Alcohol consumption is too high, says the report
JERSEY is still out-drinking almost every country in the world, with Islanders downing an average of half a bottle of wine each day, new figures have revealed.
Despite numerous warnings over the dangers of heavy drinking, Jersey’s long-standing alcohol problem still poses one of the greatest threats to the health of Islanders.
The extent of Jersey’s drinking problems has been revealed in the latest annual report by Dr Rosemary Geller, Jersey’s Medical Officer of Health.
Article posted on 16th July, 2010 - 3.00pm
118 Article Comments
Hurray it’s Friday! Pub anyone?
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I think Jersey’s alcohol problems are extremely complex.
Many people turn to alcohol when feeling hopeless and desperate, it numbs the negativity.
Many locals feel they will never be able to afford a nice property, and immigrants are depressed at living in damp bedsits for 11 years.
Whilst these situations remain, alcohol consumption will continue to outstrip other countries
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I would be interested in how transient the population is. It could be that people come over here for a couple of years, have a jolly good time whilst they are here before returning home.
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Only half a bottle of wine a week !! Lightweights !!
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cheers
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get the beers in morve!
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So what is new? A study in the late 1990s by Kings College said much the same, yet nothing has been done about it. For as long as the Jersey Brewers and Licensed Retailers Accociation, are able to persuade Jersey’s Chancellor not to impose a high taxation on booze, Islanders will continue to drink more per head of population than people in the U.K.
This has a huge impact on public order and health issues and yet ‘Rome will burn as Nero fiddles’. In another 10 years the Medical Officer of Health will be saying the same thing.
Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. In Jersey Hedonism and apathy rule, okay.
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This doesn’t surprise me. The issue is self perpetuating with the current generation thinking that having a glass of wine or three with the evening meal is normal behaviour.
I have to constantly go over the issue with my children as the majority of their peers 14-17 are plastered at the weekend and there is a social aspect that they feel they miss when they don’t go drinking on the beach in the Summer!
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Is this really that surprising???
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World beaters at something!
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Hurray! We’ve found something we can do better than Guernsey!!!
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So, were not quite a the top yet. Cant be trying hard enough.
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i hope the tax payer has not had to pay thru the nose to get these figures, to say we are the worst in the world is a bit much, look at the vodka drinkers of russia, they must beat us hands down.
as a lot of fun has gone out of the island, over the last twenty years, i would say if you think we put away today , you should of seen us then.
jean (2) not far of the mark.
drunk for a penny dead drunk for two comes to mind, cheers every one.
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Jersey has for some time attracted a transient population of people often getting away from problems in the UK and elsewhere, broken marriages, trouble with the police.
Coupled with locals who have always drunk quite a lot this causes the problem.
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Living on this rock makes you want to drink
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Jean (2) hit the nail on the head dead right its the way people have to live that drives us to a pint or 2. I love a drink too as its helps blank out the stresses of everyday life,work,people etc an escape from reality and its the weekend now so its off to get a bargain wine from the supermarket then go out and do it all again tomorrow. Well its the weekend after all.
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If anybody really thinks Jerseys drinking problem is amonge the worst in the world…. My suggestion would be for you to actually see the rest of the world.
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First she banged on about swine flu now she,s whinging on about how much we can drink!…Anyone fancy a pint? Best way to view Jersey through its dullness and constant crap summers is through the bottom of a pint glass, Cheers everyone!!
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Is anybody surprised? Unlike Dr Rosemary Geller’s wages most of us suffer from a very high cost of living, probably the highest divorce rate in the World, people committing suicide, Government that doesn’t care, everybody ripping each other off, ggggrrrrrrrr!!!!! I need a drink now!
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I blame the immigrants.
Before they came here, most of the island was teetotal ;p
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OK – so it’s the ‘Jersey’ disease, but think about it Dr Geller, are you really surprised?
Jersey has always been known as the Island with 80,000 (or more now) alcoholics clinging to a rock.
I wonder why?!
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I wonder how Dr Geller collected her figures for this report?!
Hopefully not in the same way she did for the swine flu epidemic we are still waiting for (but which she will no doubt say she prevented!)!
I reckon her constant scaremongering is driving the vulnerable to drink!
How much are we paying this woman???
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The amount of alcohol consumed by normal working people is astonishing, I am a refuse collector and we collect glass twice weekly from large residential developments. We collected this morning from one such complex and as the bins are labelled according to which block they belong to, I could see that one block of 6 flats had got through 24 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of spirits plus beer since our last collection on Tuesday, that’s 3 days midweek amongst 6 flats!
People are using alcohol as a stress buster to cope with modern day living, we are storing up a huge problem for the future. The thing is these are normal people with jobs, not down and outs on park benches.
I stopped drinking a few years ago and found that I could buy a new car and take holidays with the money I previously spent on drink.
It seems to be oerfectly acceptable unless it affects our ability to work, ironically it must affect performance at work but the measure used is absenteeism not hangover.
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they seem determined we should all live drone-like existences and then linger long into old age with alzheimer’s.
