Does anyone truly think that.....

[j4bberw0ck]

....raising the tax on alcopops will stop teenage binge drinking?

Does anyone have any ideas that will stop it? Short of summary execution, that is :lol:

[peedie]

i really doubt i, back to cider if it gets to expensive, if they decide they are gonna drink theres almost nothing you can do, they will get it some how, whether they get into a pub or theif some from mum and dad, it could be limited, if every pub and ever club ID everyone, no exceptions,

[Colin Manson]

Vodka and Redbull seems popular these days and it can't be very cheap. :roll:

I don't see that a price increase will make any difference, maybe the government are just looking to offset the NHS costs for looking after these people at the weekends.

[peedie]

vodka and redbull, about £2.50 in aberdeen anyway. and you see people buying it by the pitcher! (jug to everyone else)[lol]

[Bingobabe]

No way will it stop teenagers drinking when i was that age you saved your pocket money up so you could by your bottle of white lighting and a packet of fags. But money to a lot of teenagers seems to be no object to them as they seem to get more and more !!!!!!!

As a majority of teenagers are spoilt in my opion!!!!!:confused

Infact when i go out at the weekend im surrounded by underagers getting served drink.

[connieb19]

If you're looking for the caffeine and alcohol hit, far cheaper to drink Buckfast . :eek:

[Bingobabe]

If you're looking for the caffeine and alcohol hit, far cheaper to drink Buckfast . :eek:Been there done that:Razz

[connieb19]

Been there done that:Razz
With a bottle of White lightning to wash it down. :eek:

[Bingobabe]

With a bottle of White lightning to wash it down. :eek:
Yup some hangover !!!!!lol

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

I've still to meet a teenager who drinks alchopops.They drink the stronger stuff!!

Buckfast is a southern standard.As a kid ye never went out to find it,it just happened to be on the shelf next to Merrydown Cider.If ye got fed up o' Cider....ye went for Buckie.

Want to know how naive I am.Heard at 16 year old that there was a place in the North of Scotland called Buckie.I thought this was where the monks lived.I know........naive!!!!:lol:

[JAWS]

....raising the tax on alcopops will stop teenage binge drinking?

Does anyone have any ideas that will stop it? Short of summary execution, that is :lol:All that will happen is that they will move onto something else.
Contrary to the way it is presented by the Government/Executive/Media this is not an invention of modern youth, it was the same decades ago to my knowledge and by all accounts long before that. Youths have always gone out at weekends, had too much to drink and got into fights. Teddy Boys were just before my time but Mods and Rockers certainly weren't whilst Skin-Heads (Boot Boys) came just after. They were drunken thugs and don't let anybody convince you differently. Knife crime? Ask about flick-knives and cut-throat razors.
Even back then girls could be just as bad as anybody who can remember stiletto heels could tell you. It's just that girls tend to be a bit more open about it nowadays and there are a few more who are prone to behave that way openly.

Doing stupid things and going too far is a part of growing up, always has been and always will be and. what's more, it happens one way or another in every type of Society. Hell, even the Ancient Greeks complained about the excesses of youth.

Taxing Alcopops is just another sound bite to make people believe that a caring Government really is showing concern.
Never mind the cracks in the wall, a bit of wall-paper and people won't notice! Besides, we can make some money selling them the wall-paper.

[pedromcgrory]

Yup some hangover !!!!!lol

i rember lemon lightning at one stage anyone else rember it was limited edition lol,crazy when u think back 20 or so off us meet up every weekend etc someone to buy for us end up back the way it went down ,stupid really but all part of growing up i guess

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

i rember lemon lightning at one stage anyone else rember it was limited edition lol,crazy when u think back 20 or so off us meet up every weekend etc someone to buy for us end up back the way it went down ,stupid really but all part of growing up i guess

Remember it well,no the lemon lightning,but the poor guy who had to go in to the offie and by the plonk......in my mates case it was me,I think I was the only guy in history who had designer stubble at 13.Yellow Bic razors I used to by wi ma pocket money and 20 pink flumps.

