Scots plan to stop cheap alcohol

[KillCrazy]

Article here.

It has proposed a range of measures including the radical step of a minimum price per unit. It would be the first country in Europe to take the step.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? Personaly I think it's the government pussyfooting about again and not concentrating on the root of the problem. This is not going to make things better. Instead, I honestly believe it is going to make problems worse.

Having a look at the readers comments I can see most people think the same way. Our freedoms just seem to be picked from us a tiny bit at a time and sometimes we don't even notice.

 

[BiG D]

Living in a province where liquor is quite regulated, I can assure you it's really not that bad. The worst part, actually, is not being able to buy any after 5pm on Sundays. And you only forget that once.

I do wonder what your argument for a raised price making the problem worse is, though?

And TBH, cheap alcohol being a 'freedom' that's being picked away? That's a little melodramatic.

 

[thatbloke]

If alcohol is causing people to become violent/ill/whatever then the root cause of why they are drinking the alcohol in the first place needs to be looked at... increasing the price will have no effect whatsoever, as people will still get hold of it whenever they can, and in fact may resort to more crime to pay for/obtain it anyway.

If people are getting hammered and causing trouble just because there is nothing else to do, then that's the problem that needs looking at. At the end of the day it is still a minority of people (though I guess that minority is increasing in size) that are making the rest look bad, and penalizing everyone because of a small percentage of the population is not the answer.

 

[DeZmond]

Here's a thought for the politically correct generation: is raising the price of alcohol not technically discriminating against alcoholics??

 

[BiG D]

increasing the price will have no effect whatsoever, as people will still get hold of it whenever they can, and in fact may resort to more crime to pay for/obtain it anyway.

Straight up raising the price won't help, no. Removing discounts for bulk purchases, though? That's a good idea.

Dez: No, it's discriminating against poor people.

 

[KillCrazy]

I do wonder what your argument for a raised price making the problem worse is, though?

Pretty much as thatbloke says that people would resort to more crime to obtain alcohol that they wouldn't have normaly done in the first place when it was cheaper. This country, sadly, is filling up with more delinquents and yobs by the generation. Poverty and health problems are at high levels in Scotland and I don't think increasing the cost of alcohol is really the solution to all of this. Many more important issues could be being looked at and helped instead of this!! And it punishes those of us in the country who do drink responsibly.

As for the melodramatic comment, yes, it was melodramatic for the subject but there are plenty of other silly things that our government have put into place that make that comment relevant. This was really just me venting.

 

[BiG D]

Pretty much as thatbloke says that people would resort to more crime to obtain alcohol that they wouldn't have normaly done in the first place when it was cheaper. This country, sadly, is filling up with more delinquents and yobs by the generation. Poverty and health problems are at high levels in Scotland and I don't think increasing the cost of alcohol is really the solution to all of this. Many more important issues could be being looked at and helped instead of this!! And it punishes those of us in the country who do drink responsibly.

Any sort of change would probably cause problems in the short term, yes, but in the end it should end up improving things. Plus, an alcohol tax could be spent fixing some of those other problems.

Also, if bulk discounts are removed it only really hurts the people who buy huge amounts at once, and it stops people from buying more than they need just so they can get a good deal.

As for the melodramatic comment, yes, it was melodramatic for the subject but there are plenty of other silly things that our government have put into place that make that comment relevant. This was really just me venting.

Perfectly understandable, no one dares mess with my alcohol either!

 

[PsiSoldier]

I can't see anything wrong with this, personally. It's better to have more expensive alcohol than flocks of binge-drinkers floating around the place, right?

is raising the price of alcohol not technically discriminating against alcoholics??

YES! AND DRUGS BEING ILLEGAL DISCRIMINATES AGAINST DRUG USERS LOL!

 

[waterproofbob]

All raising the price of alcohol would achieve would be that the tax man gets more money. Those who go out an get ratted will still do so at a greater cost to themselves.

It's another one of those ideas like the smoking ban. Ban smoke from inside the pub, so all that happens is they move to the beautiful beer gardens and ruin peoples meals there. It doesn't solve the problem it just moves it off somewhere else.

 

[Rai]

What's wrong with cheap alcohol anyway?

 

[PsiSoldier]

What's wrong with cheap alcohol anyway?

It allows poor people to be happy

 

[KillCrazy]

It allows poor people to be happy

Psi, your derogatory and negative comments are not welcome in my thread. Change your attitude now or do not post here again.

 

[KillCrazy]

What's wrong with cheap alcohol anyway?

Nothing. The only problem here is the sort of people that love to overindulge in both alcohol and anti social behaviour. But of course, it's the cheap price of alcohol to blame. Raise the price and everything will be hunky dorey

It's mostly the fact that the government is wanting to do this sort of thing that angers me, as I find it to be a complete side track to the real problem. The higher prices of alcohol I can probably live with, albeit grudgingly.

 

[Ronin Storm]

[mod]Please use "Report Post"

if you find a post offensive so the Mods can deal with it. Thanks.[/mod]

 

[Macca]

And it punishes those of us in the country who do drink responsibly.

I can't help recalling a conversation on TS years ago, where KC got snowed in at work and instead of finding a soloution KC and his boss found a bottle of whisky and drank the whole bottle in a few hours !

As for the price increase, I do see both sides of the issue although I do think it's a typical case of "Theres a percentage of the population that abuse alcohol, so the only choice is punish everyone". I really don't think that alcoholics are going to stop drinking because of a price increase. It's possible that they might drink less, but at the end of the day an alcoholic or someone who abuses alcohol is still going to get drunk regardless.

I really can't see wee bary talking to his mate on the street saying:

Barry: "Hey man wanna get pished tonight!"

Friend: "You kiddin mate, a bottle of bucky has went up 2 quid!"

 

[KillCrazy]

I can't help recalling a conversation on TS years ago, where KC got snowed in at work and instead of finding a soloution KC and his boss found a bottle of whisky and drank the whole bottle in a few hours !

lol, are you sure that was me? I don't recall this

 

[thatbloke]

lol, are you sure that was me? I don't recall this

note: alcohol was involved. This is all you need to know.

 

[Macca]

I think It might have been T-bone that was telling me about it but I was pretty sure it was you in question . didn't you work at like a Micky D's or something that had a holiday inn or something beside it ?

 

[KillCrazy]

Yet another example of ridiculous solution suggestions being proposed by people in my fine country.

I wonder what I'll be posting up next!

 

[Bradstreet]

To be fair, it looks as though he was doing this more as a way of raising awareness / provoking debate than because he really thought it would pass. Having said that, if they did tax both chocolate and alcohol I don't know what pleasures I would have left. No more liqueur chocolates