How insane is that?this Is not the brute force of fascism but a new form of state-determined control which dictates every aspect of individual lives and suppress any form of dissent
Amazing,if hitler was poised to invade us now he would not need the admin of the gestapo,as was necessary to run his other invaded countries as here and uk have them already in place to do his work.
He would have been envious of organisation and powers of us,to subdue its population without state violence or butchery.
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Well its no suprise! as its cheaper than driving a grey Audi,Ranger Rover or Bmw.
Unfortunately this is the only way you can fit in with the “Jersey mentality” or little person syndrome as its internationally known.
“Yes” if you dont wish to join the
“Jersey luvvies” or cannot afford to,then theres always the bottle where one can induldge with the people that appear in those glossy “cokeal” Jersey magazines.
How positively gut turning and anything but life enriching!
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Yes, we are #1 at drinking, can this be classed as a sport and put into the Island Games – maybe the Olympic Games – we shall surely win – truly home grown, better get practicing then lol
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After all the news we’ve had this week.
I’d rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy.
cheers happy friday!
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Half a bottle of wine is only 2 glasses – the ‘recommended limit’ is one glass, so it’s really not that bad surely? I’m pretty sure the problem is the long term heavy drinking or the binge drinking.
If you look at the amount of ‘locals’ we have in the pubs, they go through probably 4 – 6 pints everyday during the week and up to 8-10 at the weekends.
Jersey’s a pretty sociable island in comparison to the UK and theres not much else to do after work except for go for a meal or go for a drink or 2.
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That’s 31.5 units consumed in a week
The worst in the world? I very much doubt it!
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I drink in order to forget Rosemary Geller.
Doesn’t work 100%, but it blots out her drone for a while.
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you need to be half in the can to believe what the establishment say and totally anaesthetised to suffer what they do…But hey it serves those in power to keep the masses stoned either on prescribed Prozac or booze…co’z if they ever wake from the haze,and unite the Govt will fall…
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so we cant even drink any more,bring back the germans they actually celebrate drinking, for the whole month of october, and the other 11 months.
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Alcohol is a global problem amplified by the Island’s complete lack of regard for it’s dangers. When I left Jersey it was still pretty safe on the streets at night but now it’s a nightmare. Alcohol is the sole cause. Some may disagree but I suggest they go visit the victims of this drug before disregarding it. Yes alcohol is a drug and unlike other drugs it kills, something Cannabis has never done.
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so then rosemary if we all stop drinking and smoking, where is phil and the other one going to get the tax money from ,that they lose off booze and fags, because as a island that use to be affordable it is now cheaper on the mainland to drink and smoke, i am a hard working drinking smoker who pays my taxes, which then pays you? or should i just pack in work and go and sit in the park as they always have a fag and a can at my exspence?
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This just reiterates what we all know already, Jersey is a rich island where folk can afford to enjoy themselves.
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I agree, Jersey life does make you want to drink, it is also a social island. But believe me, many countries that I have visited, they are drinking from all hours. Whats wrong with doing something you like, for a change, instead of being told what to do. Friday night, cheers everyone, having a bottle of red as I type.
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Simple – cut benefits and alcohol abuse will drop.
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The states want to build a brewrey just think of all that money they could recoup from the Frank Walker regime!
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Richard Callan
Posted July 16, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Living on this rock makes you want to drink
If you feel that way I’m sure the lads down the pub will have a whip round for a bus ticket to the airport/harbour. They may even pop down to wave you good bye if you’re lucky …..
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28. ‘If you look at the amount of ‘locals’ we have in the pubs, they go through probably 4 – 6 pints everyday during the week and up to 8-10 at the weekends.’
No wonder there are so many beer bellies around.
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Dear Rosemary
Booze is cheaper in France and Germany than in Jersey so this is not the cause.
Have they allowed for the fact we have one of the highest rates of tourists to head of local populations in the world and as tourists normally eat out more and drink more on holiday this would increase the booze consumed per person greatly? If they want more people to cycle then making us wear helmets is a bad idea, we don’t have to wear a helmet to walk along the road or cross the road why should we if cycle? Perhaps if people want to be fat that is their choice and none of the states business. If they die again it is their personal choice not to run about all day but enjoy food and drink. It doesn’t cost the state more to look after a fat person with heart problems than it does to look after a thin person who has cancer! Stop trying to control us let us enjoy our lives how we want it is our choice. we are living longer than ever before in history we can’t be in that bad a shape. One saving could be made in getting rid of Ms Gellar and her silly reports!
Tom
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We are in the TOP 500 hurrah!
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Is it any different from the UK? Jersey is really an anglo-saxon culture so I don’t see how the problems here are any different from those in towns and cities up and down Britain… actually the binge drinking problem is now getting worse in France as well.
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so, we drink a lot.
better than being sanctimonious, boring and universally disliked.
if you don’t like it…there’s a boat in the morning
(roflmao)
cos I’m drunk!
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@37 Dave
I would think that it isn’t just the work dodgers who are increasing the alcohol count.
