....I think you heard wrong....quite the opposite actually......so I've been told.

reply to post by lifeform11


Well, apparently a collection of young men took offence at my girlfriend refusing to felate them on demand outside a club. I was minding my own buisness rolling a special cigarette, next thing I know I had a smirnoff bottle round the back of my head, smashing to bits and causing a nasty cut.

I will say though that I didn't drop to the floor like they had hoped, but proceeded to introduce the ruffians face to the nearest wall and then my knee. By the time I had finished with his second mate (there were 4 or 5 so I am told) the others had lost the will and ran off, scared I should think at the sight of a skinny white guy going all Braveheart with blood pouring down his face, ripping his shirt off and standing over the fallen bodies of their two comrades bellowing a mighty roar!

I save the passing out from pain and blood loss until the ambulance arrived, when I promptly keeled over like a little girl....

And yes, the Friday/Saturday "rush" is entirely the result of alcohol!

reply to post by stumason


well it sounds like you hold your own, but the fact is people should not have to go through things like that on a night out, especially when you were minding your own business. but it is a part of the problem that i mean about attitudes to drinking in britian, it has become a manhunt for some, going from pub to pub in a group of lads drinking as much as possible and looking to pick a fight with whoever they choose. it is like their friday night is not complete unless they get into some sort of scuffle or fight.

it is a part of the problem i mean.

reply to post by lifeform11


lifeform11

Show me what has changed from 5 years ago that all of a sudden alchohol consumption in britain has become a big problem.

I showed you that alchol consumption is DOWN alot! but somehow this isn't enough to convince you that there is no problem.

here is another statistic showing how low drinking and driving has become


now I invite you - other that sharing little bits of anecdotal evidence -show me what has changed in the last 5 years to make anyone think Britain has a drinking problem.

Or you can just use your head and think a little - don't just swallow propaganda whole cloth - and just try to think who might profit if alchol were demonized the way tobacco has been

Tired of Control Freaks
www.drinkdriving.org...