[Kingetter]

Binge drinking - the Benedictine connection

A sleepy community of Benedictine monks in south Devon is the latest, and perhaps most unlikely, target in the battle against binge drinking.
Alcopops come and go, but Buckfast wine is a perennial favourite among young drinkers keen to test their alcohol limit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5381360.stm

Passing the buck' over Buckfast


Joe - not his real name - is obviously bright. He's 15-years-old and musically gifted. He's been drinking for almost a year. And when he drinks, it's to get drunk. He likes being drunk.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6098976.stm

[Cedric Farthsbottom III]

Binge drinking - the Benedictine connection

A sleepy community of Benedictine monks in south Devon is the latest, and perhaps most unlikely, target in the battle against binge drinking.
Alcopops come and go, but Buckfast wine is a perennial favourite among young drinkers keen to test their alcohol limit.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5381360.stm

Passing the buck' over Buckfast


Joe - not his real name - is obviously bright. He's 15-years-old and musically gifted. He's been drinking for almost a year. And when he drinks, it's to get drunk. He likes being drunk.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6098976.stm

Everybody likes a dram.Ye eventually get drunk.Ye like being drunk.....its the next mornin' thats the problem.:roll:

[Naefearjustbeer]

Kids will drink whatever you try to do to stop them. If you make alcopops more expensive they will move onto straight spirits. They drink for effect not for the taste. Making things more expensive will also increase shop lifting. When I was at school there was a lad who would walk into the coop every school lunchtime and steal a bottle of spirits, He would then sell it on for £5 so he could buy his fags. The guys who had the stubble at age 13 would go in and buy there own drink without any problems. Qutie how they afforded it I dont know. My pocket money wouldnt stretch to buying drink when I was at school.

[Ricco]

....raising the tax on alcopops will stop teenage binge drinking?

Does anyone have any ideas that will stop it? Short of summary execution, that is :lol:

Executions... excellent! Bring back public hanging, the stocks and even the guillotine.

Seriously, we have created the problem ourselves by becoming an alcohol-orientated culture (how much do you drink a week?) where you can now even buy booze from a petrol station. 'When I were a lad' you could only get booze from a offie and they were quite fierce about wanting to know your age.

Alcohol education at school doesn't work (has there been any decrease in teenage sex since sex education at school started? No!) and neither will upping the tax on alcohol. The change must begin at home: stop drinking so much, don't give the kids a 'wee' bit, don't give the kids so much money (on Sunday I saw a father peel a £20 note from a bundle and give it to his 6-7 year old son - what does a kid that young need so much money for?) and put liquor sales back behind the right sales counters again.

[Naefearjustbeer]

I like many have had quite a few over indulginces with drink over the years. But these days the hangovers feel worse than I ever remember in the past. 2 young kids waking up for breakfast and various other reasons has made me think about how much/if any drink to take. Some people I know will not go and have one drink it is all or nothing some of them will not step inside a pub unless they are getting blootered. This friday I went out for a pint with my brother and thats exactly what it was one beer, On saturday night the wife and I went to a wedding dance and again I had one beer followed by several soft drinks. It means I can wake up on a sunday morning feeling as healthy as any other morning and I can enjoy my day off with tha bairns. I also hope that my kids growing up will see a more sensible use of alcohol than what I used to be like in my younger days. Ok I still have odd blow out where I take too much but these days only happen maybe once a year instead of every time I go out. It has taken me a few years to realise this but I am glad that I have. I just shake my head at folk that wont go to a function if they cannot get bevvyed up. The craic is what you make of it and drink does not make an evening any better in my opinion.

[squidge]

These days i drink very little a couple of glasses of wine a week at the outside. I allow the kids - 17 and 16 to have a beer and i will buy it for them if they are having mates around - only if their parents allow it though. I have allowed it for a good few years now. Taxing alcopops is no use - the drink of choice for teenagers these days is Vodka. That worries me to be honest - its such a hard drink - a serious drink and its easy to get carried away with it. Some of you will have read that we had an experience withthe girlfriend of one of my boys earlier this year. It made no difference to the girl concerned - she has been drunk several times since - thankfully she is not my sons girlfriend any more. The boys both like to get drunk but they dont do it every weekend.