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Are you surprised with the non-stop antics of Terry & his gang!
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Who had my half a bottle?
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28> Wino
“Half a bottle of wine is only 2 glasses – the ‘recommended limit’ is one glass, so it’s really not that bad surely? I’m pretty sure the problem is the long term heavy drinking or the binge drinking.”
If my maths serves me correctly half a bottle of wine is three glasses, and I think your reply indicates the size of the problem, and the size of your glass!
Three glasses of wine every night (probably and extra one or two at the weekends) IS long term heavy drinking.
If you can give up alcohol for a month and not feel a need (rather than a want) then you have no problem.
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I only wish my income tax payments don’t have to go on helping people with alcohol problems. Anyone with a self induced medical problem should be forced to pay for treatment from the hospital. And that includes smokers to.
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@37
Couldn’t have put it better myself!!
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“Houston, we have a Drinking problem”…Jersey is drinking its way into the infinity of drunken space!
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To stomach what our Government get up to; you have to be half cut otherwise you would not survive!
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I think #41 Tom may have a point.
We do have some tourists still visiting, I seem to recall a number of Hen and Stag parties in town and I’m sure that they aren’t teetotal!
I remember being urged by other health ‘experts’ to drink a glass of red/white wine a day to reduce the likelyhood of cancer/obesity or whatever.
Everything in moderation? Well most of the time.
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If any one has a spare bottle i’ll have it!!!
On a slightly more serious note – we all work hard so why can’t we enjoy ourselves with a nice drink after work – especially if the weather is good and you happen to be at one of the bar’s with a decent view??
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#16 Guess the problem is that drinkers believe exactly that. They can’t seem to get that alcohol is a depressant (over time) so actually they are making their life seem worse by drinking so much. Most will never have the capacity to understand that though.
Anyway, London’s finance centre has a huge drink (and drugs) culture, maybe the high % of finance centre workers contributes to the statistic.
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Europe doesn’t have this problem only the UK.
Europe doesn’t have alcopops and alcohol advertising.
Europe also has decent facilities etc for the younger generation.. For years there has been nothing to do on this rock but drink.
Never saw any problems in my time as a landlord until the higher ABV lagers came in, fruit flavoured vodka drinks etc.. Beer may taste like old socks to the young and Wine may be what your parents drank but the alcohol generation is here and parents drinking in front of their kids at home is partly the problem (thanks to the drink driving laws – which is right btw) whew have all the local pubs gone in walking distance? e.g. Priory in St clements, etc…
I believe john nettles said “80,000 alcoholics clinging to a rock!” he was right but the population has now increased.
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Hi Cathy, yep, 2 glasses is not much but when you consider that many folk don’t drink at all or drink one glass a week, for example, that pushes up the average per drinker. Then you must deduct the the under-age lot who legally are not allowed to buy alcohol… but this could be a whole new ball-game as we’re told that some young folk drink like fish.
Anyway, are they only looking at wine drinkers? What about the beer & hard-tac drinkers, have they been included in the ’survey’?
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According to figures published by the Jersey Health Dept consumption here is 14 litres per person per year, the most recently available figures from the OECD are for 2003 and although they don’t cover Jersey in their statistics it would put us at number 3 behind Luxemborg and France.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_alc_con-food-alcohol-consumption-current
Figures compiled by the WHO – also for 2003 – though would put us at number 2 behind Luxembourg (click the arrow in the Value column twice to sort the list)
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_alc_con-food-alcohol-consumption-current
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‘Europe doesn’t have this problem only the UK.’
Actually Scandinavia does and the French are increasingly seeing it.
‘ Europe doesn’t have alcopops and alcohol advertising.’
France doesn’t have alcohol advertising but the rest of Europe does… and i’ve seen alcopops being sold in Europe as well.
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this well be a excuse to put up taxes on drink only that is not the problem drink is more expensive here than the uk but it does not stop people going on the lash
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Apologies for the duplicate link in my previous posting, here’s the correct one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption
(Remember to click the arrow in the Value column twice to sort the list)
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Can’t believe what I’m reading. Used to live in Jersey, and back then (thirty years ago) most people enjoyed whisky, gin etc. However, we seemed to be perfectly behaved and had a damn good time.
Gorgeous Jersey seems to have changed, in that there was lots to do and everyone entertained, weekends especially. Mind you I have to say that most of my friends from that period are now deceased, so perhaps your Medico has a point. I wouldn’t change my time in Jerey for anything. Wonderful memories spanning nearly twenty years.
Pamela Arrigoni
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This is reported every six months in the JEP,
Its the underage drinkers that worries me and the fact if you go into town on a friday or saturday you will see in clubs and pubs, underage drinkers.
I was in the Splash a while ago, this put me off going, Whilst i was there there was a group of girls discussing there mock GCSEs.
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In Autralia the public health authorities state the safe reccomended limit is 52 units of alcohol a week. That’s the equivalent to a bottle of wine a night. The Drug and Alcohol Unit in Jersey state that the safe limits are 21 units for women and 34 for men. We are not top of the world for drinking league or anywhere near it and this is just more scare mongering from Dr. Geller. Now where’s my bottle of Claret?
