Crackdown on alcohol
Monday 2nd March 2009, 3:00PM GMT.
RADICAL plans to address Jersey’s drink problem — including making alcohol more expensive, increasing the age at which it can be bought and banning promotions — are to be put forward by the Medical Officer of Health.
Speaking after the announcement today that the Scottish government is to propose similar measures, Dr Rosemary Geller said that alcohol was in the top five issues on her reforming agenda.
Her department has already led the charge against smoking and is currently battling against obesity, which she has warned will become public enemy No 1 in the 21st century.
Next week, a green paper is due to be released for public consultation which seeks to simplify and improve licensing laws. It also proposes raising the age at which alcohol can be bought in off-licences from 18 to 21.
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More expensive? This seems to be, increasingly, the most popular answer to Jersey’s problems…
All I can see this doing is causing more binge drinking.
Why pay in excess of £7.50 (as it stands at the moment in most bars/clubs) for two drinks, spirit measures and a mixer, when you can spend £15 on a bottle of vodka and drink that at home before you go out?!?!
As for raising the age, this causes me no problem as I am over 21, but what about the people who are 18 to 20 now? I would have hated to have my right to buy alcohol taken away from me when I was 20 after being able to buy it for two years…
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And the effect on the beleaguered tourism industry will be?
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copying uk again as always the bad bits of law never any good ones.as i,ve said before we are sleepwalking our way into a total control nightmare as bit by bit they are taking away our hard fought for liberties
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The nanny state gone mad! This will put more companies out of business and damage the already blighted tourism industry. Obviously the Medical Officer of Health believes that we local people are not as able as other jurisdictions to be mindful of our own health so we shall be forced in to it instead. What next? A ban on E numbers for the under 50s? I am a drinker, a smoker and well over the ages of 18 and 21 mentioned in this article but I would stand against any person or department that affects the freedoms of the local people. The Medical Officer of Health should back off, step down or expect this to be taken to the The European Court of Human Rights citing the fact that we are being unfairly treated when compared with the entirity of the EU which, has substantually lower prices for drinking and generally a much more relaxed attiture toward drinking. It has been said before but if you want to reduce the ‘binge drinking’ culture we need to promote a more relaxed view like our european cousins.
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Given the number of visitors this island has every year (estimated at over 800,000) how do we arrive at the figures per head of alchol consumption?
Those that come on holiday tend to drink more so are these figures a true reflection of local consumption and what is this going to do to our already vanishing tourist trade?
On another note it appears that yet again the poor get poorer and the rich are unaffected
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ban it all together – why is spice banned when alcohol is far more dangerous…
the world just doesn’t make sense…
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As always, the solution to tackling a problem such as alcohol and cigarettes seems to be to increase the price. Cigarettes have gone from about £1 a packet ten years ago to over £5 per pack now. Despite claims, smoking has not decreased dramatically and youngsters still smoke. The same applies to alcohol. This will not stop the problem with binge drinking. Only proper education into the ill affects and end to the “glamour” culture attached to being smashed will achieve this.
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As normal ‘lets take the easy and simple route’
Raising the prices will NOT help or stop alcohol related problems.
The number of off-license shops is way too many. Start reducing them and educate people about the problems of alcohol.
It was done with reference to smoking, a massive campaign (albeit now stopped and more kids are now back smoking!) so do it with the dreaded booze!!
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The nanny state finds another excuse to restrict our choices – surprise surprise it involves increasing cost.
If people want to eat/drink/smoke too much let em. We pay tax on our earnings, tax on our savings, tax when we spend anything, tax when we die, now what more tax for our own good?
Those who choose to overindulge pay a higher percentage of tax so if it costs more in terms of healthcare for them, they have already paid for it haven’t they.
If you really want to discourage overindulgance engage in a comprehensive programme of education to allow people to make an informed choice – assuming of course that there is anyone who doesn’t know that drinking/eating/smoking too much is bad for you.
All this will achieve is penalisation of the majority who enjoy a drink responsibly, oh and and increase in revenue for the states.
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Oh Goody !!! another stealth tax!!!
