Would higher prices curb binge drinking?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=517149&in_page_i d=1770

Would higher taxes on alcholic drinks curb binge drinking, or would it be just another excuse to impose yet another stealth tax?

[R1Geezer]

it might but why punish everyone for the sake of little yobbos who can't hold their drink? There must be some other way!

Yes the goverment would no doubt rake it in on the back of it.

[Chillum]

I worked in Norway in the nineties, where alchohol is very, very expensive. I live in Scotland, and am well used to seeing drunken behavior on the streets, but I have never seen anything that came close to the paralytic state of Stavanger on a Saturday night. Why?, because they all fill up on "Aquavit" (a very strong home brew), before going out. Raising prices won't stop the idiots, they'll just find a way around it. It will only punish the vast majority, who can take a drink without turning into a violent idiot. If they want to clean up the streets, how about starting by imposing the laws that already exist.

[aka pixi]

Im not sure how it would effect adults who drink in pubs/clubs but it could make things worse with the underage yobs who drink on street corners. Im not tarring everyone with the same brush here but most of the kids who do it round here are well known for robbing to buy what they want/need. If the price of alcohol goes up I reckon these lot would just rob more.

[Gromit]

I'm afraid I've got my cynical head on today.

Cheap booze is sold from supermarkets, the majority of which close in the evening. The problems from binge drinking (drunkenness, anti-social behaviour, fights) occur when the pubs and clubs shut at midnight +.

Supermarket purchases are primarily for home consumption. The problems occur in our town and city centres.

A can of lager from the supermarket can cost as little as 35p, but you would probably drown first before it got you drunk. A bottle in a bar will be �3 but will get you drunk quickly.

The problem isn't cheap booze, it is strong booze.

There has been a campaign to stop supermarkets selling any alcohol.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml =/news/2008/02/20/ndrink120.xml

Tesco are now saying they favour a ban on cheap booze not through any altruistic motives, but because...

a) They do not make as much profit on that and they could blame a price rise on the government
b) It would hit their competition (BargainBooze etc) who are cheaper than them
c) It would stop an outright ban and a huge loss in profits

[ruby27]

Bann middle aged middle class women!!!!!!!!!

"Women are more likely to develop an alcohol problem in their thirties
Middle-class women are particularly likely to drink heavily in their 30s - putting them at risk of liver disease and certain types of cancer.
Scientists from the Medical Research Council say intelligent people are more likely to have stressful jobs - driving them to drink.......And women working in male-dominated professions are particularly susceptible to falling victim to alcohol problems"

[youngmafbog]

As with the 'green' issues this government just see the yob culture as a way to raise more tax.

Even if you put it well out of reach would that stop the yobs. No more likely to go an mug some old granny to pay for it or just steal it.

This Government makes me sick

[Gromit]

fender62

I take it you are not in the 18-21 age group.

How about banning alcohol to the over 30s, It is over that age when alcoholism (and all its health dangers) mostly occurs.

[kaztuz]

I am with fender on this one. Under 21's should not be able to buy alcohol or drink it like in USA.

I read somewhere the other day that America hardly has any drink related crime as their laws on drinking are very strict. You can't be seen with alcohol in the street even if you aren't drinking it - hence the brown paper bags. No passengers in a car can drink alcohol.

The only trouble if we had this law the police would need to clamp down on it, not be soft like they are now.

Gromit - I see where you are coming from with the middle class, middle aged binge drinking but the violence on the streets is caused by the majority of people in their teens unfortunately.

[Emu2005]

Raising the prices is not going to stop anyone drinking, it is just another way of taxing everyone.

Like others have said, what they need to start with is to enforce the rules already in place. There are so many under age drinkers here it's ridiculous. Other countries manage to enforce the rule on this (e.g. the USA and Australia). If the government really wanted to do something about it they could (higher penalties etc)..... but they won't.

[Vicodin66]

'' Would higher prices curb binge drinking? ''

Higher prices don't stop people smoking... or putting petrol in their cars do they...

[Gromit]

kaztuz

You could not be more wrong about drink related crime in America. Even though they have the 21 limit, almost 20 percent of alcohol consumed in the United States is by 12- to 20-year-olds.

http://www.leadertelegram.com/story-news_local .asp?id=BFR6BFMAAP4

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,91 71,1000115,00.html

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB600 4-1/index1.html

[kaztuz]

I am just going on what I remembered reading somewhere Gromit.

[China Doll]

Afternoon AOG,

I've said before that I think excessive drinking at weekends etc... is part of our culture. It's not somehting I like much but I can say that growing up in a typically working class enviroment that even when people pleaded poverty there always seemed to be money for fags and alcohol. (I'm not restricting this merely to working classes but just using my own experience).

As I've gotten older nothing much seems to change. People have a 'blow out' at the weekend and I don't think increasing the price on booze will change that. I've known people drink before going to the bar so they don't have to buy so many drinks or just sneak alcohol in. If people want to binge drink they'll do it.

For that reason I don't agree with raising the prices. I go out, I sometimes drink too much, (not to the point of falling down drunk or that changes my relatively placid personality) , but generally, I like a glass of wine or two during the week and if I do meet up with friends in a bar it's not because I'm going out to get drunk or off my face (I don't like that feeling) so I don't see why I should have to pay more because there are some knuckle draggers out there who use alcohol to get off their face, start fights and become verbally abusive. It's not my idea of a good night out and I still think that people that find this behaviour acceptable are in the minority.

[andy-hughes]

I have banged on about this at length here on the AB, but I am always happy to shove my 10p worth in so -

excessive drinking is a cultural situation. the government laughingly imagined that 24-hour drinking woud turn the UK into a European 'cafe' culture - as if!

Young (and not so young!) people in the UK grow up with the perceived notion that giving yourself alcohol poisoning in a regular basis - with attendent stupid behaviour - equates to having a good time.

Until we can educate children starting at primary level, that excess drinking is stupid and dangerous, and distinctly uncool, then this myth will continue, and the situation will roll on - duty or cost increases will stop nothing.

It is the attitude of mind that has to be addressed. European youngsters - as a rule - don't seem to think that drinking to a level of unconciousness and probably brain / liver damage is a particularly clever way of measuring an evening's enjoyment - but for Brits, it's the only way.

Break the circle of alcohol poisoning (ues I know it's 'getting slaughtered / trolleyed / hammered .....blah balh) but the fact is the same - giving it a silly trendy names doen't alter what it is.

Education and only education will fix this society problem. Excess drinking has got to be seen to loose its acceptance and encouragement as a way of passing leisure time - but let's face it, no-one is addressing it from that perspective are they?

[amsterdammer]

Another excuse for another stealth tax.
It certainly would not cure the problem
Why should responsible users of alcohol have to fork out extra, because of the actions of irresponsible binge drinkers.
Next in line will be a price increase in anything that gives you obesity! Roll up to get a permit that allows you to buy sausages, pies, KFC, etc. etc, etc.
Personally I have no problem rationing my food & drink, when will this government drop this pursuit of creating a nanny state, and start tackling the serious matters facing this country, ok binge drinking is a serious problem, but it wont be solved by increasing prices on alcohol.

[Integra]

I've heard from youngsters who go clubbing that they expect to spend �50 - �70 on a friday or saturday night.

I wish I had that much to spend on something useful. I don't think cost will make that much difference.

I can enjoy myself without getting drunk.

Get them to visit an A & E department on a Saturday night that change their mind.