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Oh you poor things- being driven to drink for the stresses of life on this beautiful island! Cry me a flippin river!
When will people start taking responsibilities for themselves, their own lives, actions and their health and open their eyes-
So, bills money, taxes and life are a strain- they’d be a hell of a lot less of a strain without a hangover, health problem from drinking/smoking yourself stupid each weekend!
I work my weekends as a cocktail bartender in Jersey and have done for 7 years- I probably spent 4 years of them inebriated, and having the ‘time of my life’, until I realised that my life was a 2D as it was genuinely exciting. Counting my life away 9-5 in an office, mon to fri then spending half the weekend trying to piece myself and night back together- on the surface- enjoyable?- reality- not really!!
Now each weekend in the bar I watch my friends and hundreds more people turn into disgusting, versions of themselves in front of my eyes. It pays pounds into my back pocket so I’m not complaining- it allows me to drive home after a shift feeling grateful for the realisation that there is more to life than that and a reminder that my health is equally if not more enjoyable than a night on the tiles-have a party, get drunk and messy once in a while -everything in moderation.
The problem in Jersey is not thousands of people dealing with the cost of living or having nothing to do, but rather people clinging to thousands of excuses, and reasons to not enjoy what is right in front of them, or people who are too scared to do what they really want with life so get drunk to ignore it.
Jerseys got a problem- it’s not drink its attitude.
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how about building more things for the islanders to do instead or building flats. the only thing to do (especialy for 14-20 yr olds) is to drink. and since when was drinking half a bottle a wine a day a drink problem when they say its healthy to have 1 glass. and how did they come up with these ’statistics’ ?
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Any sense a new health tax coming ?
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Pamela (62) yes unfortunately it has changed a great deal since those days. If you listen to the immigrants, it’s changed for the better – they have saved us all by bringin their wealth.
However, in reality this place has gone into a steep decline for the past few decades. The once-friendly island is friendly no more; the quaintness and charm you would have enjoyed all those years ago is long gone; you would have felt safe walking through town of a night at weekends back then, but you’d need a bodyguard nowadays to feel safe from the drunks; the picturesque scenery has mostly been built on; the happy childhood memories of growing up here are just that – a memory, as nowadays the children grow up in flats looked after by carers as few people can afford houses with gardens due to the huge increase in prices caused by the population explosion as our government decided to not introduce an immigration policy. Now both parents are forced to go out to work to make ends meet as the cost of living is so high, so the vast majority of children have little quality time with their parents and yet we all act surprised that morals have slipped and kids just go out drinking.
Truth is, Pamela, if you came here now, you would not want to stay.
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IT WAS ALWAYS SAID IN THE 70’s ‘2000 alcoholics clinging to a rock’ now its 10,000………….
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jim(60) and anon (67) could well be the the smoke and mirrors ,before tax hikes on booze.
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Half a bottle of wine does not seem excessive to me. Two bottles would be. On bottle might be, but barely two glasses is just about right, if you care for wine.
Anyway, if someone is worried about the alcoholic content of the wines, there’s a simple solution. Trade over to La Mare vinyard’s Pompette cider and share a bottle with a friend. That will cut the alcohol by about 4%. Cheers.
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OH NO !!! she’s at it again.
Another pandemic scare …..we better buy another bluk purchase of vaccine to overcome our drink problem.
Ahhhhhhh, this is all too stressful, (oh no I’ll need another jab for stress now as well), sod it, I off to the pub.
One minuite , we’re all living too long and when there’s things like drink, cigarettes, work and then stress to help shorten our lives, that then becomes a problem as well.
WE just can’t win……..thanks Mrs Geller, I don’t know how I managed to live so long without you’re guidance.
Right, time for another vodka.
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Stalin #72 bluk purchase ??
See what drink does, made me spell BULK incorrectly.
Better put more lemonade with it in future !!
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SAL- You’ve hit the nail right on the head – couldn’t have put it better myself. So I won’t………….
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#65 Sal, so very, very true. People just won’t see it though.
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@34 Jay ,
You have a most valid point , I dont or have ever smoked but i do like a glass or two of vin rouge at the weekend , If Nanny Geller scared us all into giving up either of these “pleasures” the treasury and impots would not know what hit them ,anyway as one of my ex colleagues once said with his tongue planted slightly in his cheek ” I,m smoking and drinking to keep your taxes down and i may not as good a bet to get my pension !!!
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#31 truthseeker- agreed!
#30 #41 #72,#64, #Why are you angry at Dr Gellars reports which are facts and figures. Truth of peoples own actions- not scaremongering- wish you were more fuming at the government for the state this countries in..
…Ahh never mind- just go buy yourself some new ‘fashionable’ clothes, an iphone a HD TV and get the pints in while your at it
Consume consume consume- stay miserable- go shopping and buy the next best thing and alochol- cause youll never be good enough without it
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Theres not really much else to do is there?
lets just face the facts and open a strip club!