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How about reducing the duty on bottles of beer sold in pubs? This would reduce the pace of beer drinking
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Increase the price. Same old answer as for all Jersey problems. This will not stop youngsters drinking, as most get booze from home and do not have to buy it.
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Easy option, as usual. Damn ‘do-gooders’ they really are the bane of society. It really isn’t that difficult – punish those who cost society due to their alcohol consumption – whether they be a burden on the police or Public Health (tax payers). Put another way – why the hell should I pay for those who abuse alcohol.
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Surely the answer lies in giving them something else to do. Instead of wasting taxpayers money on yet more legislation why not spend this in getting private entepreneurs to invest in Fort Regent and make it “the” meeting place for young people once again? Apart from sporting activities there is very little else for young people to do nowadays in Jersey.
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I agree with raising off licence age because i know of certain kids who have been able to buy alchol because thet look 18.I think the solution is only one id system should be accepted everywhere to prevent fake ids being used.raising the price is wrong as it will only hurt tourism and close down the remaining pubs.Also raising the price will only take from the pockets of those of us who do not binge.Just like smoking raising the price does not mean people will give up ,they will just be less well off.
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The result of the ‘charge’ against smoking is that tobacco purchases in the island have definitely fallen but imports bought duty free from the boat or purchased in French shops etc have risen enormously.
I only have to mention I am going to France and there is a line of smokers looking for some ‘snout’ to be bought back into the island.
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‘Moderate alcohol consumption (one or two drinks per day) is associated with a reduced risk of CHD’ this comment is found on the Jersey Cardiology website This site also goes on to say that up to 4 units a day is sensible drinking. However the SOJ state that over 4 units a day is dangerous.
Is this not arbitrary?
This also means that if we put up the price of alcohol then we may well be pricing a beneficial substance out of the reach of poorer people making them more prone to heart disease.
An alcohol strategy for Jersey, published by the States in 2003, shows that Jersey residents consume more than anyone else in the whole galaxy (Klingons excepted) when measuring consumption of pure alcohol against the rest of the world, our figures are apparently adjusted for visitors although the rest of Europe’s figures are not, so it is very difficult to tell what we really drink.
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I was out on the weekend and seriously some of the kids that were in the establishment looked still wet behind the ears. It is a joke how 12 year old looking kids are out and about in town at night. There was no way they were a day over 16…
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This island’s original post-war prosperity was based on tourism, and the pioneers of that industry – Butlin and Pontin – knew the importance of the “feel-good factor”, the vastly lower prices of alcohol and tobacco. So what happened to the tourist industry?
Now we have impossible rents, high food prices, increasing taxation both direct and indirect – which pushes up the cost of eating or drinking out – what exactly do we have left?
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This is a waste of time. You can’t stop a binge drinking culture by making it more expensive or difficult to obtain. The US figured this out in the 1930′s! You need to make the stigma of being publicly drunk less acceptable to society as a whole. One way that works is by increasing the penalties and policing them effectively. Remember when drink driving was considered acceptable!
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May I suggest Dr. Geller abandons social engineering to political control and concentrates on matters of public health?
I understand visiting has again been banned at the General Hospital as visitors risk leaving the building sick when they entered it well.
Then there are the mysterious viral infections that regularly sweep the island, killing our aged and infecting the rest of us.
We have the repulsive seagulls scattering festering rubbish around the town and the dubious pigeons of Royal Square. There is plenty for Dr. Geller to attend to before she takes it on herself to control our chosen life-styles.
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Public health would probably be improved if good old beer was made cheaper and we could resume meeting and laughing in pubs. Most of the drinkers I know now buy bottles of cheap hard liquor and retire home or to the beach or park.
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Another waste of time like the smoking ban, a completely unenforcable law that the police are not interested in. The smoking ban is being flouted all over the Island and there have been no prosecutions.
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Joined up thinking; in Jersey? I fear not.
