24hr drinking

[ludwig]

It seems we're not being overrun with drunken lads and ladettes rampaging through the streets 24 hours a day vomiting and urinating everywhere as many people said we would be.
In fact many towns have reported significant drops in violent crime since the new licensing laws came in.

Has it been a complete success or is it too early to tell?

[smudge]

Personally, I think it's far too early to say ludwig - wait until the summer months & review it then!

[Loosehead]

Bit early to tell but the signs are that deregulation has, despite warnings to the contrary, been positive.

[madein1978]

The 24hr drinking thing is an alcoholics gift from the gods, and there are a lot of 20 somethings are rapidly approaching that status! Its the same as smoking, with all of these alkies on the go, who will foot the bill in 20 or 30 years time when their livers have all packed up? It was wrong and governments of the past have made the same mistake time and time again by lengthening the opening hours, time was pubs shut at 9pm and didn't open at all on a Sunday, that wouldn't suit most people now! We are headed for a very sickly society in the future and the NHS Will just go into meltdown when this all kicks off!

[LeMarchand]

A lot of towns (for various reasons) still don't have 24hr pubs, plus there was an increased police presence initially...

[Gef]

With respect madein that is a load of nonsense. People who are determined to drink to excess can simply buy it from shops to drink at any time of the day.

[joko]

alcoholics can drink as much as they want whenever they want regardless of pub opening hours.

People have been able to go to the pub for most of the day should they wish to for decades - they are not suddenly going to spend all day and night in the pub just because its open.

people binge drink because they know the pub is going to close soon and want to get as much alcohol down their necks as quickly as possible, so they buy shorts and pints and down them - then buy more.
they go out earlier so that they can get in as much time drinking as possible.
now people are drinking leisurely and at their own pace and not feeling the need to down far more than they can handle in a short space of time.

i suggest you check the facts and statistics in other countries with similar licensing laws before making knee-jerk statements.

[madein1978]

They can't off sales can't sell drink when they are shut, and between the hours of 23:00 and 10:00. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, I do, My dad was an alcoholic until last year when he decided enough was enough after 14 years and dried out, pretty grueling to live with and I'm not over it yet!

[LeMarchand]

But why do people feel that urge to stuff as much alcohol down their necks because the pub might be shutting? Surely if they want a bit more booze they could just drink when they get home?

[joko]

they can go to an off-license and by 50 bottles of whiskey if they want and have it on their cornflakes if they choose.

sorry about your dad but he would have been an alcoholic, whether the pubs were open or not.

people don't become alcoholics merely because of the availability of alcohol - otherwise we'd all be one. it is due to other things in life and they see alcohol as an escape.

would he have stopped being an alcoholic if the pub was closed down? no, he'd have got it from somewhere else.

i can go into any pub in the middle of the afternoon and drink my self silly if wanted to - except i don't want to - and if i did want to, late opening of the pub wouldn't stop me or tempt me.

it may not be good news for people who are already alcoholics, but it certainly doesn't make people into alcoholics.

[madein1978]

I never said for a minute that it was the availability of drink that made alcoholics, but the fact that its always available makes it that bit more of a temptation, which alcoholics can't resist.

[joko]

you said - "there are a lot of 20 somethings rapidly approaching that status", "we are approaching a very sickly society in the future and the nhs will go into meltdown when all this kicks off", "who will fund treatment when their livers pack up in 20-30 years" -

these statements are implying that there will be a massive rise in alcoholism just because the pubs are open longer?? so yes you did say it.

alcohol is always available and always has been.

alcoholism is an addiction. they will find alcohol at any time. pubs are irrelevant. the only difference between pubs and off licenses and drinking at home, is the price and the company. the alcohol is the same. if someone is going to become an alcoholic they will become one regardless of pubs.

many alcoholics buy from off licenses anyway because its cheaper and they can get more. the only reason half of them bother with the pub is because it somewhere to go and is warmer and friendlier than the park.

do you think alcoholics just stop drinking at 11pm? no they go home and get their stash of spirits out.

please try to see the bigger picture

[LeMarchand]

do you think alcoholics just stop drinking at 11pm? no they go home and get their stash of spirits out.

So why is it so hard for non-alcoholics to do the same? Why do they have to start throwing booze down their necks before closing time?

(Sorry, different argument - but as one of the people who seems to be "pro" extended hours/24 hour drinking brought up why I can't see that it was that urgent to extend the hours...)

[Monstersdad]

Hi Ludwig, The official line I've heard is that it is far too early to tell if there has been a change to crime figures re longer drinking hours. The reason is that over the winter months, people want to get from one club or pub to the next and don't loiter in the cold winter night air. The acid test will be in the late spring / summer when we don't mind being out doors on the lazy crazy evenings. Though it is fair to say most of us would probably prefer a back garden with friends and a bottle of wine. Our pet idiots who prefer to be out cruising the streets and looking for bother won't be up to theirprefered fighting weight untill the summer, so by the autumn when the appropriate figures are posted we won't know. Enjoy the wait!!

XX

[LeMarchand]

Should read: as one of the people who seems to be "pro" extended hours/24 hour drinking brought the subject up why...

Still no answer to my question, btw.

[joko]

lemarchand - yes it is a different argument - and i don't think it was 'that urgent' to extend the hours or it would have been done years ago.

the reason people don't always go home and drink (though of course many non-alcs do) is because they are on their own and would need to invite lots of people to have the same atmosphere.

it is about having the choice

my point wasn't that they have to down loads quickly, but that, simply, they do down loads quickly.

this way, they can sit and take their time, leave the pub at different times thereby stopping the mass influx of drunken people in to the street all the same time, thereby lessening the opportunities for violence.

the point is, whatever the opening hours, if people want to drink - they will, if they don't, they won't.

these opneing hours may tempt alcoholics into the pub but it won't make them drink any more than before, they'll just be in a different place - and it won't make people suddenly become alcoholics, so why should we not be allowed to choose for ourselves?