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Dr Geller is another example of a very expensive civil servant who had decided to play politician instead of doing her job. No wonder our health department is in such a mess and requires so many7 additional managers. She has also gone off on one about global warming! Her figures are alarmist and also very questionable. She is not elected so has no mandate to dictate to us how we should be allowed to live our lives.
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it,s only a matter of time before they start on something else,maybe coffee or sugar.
and to our grand-kids “in the olden days we used to drink coffee and it smelled so wonderful”
-eyes rolling in delight.
“why don,t we drink it anymore?”
Oh it was bad for you darling so govt banned it in 2016 along with choc ice cream cakes biscuits,all that saturated fat could have taken a week off your life.
now eat your turnip,it,s good for you and oh so tasty,the govt said we can have porridge tomorrow and carrots-how lucky are we?
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So Jersey has a drink problem???….Try drinking your booze through a straw then you wont keep spilling it!!! Hope my top tip has helped some folk out,happy drinking everyone!! cheers
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Here we go again! Same old unaccountable political tactics to acquire extra powers to spend more taxpayer’s money – here’s how it is done:
Number One: Create or hype up a problem.
Number Two: Hypocritically campaign against it with lot of noise.
Number Three: Then deviously fold some secret bureaucratic agenda or personal interest into the offered solution – politicians do this all the time.
Jersey’s drinking problems can be brought under control within a week by simply adopting the California type drinking laws into our own statutory system.
1. – No one under the age of 21 allowed into bars or night clubs or where alcohol is served or sold. (allowance perhaps for family or guardian supervised restaurant dining)
2. – Selling alcohol to an underage minor should result in immediate loss of license and possible closure – no hearings, no exceptions – your out of business.
3. Anyone, including parents, providing an underage minor with alcohol or drugs, should be looking at mandatory jail time – known in California as “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” – and believe me, when people get the message, a law like this works very well!
Taxpayers do not want to see public funds used and wasted on a police force that has to spend its manpower running around chasing after drunken teenagers and other badly behaved and brought up kids. The police should be able to concentrate on other issues and problems.
As for the adult drunks who cause injury and violent problems, they should be held fully responsible for all hospital and legal expenses – including their own and regardless of who is to blame for any drunken altercation, there should be NO compensation. You get drunk, you get into trouble, then you take the full consequences or go somewhere else – time to get real!
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sal 65 & 77
I like the way you think sal, mainly because you think straight…
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Dr Geller has also stated in her report that she wants to force everybody to cycle to work. That is a bit rich considering that the old patients car park at the hospital has been completely taken over to provide FREE parking for herself and the rest of the hospital staff. Perhaps if she were to spend less time looking up global warming on google and worrying about changes in sea level over the next thousand years and did the job she was paid to do, our health service would not be in such a mess. Perhaps then we would not have elderly and disabled people being forced to walk from patriotic street up to the parade entrance and back again to visit their spouses in hospital whilst the hospital staff have reserves parking next to the main entrance. I know this through visiting a relative – I was told that the Newgate doors were locked to save money and that Constable Crowcroft had taken all the available parking for his residents scheme.
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@82 The Jersey Bull
What he said.
Oh, I take it that this will require a States visit to California to see this in action. I’m sure Mr Schwarzenegger will be happy to host …..
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#84 ‘Dr Geller has also stated in her report that she wants to force everybody to cycle to work.’
Doesn’t she know that it often pours down with rain in Jersey and that cyclists bear the brunt of it.
If Dr Geller had spent at least twelve years of her childhood cycling to school in the rain ,as I did, she might not be so keen on the idea.
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#82 I agree apart from if the parents giving you alcohol thing is too strictly applied. From the age of 8 my parents would let me have a sip of what they were drinking (literally just a sip to taste it). They did this because they knew at that age my taste buds would hate beer and wine (which was what they drank). Needless to say I grew up quite happily thinking “I don’t like alcohol” and didn’t feel pressure to drink the hideous stuff. Eventually I found out that I did like whisky, and that my taste buds had adapted for wine and beer, but I had formed a healthy attitude towards alcohol. Mind you, I never, ever witnessed my parents drunk, that probably helped too.
#84 Totally agree about the woman’s idiotic cycling comments. Some people can’t look after themselves so the rest of us have to suffer with cyclists and pedestrians being given even more priority on the roads? What about those of us that need to drive, are we supposed to continually be put out with it taking longer and longer to get anywhere. Honestly, the way to tackle obesity is far more through diet than through exercise!
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The way to tackle obesity is through caloric maintenance, it’s not an issue of ‘Diet is better than exercise’ and vice versa.
Calories consumed calories expended = weight gain
Jersey does have a drink problem, plain and simple. However, I’m happy to be a part of the problem because I have private medical insurance. Happy to pay for my own damage because you only live once.
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@82, Shut up. If wanted rules like in USA go and live in the USA, who are you advise anyone on what laws should be passed.