Excessive alcohol consumption is a problem, but alcohol has been the subject of premium prices, tax and regulation since the First World War. More to the point, Hogarth’s Gin Lane dates back to 1751. What does this tell us? The problem is with the consumption and sale of alcohol. Taxation is a crude lever of government. If being drunk and disorderly is an anti-social offence, the offender and purveyor of the offending substance should be locked up. Preferably the offending purveyor should be made responsible for the drunk, until both are sober.
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One more nail in the coffin for freedom.
Watch and see as you will have to show ID in the street soon to prove who you are and if your are ok to be here.
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Increase the tax on off-sales dramatically, reduce the tax on alcohol drunk in pubs, clubs etc to make them affordable.
This will make the half bottle of vodka before you go out unnecessary. Drinking at the bar will be supervised by a licensee who will have to obey the law on penalty of loosing such licence. Cheep drinks consumed sensibly would be good for tourism.
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This is uterly ridiculous. I have worked in clubs and the bar staff get hassled enough about prices as it is. Furthermore, change the age and every club and bar in town will take a hit and subsequently shut down – this then leads to people turning 21 and having nowhere to go. Are the States really this stupid? Also, tackling obesity. There are loads of kids overweight and loads of adults too. Perhaps shutting down Mcdonald’s or making takeaways more expensive is the answer to that one. This is another example of States thinking they have got it right but they are are so off the mark they might as well work for the States of Guernsey.
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Increasing the age at which you can buy alcohol will simply mean that there will be more underage drinkers. It will be a mini prohibition and will have the same effect as the full USA prohibition in the 30s, namely, increased crime.
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I think this is stupid. If you bring the age up, people will just turn to other alternatives (DRUGS!) to replace alcohol. The harder you make it for people to get hold of alcohol, the demand for drugs, which is already high, will definitely increase.
Just leave the age as it is, and up the price, or get the police to actually do something when they see all the drunk kids at Liberation Square.
Stupid idea: Jersey and Scotland, very different.
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I love to have glass of brandy every night before I go to bed. This is a disgrace that you are going to increase the price on the one thing I love since my wife passed away.
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Well said Michael Gala.
So many of the people I see out in town are between the ages of 18-20. The clubs will lose a hell of a lot of business. What do you expect these people to do with their weekends when there are no clubs to go to? Get someone else to buy the booze and hang round somewhere else, causing more problems.
Totally disagree with this article. Use some common sense. Increasing prices on everything seems to be your scapegoat while the people of Jersey are left constantly empty handed and disappointed with ‘our’ Island.
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Isn’t it our Island right to seek oblivion in the bottom of a bottle? Besides just like chronic obesity, its ultimate results are actually a welcome damper on population growth.
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Yes, increase the price, or is that the duty? The States can make more money, increase their wages, build stupid things – all this while Joe Public has every single one of his luxuries removed. While we’re at it, you may as well increase GST and make it impossible for anyone to have a life.
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The pubs are empty now and increased prices will only make matters worse.Most of my friends are football fans and we used to go to the pub for the game.Beer was three times the price of the supermarket so now a few of us got together and purchased a 50″ tv, we buy a case or two of beer, put a couple of ashtrays on the coffee table and watch it at home, pub loses around £30 per head in revenue. Anyway it doesn’t matter what Joe Publics opinions are anymore the States will do whatever they want to do. The majority vote was against GST and we were ignored, the majority vote was against knocking down the Inn On The Park it’s now a block of ugly flats. “There’s a boat out everyday if you dont like it” was the old saying, well after 25 years of being dictated to I’m leaving as I’ve just about saved enough for the boat-fare.
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Just another way of increasing taxes…it’s a cover up…a cover up i tell you!
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Honestly, it’s like being in prison…except they get free sky and don’t have to pay GST!
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Who thinks up these crackpot ideas?? Don;t they realise it’s the people that are the problem not the booze…..and its a minority of people at that. A gun can’t kill someone unless someone pulls the trigger!
Why can’t the States stop punishing decent law abiding citizens and stop pandering to the scum of society??! Punish those who abuse the law more effectively and there would be no problem. How often do you see a policeman on the beat or traffic police or any authority anywhere??? Do they all just sit in cosy offices watching CCTV??
Seeing a policeman patrolling the streets at night is like looking for a humble Man Utd supporter….impossible!