I think the key is responsibility - teach your children that alcohol can be enjoyed and should be enjoyed but make sure they know and can see the dangers. show them that you can have a few drinks and a great time without falling over or throwing up. I have had too much to drink plenty times in front of the kids but never to the extent that they see me staggering or throwing up or passed out. Let them see that you can have a good timewithout a drink too. Dont always get bevvyed up at family parties - let them see the craic is good without a drink Give them rules and boundaries - i remember saying to my eldest the first party he was at that i wasnt going to tell him not to drink but that if he throws up he will clean it up himself with a hangover and i expect that he will walk to the car or he will never go to a party again. He wasnt sick and he walked himself to the car and the house. when they have a hangover do the vacuuming and the Have the dryer on, make the dog bark, Get relatives to come round so they HAVE to get up and generally make them think its not worth the pain and agony.[lol]

And also remember that they are kids and they will make mistakes and drink too much and get sick and dont beat them up too much about it. Lets be careful that we dont make a huge thing out of something that is natural and usual. That isnt to say we shouldnt tackle the binge drinking culture but that we should demonise drink. Im not sure i put that quite right but hey ho thats the best i can do

[cuddlepop]

Naefearjustbeer,thats such a long name,hit the nail on the head.Its not about how expensive the drink is that will deter binge drinking its about educating them to drink sensibly,showing them what the long term effects of drinking does to there body and mind and giving them a better quality of life especialy in the highlands.Facilities,transport,education,employmen t,housing and the like all are interlinked in the binge drinking society we live in now.
There is not one solution to the many problems.:confused

[Naefearjustbeer]

I remember the first time I got drunk, I took a little bit out of several different bottles in the cupboard. Some whisky some cooking sherry some port some vodka some bacardi etc. I thought if each bottle only lowered by a little bit my parents wouldnt notice. I didnt enjoy the taste but i perservered because drinking makes you big and tough ?? And only wimps cant drink right?? Well thats what peer pressure tells you when you wont get pie eyed!! Well when my mum found out I got hell for mixing my drinks :lol: She sat me down and said if you wanted to try a whisky just ask I would of let you try it. Just dont go guzzling all manners of different drinks just to get drunk. Now if she only explained how many whiskys to have at one sitting it might of solved my next attempt at drinking but thats another story all together :eek:

[willowbankbear]

I remember the first time I got drunk, I took a little bit out of several different bottles in the cupboard. Some whisky some cooking sherry some port some vodka some bacardi etc. I thought if each bottle only lowered by a little bit my parents wouldnt notice. I didnt enjoy the taste but i perservered because drinking makes you big and tough ?? And only wimps cant drink right?? Well thats what peer pressure tells you when you wont get pie eyed!! Well when my mum found out I got hell for mixing my drinks :lol: She sat me down and said if you wanted to try a whisky just ask I would of let you try it. Just dont go guzzling all manners of different drinks just to get drunk. Now if she only explained how many whiskys to have at one sitting it might of solved my next attempt at drinking but thats another story all together :eek:

Go on NFJB tell us the story, it sounds entertaining & we need a giggle today, go on go on go on!!!

[DrSzin]

TTaxing alcopops is no use - the drink of choice for teenagers these days is Vodka. That worries me to be honest - its such a hard drink - a serious drink and its easy to get carried away with it.There's nothing new there, I'm afraid...

We used to go up the Mall in Thurso with a half bottle or two of voddy and water it down with orange squash to take away the taste. What's worse, we did the same with whisky. Have you ever tried whisky and orange squash? It's disgusting - it's even worse than it sounds! [disgust]

We used to buy the stuff in half- or quarter-bottles in an off-licence down the street (I forget which one), or in the bar at the Station Hotel.

[squidge]

Crikey Doc - we couldnt have bought vodka if we had wanted to - Cider, pints of sherry out of the barrels the offlicence sold or if we were really lucky a party seven - anyone remember that????

[j4bberw0ck]

Some interesting responses to this question.

One question arising might be: How do you persuade teenagers away from binge drinking when from the “lol”s and smileys that have appeared in the thread, it’s clearly so much fun? Fond reminiscences of hangovers, White Lightning, vodka and orange juice…. Sure, we all did similar things and it was (mostly) fun but now we’re trying to persuade another generation that they shouldn’t do it.

Why is it that in Italy, one of the greatest social disgraces is to be seen in the street, drinking or drunk? Why do Italian teenagers go to cafes and drink coffee, or eat ice cream, and talk, while many of ours simply throw drink down their necks at every opportunity? While I was touring Europe on the bike, the only people I saw who were drunk, anywhere, were British.

If it’s about cheap alcohol, why aren’t Europeans completely blootered from dawn to dusk? Half the British abroad go abroad because of cheap booze….