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@82, See points below –
1.No one under the age of 21 allowed into bars or night clubs or where alcohol is served or sold. (allowance perhaps for family or guardian supervised restaurant dining)
This will create a legion of underage drinkers, most of which would have employment, who are able to vote smoke and drive but not allowed to drink?
2. – Selling alcohol to an underage minor should result in immediate loss of license and possible closure – no hearings, no exceptions – your out of business.
I’ve seen some people with very generic faces, standing next to each other I couldn’t tell if one had borrowed the ID from the other.
3. Anyone, including parents, providing an underage minor with alcohol or drugs, should be looking at mandatory jail time – known in California as “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” – and believe me, when people get the message, a law like this works very well!
I take it you mean large amounts not a sip of champaigne at a wedding ect, if so no argument here.
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We are even beating the Jocks – they only consumed 12.3 litres of pure alcohol/person
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Dr. Rosemary Geller is the most depressing person I have ever had the misfortune to listen to in my life.
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To 37 and 50, typical stinking attitude of those who’ve never struggled for work in their lives, I’m a bean (3 generations as it happens) worked all my life til the age of 40, then lost my job, been trying to find work for 2 years, yes I’m on benefits, yes I enjoy a drink, although there’s no decent pubs left, only the wine bars for those who can afford it, and the prices are ridiculous, but tell me what else there is to do on this dried up rotten island where only the rich are catered for??
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@90 JP Special.
You make valid comment on the three points. However, the California law does cover your concerns:
No1. Any minor caught drunk or with alcohol is automatically required to inform the arresting office where and how they came to acquired the liquor. Should they refuse, then their parents or guardians are immediately held responsible and wil face very stiff consequences, including jail time – usually the kids own up and whom ever gave or supplied them with the alcohol will get nailed – because this is accepted and the fact that people are well aware of this. one has to be pretty stupid to contribute to the delinquency of a minor – believe me, even though some people have to learn the hard way, this works and saves a lot of time and trouble.
No2. The California Law allows for and requires any bartender, liquor store owner or night club proprietor to refuse service and or entry to anyone they believe to be under age, regardless of whether or not they are and regardless of any identification that the individual may offer to support their claim of age.
No3. generally agreed.
But some how, I think there are special interests at work over here that don’t really want to deal with this problem other than using it towards their own advantage – your guess as good as mine…
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#88 Mondieu, I totally understand that, I was making the point that we have a lot of people around who think upping their exercise level will be the answer, while continuing to eat what they want, it won’t, as a society we ARE eating too much, plain and simple. People will have to ‘go hungry’ to some degree to lose weight, that’s just the way it is. Exercise is great but if you overeat or eat the wrong foods you will still have problems no matter how much exercise you do. Exercise alone is not the solution.
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#93 friends, family, fresh air, scenery, laughter, education, things that everyone can enjoy rich or poor. Have the right friends and you can easily lose hours laughing till you cry, I prefer that to some snooty wine bar!
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@94, The issue with the first answer is that you and I have differences in what we consider minors, passing a law that makes the 18-21 year olds criminals for an act that they have (possibly) been doing for years seems very selfish and short-sighted.
Also it seems wrong to make a child (teenager) choose between their friends or parents on an issue as trivial as alcohol.
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Having a drink problem is no joke. I have such a problem – I can’t afford it any more due to the increasing cost of living and financial mismanagment of our government.
It’s just not funny anymore.
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Why are people going on about California? It is universally accepted that Americans have very peculiar views on alcohol and as a matter of fact California’s most commercially valuable crop is hash.
Wherever you are, kids will want to get trashed. Let’s not demonise them or their parents but instead try to make sure that when they do get trashed they do so safely without damaging themselves or becoming a nuisance to others.
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I left the rock after a number of years but ive really missed the excessive drinking! Cheers Jersey bottoms up!
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Hangingontotherock #4. How many had you had when you read the article. I’m prepared to stand corrected , but didn’t it say half a bottle a day? Not half a bottle a week.
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Leah…sadly my family are gone, I have loads of friends….all of whom I met and keep in touch with in the pub, after 42 yrs of the same scenery, in fact worsening scenery if anything, it doesn’t do much for me anymore, I’m well past the stage where education holds any joy for me, however I always have laughter…….in the pub….where I can’t afford to go to anymore!!
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Just to add my tuppence worth to this raging debate; I too would like to see the age for alcohol purchasing raised to 20 or 21. Main reason is that I believe that a high proportion of 18/19 years olds are not really mature enough to be getting drunk. They’re already excitable enough from all the raging hormones and sudden freedoms they have gained, they perhaps need a couple more years to settle down and get to know themselves and their limits before they are legally allowed to get inebriated. OK there are plenty of mature teenagers that are more than capable of having a couple of drinks and then going on their merry way, but there are many more that don’t stop until they’re paraletic.
I would concede that getting blind drunk once or twice is part of growing up and every kid does it etc. However, I’d also point out that there is a huge problem in populated areas nowadays with scores of children getting plastered every weekend, making as much noise as they can and causing an extreme nuisance. Thanks to our stupid soft laws the police are virtually powerless to do much about it and the new generation of parents don’t seem to care. Jersey has changed a lot in a relatively-short time since my teenage years.