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if increasing the age to buy booze to 21 is going to be any where near effective they have to raise the drinking age to 21 too or it doesnt make sense. a 19 year old can go to a club and get drunk yet can’t purchase a bottle of wine to accompany his sunday meal. most 18 years olds will have mates of 21+ so get them to buy it as its not illegal to drink it. To deter people through a price rise or increase in duty as i suspect as the government will want to earn from this will not work unless stupid prices are eforced. This seems like a half arsed attempt by the people incharge..hang on a minute everything they do is a half arsed attempt. I wonder why drinking is a problem as there is not much more to do on this pebble.
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The price of alcohol. Our worst alcohol abusers tend to be unemployed and homeless. Does the price of alcohol prevent them getting wasted by 10 am every morning? No. Will putting the price of alcohol up prevent anyone earning the minimum wage and above from binge-drinking? No.
Raising the age. At present this is 18. Does it stop under 18s getting alcohol? No. Will raising it to 21 prevent under 21s from obtaining alcohol? No.
The Jersey plan will not work. It is obvious to everyone but Dr Geller. It will raise more money and will create more criminals but it will not stop the problem. You have to find out why we have the culture we have and try to change the culture. Until then the problem will stay.
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Make alcohol less cheap and less accessible and less will be drunk. That’s not rocket science, as it works as a principle for many commodities. What’s different about alcohol is that it’s an addictive drug, and as every drug pusher knows, hook somebody in their teens and they’re your customer for life. And as scientists can now demonstrate, huge changes take place in the teenage brain with half the brain cells being culled, and alcohol messes that up.
So it’s a matter of personal liberty. Well, the land of the free only allows drinking from the age of 21, so one could argue the green paper proposals are modest.
Alcohol is taxed too much. Well, not according to economists, who estimate that drinkers fail to meet the enormous costs to society of their habit.
I hope all those with addicted relatives and friends will be lobbying their politicians to get this green paper into law.
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That’s all very well Dr B. But I cannot see any plan to tackle the root cause. Indeed, I have seen no suggestion from those ‘in the know’ to tell us what the cause is. If you can tell us why people want to get drunk every night it might be a start.
Unless that is tackled these measures would never work.
Illegal drugs are not cheap and are not (legally) accessible. That has not stopped a growing heroin problem in Jersey.
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I think that the title ‘land of the free’ when referring to the US has to be ironic humour! Besides this fact it has not solved the problem, read ‘USA Today’ and you will find Miss Teen USA has just been stripped of her title because of drunken antics and California attempting to pass a law that forbids home or college dorm parties because of the amount of police time taken up trying to sort out all the drunken behavious in residential and univercity areas. Raising the age limit only moves the problem underground. Tax is a lazy goverments way of fixing a problem which may work in a place with less disposable income but in Jersey? Come on! Besides the fact that I don’t see why I should be forced to pay higher amounts for drinks because the police cannot police and parents cannot parent. These are what this report should be based upon, not tar-ing all of Jersey with a brush indicating that we do not have the savvy to look after ourselves!
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Those who drink responsibly will be unfairly penalized for enjoying their occasional tipple of choice, and/or may not be able to afford the odd drink at all.
People who do not drink responsibily or who are dependent on alcohol will always find a way to get a drink. If they cannot afford it, this will most certainly impact on others around them. People will either resort to stealing booze, or money to pay for booze, or use money that should be spent on other things instead.
Whilst middle to high earners who drink too much can afford to drink themselves into oblivion every night if they choose, my worry would be for those families where excessive alcohol use is a problem.
Will an alcoholic parent immediately stop drinking because of a price hike, or will it be that their kids will miss out on yet another meal, a school trip or a new pair of football boots instead.
Will this create more rows over money, will this increase incidents of domestic violence when one parent nags the other for blowing the rent money down the pub.
I believe the key to supporting people in changing their ways is proper expert support in helping to tackle the problem, but foremost prevention is paramount and this can only be done through education, starting with kids at school.
We may not save all of those now, but that’s not to say we should give up on them, but we might be able to save the next generation of potential binge drinkers.