I suspect it has a lot to do with the British failing of wanting to control everything and prohibit everything, which of course simply makes targets for human ingenuity, and a rite of passage for teenagers. We have laws coming out of every orifice in this country, and there’s empirical evidence at least to suggest that most of them aren’t enforced because there are too many laws, too few Police, and anyway, many of the laws don’t command public respect.

It’s only in the past 40 years or so that the idea (and availability) of wine to drink with meals became a reality. So it was the baby-boomers – many of the people on this board –who first had the opportunity of learning the European practice of drinking with meals and rejected it in favour of drinking socially to get drunk. We’re continually reinforcing the idea that to be social, we need alcohol (and I’m as guilty of that as the next person) and that a “good night oot” is judged by the size and pain of the hangover.

Laws relating to alcohol do damn-all good; look at Prohibition in the US (didn’t work, abandoned), Prohibition in Iceland (didn’t work, abandoned). The high-tax-on-alcohol countries with restrictive sales practices (Norway, Sweden, Finland and the UK) are the ones with the alcohol problems – bingeing is the norm. The apparent fact that the UK has the biggest problem of the lot probably says more about our laws that anything else. And only a Government Minister or Civil Servant could possibly subscribe to a logic that says we can price alcopops out of the reach of teenagers.

Alcopops are already a licence to print money for the drinks manufacturers – take water, sugar, a few nice E-number colourants, and some more E-numbers to give it flavour, add a shot of CO2 and another of food-grade ethanol, and there you are. Make alcopops more expensive and watch out for the drinks companies repackaging and rebranding them to make them more “sophisticated” and “exclusive”, and watch their profits rise.

Maybe we need to do something really innovative – and “deregulate” alcohol and the consumption of it, and have the Government stop trying to be puritans. Make it ordinary instead of special.

There’s something else that no one seems to want to talk about. Illegal drugs. I don’t think many of us over about 40 would dispute that drugs are now more easily available and much cheaper than they were when we were teens and twenties. People take drugs to alter their perceptions of things and (hopefully) to feel good. The social experience is getting stoned together. Just like alcohol.

Perhaps a similar deregulation of “recreational” drug taking needs to be considered.

[lin]

In France Italy children are allowed a glass of wine or diluted wine at meal times. I think this might take the fasanation out of getting drunk for the first time when fourteen or fifteen.

[JAWS]

Can somebody please help a poor confused soul. I have just heard on the Radio that the price of Alcoholic Drinks should be raised to help the growing problems with Alcohol in the UK and more especially in Scotland where it is increasing faster than elsewhere.

The "Concerned Expert" who was interviewed to back those making the suggestion, including the Scottish Executive (Do I feel an excuse for a Tax Grab coming on?), pointed out that whilst the problem was declining in other places in Europe it was actually getting worse here and more especially in Scotland.
Experiences elsewhere showed that raising the price of Alcohol was beneficial in solving the problem.


it was at that point I became confused and to help with that confusion I need some assistance from people with a better knowledge of Europe than me.
With the exception of the Control Crazy Scandinavians, I have always understood that Alcohol is considerably cheaper in Europe than it is here.
Whenever I have been abroad I was always able to buy Scotch for far less than I paid here where it is produced.

Alcohol is fairly cheap in Europe and the related problems there are in decline.
Alcohol here, by comparison, is very expensive and the related problems are increasing.
Making Alcohol more expensive will help with the reduction of Alcohol Problems.

Can somebody help me with my confusion and explain the logic behind what appears to me to be a comlete load of Codswallop. :confused

[j4bberw0ck]

Yep, garbage, isn't it?. That's exactly what I was driving at above.


If it’s about cheap alcohol, why aren’t Europeans completely blootered from dawn to dusk? Half the British abroad go abroad because of cheap booze….

I suspect it has a lot to do with the British failing of wanting to control everything and prohibit everything, which of course simply makes targets for human ingenuity, and a rite of passage for teenagers. We have laws coming out of every orifice in this country, and there’s empirical evidence at least to suggest that most of them aren’t enforced because there are too many laws, too few Police, and anyway, many of the laws don’t command public respect.

Increasing the price just won't work, but it'll get the Government more money to pay themselves nice salaries and wonderful pensions..... when it's someone else's problem. But it's quick and easy and makes it look as though the politicians are doing something constructive - and that's >50% of the game for them.