A second reason for raising the drinking age would be that 14/15/16 year olds would find it considerably more difficult to obtain booze. For example, when I was 14, my friends and I found it easy to get drunk as we’d have no problem finding a mate who was either old enough to buy it, or at least looked old enough. Most 15-year-olds will have an older pal that can get it for them, However, how many 15-year-olds will have a mate who can pass for 21 and that is prepared to risk prosecution buying for underage kids? Not too many I’d expect.
Unlike California, however, I see no real problem in allowing one’s offspring to have a drink at home, as even the most liberal of parents are unlikely to allow their kids to get so drunk that they are vomiting all over the place and smashing the house up, like they do in town at the moment.
Just my humble opinion, for what it’s worth.
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Are you beans serious? Look at some still in office? No wonder Jersey still has champion drink problem.
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Only half a bottle thats poor show.
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“A second reason for raising the drinking age would be that 14/15/16 year olds would find it considerably more difficult to obtain booze.”
Yes. So they would smoke weed instead. Or when there isn’t any around do acid or e or ketamine or mephadrone or smack or glue or any one of the dozens of things you can do to get wasted.
Kids will always get off their heads. Trying to stop it is futile. What we should be doing is accepting that it happens but trying to make it as safe as possible for everyone when it does. Three kids sharing a couple of 4 packs on a sandy beach in the afternoon isn’t the same problem as 50 kids necking vodka around Liberation square on a Friday night.
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#80- your comment is hilarious- you sound like me age 6 sitting at the table not wanting to eat my veg – obviously an age that I could not see what was good for me!
We as a society haven’t got a chance if we all think like this and have got the mentality of 6 year olds when it comes down to looking after our health!
No-one is banning alcohol or telling you you can’t drink it or eat your fatty cream cakes or drink your coffee—- it is a guidance to help you help yourselves get quality of life!
What you put into your body is what you get out- physically and mentally…. would you put diesel in an unleaded car…no I don’t think so….why?.. Because the car would not run properly, if at all!!!!
Why do we think it’s ok to put chemical upon chemical into our bodies in the form of, alcohol, coffee and partial hydrogenated fats- our bodies were not made to handle these; without you knowing it these things create depression, obesity, thus leading to people reaching for a drink cause they cant handle it and they don’t know why?!
These health reports are trying to warn us because the majority are too stupid and blind to see how amazing they would feel without all this rubbish in their bodies!
I went into my local corner shop today-the only thing in there not in a tin or packet or full of chemicals was a basket of apples and bananas on the counter at £1 each- that makes me angry- why is no one ranting and raving about this as they do about their precious pints and glasses of wine?!
Re #80 “now eat your turnip, it’s good for you and oh so tasty, the govt said we can have porridge tomorrow and carrots-how lucky are we?”
If/when I have children- I will do my absolute most to make sure they are excited about eating and enjoying turnips/carrots and porridge etc- not so that they’ll have an extra two weeks on their lives but so their quality of life will be better in every way than shoving some chemically enhanced Iceland frozen god knows what down their throats!!
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Encourage hobbies like surfin,(the number of youngsters down at st Ouens during the European championships was amazing!)bring back the skate park, and social clubs where young people can be free to express themselves without being told that they are doing wrong every five minutes- are you surprised that they want to revolt, smoke weed and drink- when even messing around on a skateboard is something they have to do looking over their shoulders because the police will stop them. Give the kids a break- get off their backs-encourage healthy hobbies- and let these youngsters know that they CAN BE WHATEVER they want to be (that life doesnt mean going into a bank at 18 and thats it) and you will see the number of young drinkers/smokers go down!- spend some of that States money on bringing over some real role models for them to look up to!
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“Kids will always get off their heads. Trying to stop it is futile. What we should be doing is accepting that it happens but trying to make it as safe as possible for everyone when it does”
Agreed.
So why the hell did they glibly ban Spice?!
Whilst it’s hardly ’safe’ (because no mind-altering substance is) surely it’s nowhere near as bad as the engine oil and vinyl that can be found mixed with cannabis resin; it’s obviously nowhere near as bad as mephadrone / heroin / glue / etc etc.
And it’s a lot less harmful (both to themselves and others) than alcohol.
At least if it’s legal then we can both get tax on it and ensure that there are no ‘particularly’ harmful toxins in it. Now, they’ll just give their money to the local drug dealers instead. Bravo, a big pat on the back to the authorities for that one.
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99 it would be good to keep it factual,the most valuable crop in California is the grape.hence their enormous wine industry,kinda ironic really,but they are tough on drunk behaviour and drunk driving…it is a place of extremes and contradictions as the drug problem there is massive, even though the tough laws apply to drugs and alcohol….what we do have more of here is an attitude of abandonment of personal responsibility,coupled with a media that feeds on social garbage like Big Brother,and newspapers who sanctify celebrity regardless of how untalented they are or how scummily they live..so kids get to admire ignoramuses and mentally unstable lost people just beacause they have a record in the charts,I mean how mad is it that white British kids play…ghetto black kids sounds…what the hell is that.We need to look at media,role models and values or it all ends up in a skip…or dumpster for those with a U.S. bent.
