The binge drinking culture is once again in the news. I’m not sure why, but again the Daily Mail, that well known purveyor of scandal, rumour and bigotry but not necessarily news, is featuring pictures of young girls puking in the gutter with their skirts up round their arses.
Of course this is nothing new. The British have always been a nation that have overindulged on alcohol and cannot handle the consequences. The poor in Victorian times were notorious for gin drinking and drunken behaviour and even in Medieval times, foreign visitors to our shores went on record about what a bunch of old soaks we were, peasants and lords alike. It must be something to do with the climate, and I believe in Scandi countries where it is dark for quite a lot of the year, bloody cold and rather wet they also have a enormous alcohol problem. Denmark is, I think, the alcoholism capital of the world!
The difficulty now, of course, is the massive bill for dealing with the consequences. Ambulance crews, A&E services, street cleansing, police officers sorting out drunken fights and all the rest add up to a pretty sum. Campaigners suggest putting all sorts of restrictions on drinking times, cutting out special deals in supermarkets and offies and loads of other controls, but the problem with that is it also penalises those of us who just like to enjoy a quiet drink without burdening society with our irresponsible behaviour.
Restricting behaviour by law is not the answer; over regulation never is. Instead, we have to foster a culture of more personal responsibility for our actions instead of expecting the state to nanny us and pick up the bill as we usually do and it usually does. We also have to change the mindset of the mainly young people who do this; I can remember being on a train not long ago and eavesdropping on a conversation between two young girls opposite, who were planning a holiday to Florida. “What shall we do when we get there?” asked one. “Well” said the other, “I thought I’d just lie by the pool and get bladdered on the cocktails”. “Fab” said the first one, “Me too!”. Sad cows!
A huge amount of responsibility must rest with the pubs and clubs who sell the stuff in the first place, and are clearly selling drinks to people who have very obviously already had enough simply to further profit. If they had to foot the bill for each incident of vomit-clearing outside their premises, urinating in the street or other such anti social behaviour they would soon look at their procedures and decide it isn’t worth the effort.
Similarly, if each and every person admitted to A&E or treated by paramedics had to pay for their treatment (provided their health problem was drug or alcohol induced and they were at fault [ie not the victim of a mugging or unprovoked assault]) at a flat fee of say £100 they might think twice about getting so paralytic in the first place. Why should you and I pick up the bill for this and see cash strapped NHS trusts have to squander their precious funds on these people, when those requiring serious operations or treatment for life threatening illnesses through no fault of their own have to go onto a waiting list? And don’t get me started on treatment for the obese when that obesity is caused simply by an unhealthy lifestyle and overindulgence, or treatment for smokers.
One of society’s great faults today is that so many people fail to take proper responsibility for their own actions. It must stop. We simply cannot afford to keep bailing these people out only to see them continue their destructive habits or behaviours and for the same thing to happen all over again. Do what you want to do, but don’t expect me or anyone else to come running if you end up flat on your face in the gutter.
The problem is one of individual responsibility again. Parental guidance, or lack of and education about the negative social and health impacts is also crucial. I don't know what the solution is, other than having all brain dead teenagers who just want to drink to get plastered, culled. Part of the solution could be to make the culture of binge drinking so anti-social that it causes people to think twice beforehand. A little like smoking in public places. If you reinforce that with social penalties, e.g. the public displaying of photos likely to make any prospective employer think twice, or having their Facebook account cancelled, you may make progress. It should also be made clear that any medical treatment you receive as a result of your pathetic behaviour will be billed to you, as well as a call-out fee for the paramedics. Slap in a charge for overnight custody at the local nick and a bill for clearing up too while you're at it. Personally, I think anyone who is drunk and disorderly in public as a result of binge drinking should be made to wear a sign reading 'I am a pathetic moron who believes getting drunk off my face, urinating in public and vomiting on the bus is mature behaviour'. On a serious note, raising the legal drinking age to 21 wouldn't be a bad start.
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