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Gil Blackwood’s economist is wrong. Drinkers, and paerticularly smokers, contribute far more to society in revenue than they expend in hospital care, etc. The main benefit to society is not the income from taxation, but the savings incurred on pensions and carehome fees when the smoker/drinker dies in his fifties and sixties, having worked and paid tax and imports until then.
The real drain on society is the number of healthy women who retire at 60, enjoy twenty years of retirement and then another twenty in care homes until they get their telegram from the Queen.
If drinking and smoking are so bad, just make them illegal and suffer the economic consequences.
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leave us alone and let us drink ourselves into oblivion,since the government are responsible for making our lives so miserable,that drink is the anaesthetic,otherwise you will be overthrown in a revolution of the sober!
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It’s the same the world over. Raise taxes, in whatever form, to pay for the lethargic goverment that grows bigger and bigger and does less good for the citizens. The alcohol question is just a smokescreen.
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i think this is a stupid idea. this means youngsters are going to want more moeny out of their parents and its not going to stop them drinking. and if adults want to drink they have to fork out more money?!
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The problem really exists – many people, too many young people, drinks too much.
The solution is not to punish everyone by increasing prices, taxes, etc. Instead make people who overuse alcohol to pay extra for extra ‘services’
Police calles to ‘calm down’ drunk youngster ? – make regulation which enforce him to pay for police visiy. Hospital treatment needed for drunk person ? – make the person to pay for treatment. Simple ? Simple. Too simple I’m afraid.
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Alcohol consumption tends to go up with increasing prosperity. When we have more money to spend we spend it on things that cheer us up because much of the time life is pretty dull.
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Alcohol getting pricier? No way. In the last 50 years, in the UK, alcohol affordability has doubled as has average alcohol use.
Jean Marcel, you are wrong with regards to alcohol’s cost to society. You have to price in more than hospital use and premature death. Large costs come from accidents, social breakdown, the justice system, and as recently is becoming clear the effects on babies in the womb. Drinkers are not paying their way.
However, you are right as regards tobacco. It’s so effective at killing people that they don’t have many unproductive years.
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There are many sides to this problem. Firstly, the person who is an alcoholic and therefore addicted has no concern over the cost of alcohol. Like drug adddiction their only requirement is the next ‘fix’ regardless of cost to themselves, their family and their life.
Secondly the binge drinker, who enjoys getting wasted a bit too often will also probably be prepared to fork out the extra at the expense of other little luxuries.
Thirdly the youngsters who cannot or do not want to control what they drink mostly at weekends, and often cause problems, fights, rowdiness and disturbances. Any youngster or indeed anyone creating drink related problems should be hit very hard in their pockets by way of hefty fines and punishment, therefore making the consequences of their drinking not quite so attractive.
This would then allow the moderate social drinker who maybe likes a few wines with a meal out, or a couple of pints in the pub to continue to do so, and not be penalised by the actions of those who cannot control their drinking.
Drink driving results in heavy penalties, so should drink related crime. By the same token if people wish to ruin their health it is their choice and theirs alone.
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They should really look at the culture of binge drinking that is so prevalent in our society, and start from there. Raising the age and adding tax does not work. Its just a lazy way of looking like they actually care and a way to raise more cash.
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Dr Blackwood, I genuinely appreciate your expertise in this subject but you have not addressed the question of the cause. If we want to beat the problem we need to tackle the root, not tax the result.
Why do people feel the need to get wasted at any given opportunity?
If we can fix that, the problem goes away.
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Having picked on the smokers, Rosemary Geller is now imposing her extreme views on the drinkers.
Alcohol and smoking may well be bad for us, but for many people, they are one of life’s pleasures.
By all means, educate us as to the dangers to our health, but then have the decency to let us decide for ourselves whether we want to have a drink or a ciggie.
Violent behaviour from excess drink is a crime – punish those who commit crime, not those who fancy a sensible drink and who know how to behave.
Perhaps even encourage brewers to produce lower alcohol beer (eg Carling C2) that you can drink all night without getting dangerously drunk.