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truthseeker,
I said marijuana was the most valuable crop in California.
You responded “it would be good to keep it factual,the most valuable crop in California is the grape”
Well, my fact came from the Financial Times:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/23db6d1a-8545-11df-9c2f-00144feabdc0.html
Where did yours come from?
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Something clearly doesn’t add up here. We have so many people, local and holidaymaker alike all moaning how the cost of alcohol has soared and is now more expensive than the UK and it is no longer affordable. Yet on the other hand we’re drinking far more. Can’t both be true.
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#80 I believe there was a time in history when caffeine was banned, and if we knew then what we know now it may well have remained that way. Caffeine is implicated in so many chronic (and incurable) conditions now it seems unbelievable, it is costnig health services a fortune. But it isn’t the individual’s use that is the problem, ‘Drugs’ are only usually tested over 10 years, no-one realises that the effects of some drugs are only seen over centuries (increase in auto-immune diseases etc) and it seems that caffeine may well be one such drug where over generations its negative effects build up.
#102 Sorry to hear that, don’t think anyone is looking at banning pubs though (although the number of them would possibly decrease). Still you may have a laugh when inebriated, but it does bring your overall mood down, maybe you would be happier if you weren’t drinking?
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#109 “Kids will always get off their heads.”
That should read “SOME kids will always get off their heads.” Other kids have actual brains and choose to use them to secure a good future, preferring this over short term, and fake, happiness.
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107 actually i shove everything that does,t move in me mouth to me any food is good food,there are more ways of getting chemicals in your body than food,in fact sprays petrol fumes drugs to name but a few-just pointing out the nanny state should be renamed the bully state.
I eat mouldy cheese stale bread you name it,down me mouth it goes,my brain is constantly in famine alert can,t bear to throw any edibles away due to lack of food when young.
Not all of us had the privilege of picking and choosing what we could or couldn’t eat.
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@97 JPSpecial Re; your statement “Also it seems wrong to make a child (teenager) choose between their friends or parents on an issue as TRIVIAL AS ALCOHOL.”
Let me begin by saying there is nothing trivial about the issue of alcohol or its abuse.
Perhaps 18 to 21 year old kids could be allowed to drink beer or a glass of wine at home or at private functions under parental supervision, but definitely not out in public.
It is quite alarming to how many of you are so willing to trivialize the issue. No doubt this can be explained by the fact that we have all failed, as a people, to pass on to our later generations the core values of proper manners, self discipline and personal responsibility. As Truthseker @110 correctly points out, when describing moronic role models that are currently being held up for young people to emulate.
This monstrous failure in personal responsibility has been generated and aided by the progressive socialist left – collectivists, who seek to advance their totalitarian and controlling agendas by undermining family, moral and traditional values, by replacing national heritage with ‘multiculturalism’ and lowering age for promiscuous behavior in order to garner votes – so why not let the kids get drunk and use it to gain more controll.
As a result we now suffering increased government interference and control in nearly every area of our private lives at a great and unnecessary expense that reaches into every area – ask anyone trying to run a small business over here. Alcohol is not a trivial issue – You too Brutus!
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Just to endorse what happens when a tribes totems are disregarded,ethnic races and indigenous people like Red Indians,Eskimos and aboriginals suffer dreadfully from alcoholism…yet did not before the white man introduced his glass beads and booze…why..? thye had their belief systems and respects in place….great store was set by what the Elders ordained…and in tonight’s paper we see A minister fired but not made to leave.. here we see him “Let off” and can rejoin the council of war….and you wonder why the young have no respect and no belief in the tribe…a blind man can see what’s wrong here.
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Can you people be serious? A half bottle of wine? For heaven’s sake man, that’s 13 ounces of wine. Perfectly normal amount for anyone sharing a bottle with a guest or wife or friend or whatever. A half bottle of wine never made ANY adult drunk in any way. Note, I’m not talking about a 95 pound, 17 year old girl who’s having her first drink. I mean any normal, 21 year old man or woman, whose ever had a glass of wine before.
It’s curious, because probably none of the people commenting would think to criticize smoking a joint before, during or after a meal. Marijuana, a joint or half-joint is twenty times more powerful than two and a half glasses of wine. You smoke that much and you give up your independence of thought, of movement, of feeling. You drink a couple glasses of wine you feel slightly mellow, without any significant restriction on thought process, movement, or anythning else.
How complete is the propaganda?
The comments show us how absurd people’s assessment of alcohol is. Not that I advocate drinking large amounts of alcohol daily. Of course not. But … a half-bottle? Where does this nonsense come from? Wait. I know. It comes from PEOPLE magazine. Or whatever the British equivalent is.
It’s nuts.
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