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Slawek, I have to agree with some of your statement. Cracking down on drunken behaviour would be preferable to further taxing alcohol. Plenty of people enjoy alcohol responsibly and will continue to do so no matter what changes come, however, those that enjoy it irresponsibly will continue to do so also!
The problem is the people and their attitude and changing prices etc will never help. Showing them the real effect of their behaviour (i.e. a night in the cells) or prioritising patients that are not drunk (except for critical cases of course) might do something, who knows.
Come down heavy on any crime caused or made worse by drunkeness.
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Bean up all night… couldn’t have said it better myself. People who feel the need to get drunk must have pretty miserable lives. The amount some people spend on intentionally getting drunk could be used to help fund things they really want to do (travel, sports etc).
If I’m feeling rotten I prefer to have a good laugh with my mates. Alcohol is a depressant so while it makes you feel better temporarily the lasting effect is to make you more down whereas laughter tends to stay with you for a while afterwards.
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Dr Geller is so keen to bend us into shape that I am wondering if she is related to Uri…
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why don,t they ban all sports the biggest drain in hospitals are sport related injuries,they have to be treated for weeks and sometime months with physiotheorapy which cost a fortune.
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Bean up all night raises the question of the cause of alcohol addiction. Well in a 100 words, here’s my stab at it.
Ancient creatures sought food by developing a network of nerves. This primitive network still drives appetitive behaviours of more evolved creatures such as humans. Substances such as alcohol, heroin, nicotine, cocaine etc. are addictive because they specifically stimulate this network thereby creating an appetite for themselves. The younger the animal, the greater the exposure, the greater and more persistent is the appetite. Humans have complex brains and societies, so may resist following their appetites. However, as this primitive network evolved before consciousness, people are genuinely unaware they are addicted, and often mistakenly explain their behaviour as driven by external circumstances.
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Alcohol consumption has become part of our culture. If you are young and do not drink, it is frowned upon. Drinking is ‘cool’
Changing perception is key.
One approach would be to highlight the effects of alcohol, in terms of health e.g. causes cancer, destroys your liver, and also the social effects – e.g. impedes careers development, makes you lose inhibitions etc.
However, much of the succuss in lowering smoking levels can be attributed to a change of perception at a wider level – e.g. British funded television adverts and international restrictions imposed on tobacco companies.
Approaching a team of expereinced marketing professionals who focus daily on changing perception of their products may generate some good ideas.
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Aw come one! everybody knows were just a bunch of drunks moored in the Channel. We’ve got some cracking beaches to stagger about on though!
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Thank you Dr B although you did not actually answer my question, which was not the cause of acohol addiction as much as the cause for alcohol abuse.
Further I would like to know why, as a society, we feel the need to treat alcohol the way we do as opposed to, for instance, people on the continent. I know many French, Spanish etc who are confused by the ‘Britsh’ way of drinking.
That was the point of the question and not what causes addiction.
I for one don’t believe that ‘British’ drinkers have a different psychological make up to anyone else but we have a different, more dangerous, attitude to drinking.
That is the root to be tackled – as opposed to taxed. Perhaps is out of the expertise of a psychiatrist and should be answered by a pshychologist instead.
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Have to agree with you Bean Up All Night. I think in some cases there is also simply the case of laziness. There are many ways for people to enjoy themselves that don’t cost much money but they involve getting off your backside and doing something… apathy is rife in Britain, especially among the young and the tendency is to go for that which involves the least overall effort. Drink makes things ‘fun’ (apparently!!!) and involves little physical effort.
I know many people young and old who simply enjoy alcohol in the way that other European countries do but they tend to be very get up and go type people rather than ‘bring the fun to me’ type people.
As for young people thinking it’s cool. I didn’t drink any alcohol for around 8 years and the number of adults that laughed at me because of it was ridiculous. Of course I must have had a problem with alcohol at some time (I hadn’t) and everyone felt I owed them an explanation.
My mate never started drinking, he prefers Coke (the drink) and when asked why he doesn’t drink he just decides the person must be an idiot and walks off! I’m inclined to agree with him that it’s no-one else’s business and he doesn’t ask them why they DO drink.
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Deputy Hill has recently stated that in his opinion the right of unelected persons such as the Governor and Dean to address the States is in contravention of our human rights. Assuming I am correct in my belief that Dr Rosemary Geller has not been so elected and not wishing to add smoke to the cloud of political correctness and emanating from St Martin I would kindly ask the good deputy to include the likes of Dr Geller and other highly paid Civil Servants into his review.
I am sure that we are all aware of the dangers of alcohol abuse and agree that this does need to be tackled. As usual, in the spirit of political correctness all must be made to suffer for the crimes of the few. We already have tight controls on the sale of alcohol and grossly inflated taxation. The real problem is that the authorities fail to enforce the existing laws that adequately cover such abuse and the behaviour that ensues. We fail to educate our children in to how to drink sensibly and through draconian legislation have created an air of mystic that has attracted the vulnerable to experiment in dangerous and unsupervised conditions so of course we have problems.
I fear that if Dr Geller gets her way than these problems will only be made worse and the rest of us will have to pay even more tax. If we lived in a democracy I would not therefore be voting for her.
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Making alcohol more expensive seems to be just a blanket effort to solve a problem.
It is a very unfair policy for those of us who enjoy a drink now and again and don’t cause havoc in town or the health system.
No to this policy.
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Sorry 64, I dispute that the sale of alcohol is strictly controlled, I see the results in the bottles, beer cans etc strewn all over the roads and hedges on the countryside.
There are too many corner shops selling drink, often staffed by young people who I imagine are easily intimidated by some of the thuggish teenagers who infest this island.
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This won’t work!
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I can see the many issues in charging people for medical treatment required due to drunkenness or alcoholism … that said, surely when it is an illegal activity that causes you to require medical treatment then it should be perfectly acceptable to charge for every single bit of the treatment. At least this would cover any treatment caused by drunkenness under the age of 18 and might help change kids’ attitude towards alcohol before it becomes legal for them to drink. At least they would see how much their behaviour costs the taxpayer (which will one day be them).
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“Let’s make it naughtier for kids to drink and cause trouble, that’ll stop em”
90% of Jersey’s alcohol problem lies with the underagers! stop making problems for the rest of us and start working on the real problems that already exist.
If the crackdown comes on underage drinking then kids will not be brought up as drunks! if you up the age you will only increase the ammount of underage drinkers we have, especialy seeing as how some of them will have been drinking legally for 2 years and see no reason to stop just because the law has changed.
if any of the suggestions posed by the article are brought forth the island will take another step (i almost wrote “it’s first step” then realised how wrong i would be) into the downward spiral it’s already getting itself into… lets work on getting police and the parents to do their jobs and hopefully we can calm this island down before it caves in on itself… stop punishing the few sensible people we have left over here for the trouble caused by the idiots
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The money, time and effort spent on devising ways of tackling this need to be channelled only one way….education and assistance when it all goes wrong. Kids AND adults need to be given open, clear and non-patronising advice about the affects of alcohol abuse, and they need to be supported if they fall foul. A comment earlier stated that it was the poor and homeless who have the problem…not so, I work at a major financial institution on the island and it is commonplace for many workers to go out on a thurs, fri, and saturday night most weeks. The simple fact is, we live on an island, there isn’t much to do, we like to socialise, and where do we meet? the pub. I come from the UK mainland and even I have noticed that I drink more living here than i did back home. Most governments are guilty of neglect when it comes to alcohol, why? Because nearly ALL of us like a drink – which is the opposite of smoking where it is more 50/50 in favour or even less. Germany have it right, allow kids to drink younger at home and familiarise themselves with their own limits and boundaries in a safe environment under the guidance of their parents. Prices up = more money for government to make ends meet, nothing more and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying. There is no simple answer to this and there never will be, not for Jersey and not for the rest of the world. You have to take responsibility for yourselves sometimes, and this is one of those times.
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whishkey on a shunday madam have you no consec…conscieon…shense of gilt?sending someone whoze bin off the demon drink for…oh…thirsty years….a present of tree bottlesa whishkey wood do.
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