SNP banning of offsales booze for under 21's farce

[Big X]

what a joke - i probably wouldnt have come to st andys if i hadnt been able to get some beers from tesco! what a shite undergrad life it would be!

[hr]

"Never apologise for showing feeling, in doing so you apologise for truth" Disraeli

[munchingfoo]

I don't think it is such a bad idea.

They are not proposing to make it illegal to consume drink until 21, only buy it in an off-licence. You could still purchase alcohol in a pub, or the Union if you prefer the price.

As far as getting hold of off-licence alcohol goes, it would just require a little more thought on your behalf. Most students have a friend over 21, an academic father for instance. Whilst it seems a chore to have to get someone else to buy it for you, after a while it would become the norm.

I don't think the idea is to stop mature 18 year olds from getting hold drink, otherwise they would have proposed changing the drinking age. Instead, I think the proposed change is to stop people of 16 trying to buy drink because "they look old enough" and also to stop 18 year olds who are the oldest amongst their group of friends from purchasing alcohol for all their mates.

When a trial period of age 21 restriction was carried out in Scottish towns the results of reduced alcohol related crime were promising,
so much so in fact the neighbouring towns voluntarily joined the scheme.

Personally I would recommend combining the sale age with a drinking age reduction. This might remove some of the novelty factor as well as allowing parents to teach their children about drinking in a manner similar to those on the continent.



[hr]

“ When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading”

[HookerBot]

I think it's much more of a hassle, especially for younger students. Although the scheme isn't aimed (as mentioned before) towards more mature (in most cases, heh) students, but more towards underage drinkers, I think this would lead to a loss of business for places like Tesco and Morrisons, as well as the fact that students would be forced to pay more for alcohol overall, creating greater levels of debt, which I for one don't need.

However, I do support the ideas of teaching children at a young age to 'appreciate' alcohol/have access to alcohol, but learn that a level of responsibility is needed-so that they are less likely to abuse it when they're older.

[Fawksie]

You know if this comes in ASDA will adopt a Challenge 30 system?

[Haunted]

In Scotland I think the actual drinking age is already quite low, 3 in your home and (maybe?) 12 in public.

[hr]

Now with 100% more corn

[eagle]

12 in public with food, accompanied by parents or guardian.
16 with food and no parents/guardian

[Jono]

Quoting eagle from 12:16, 18th Jun 2008
12 in public with food, accompanied by parents or guardian.
16 with food and no parents/guardian

Tell that to the restaurants in this town! Nothing spoils a romantic dinner like some prissy waitress coming up and asking for ID over the bottle of wine you ordered with the meal!

[hr]

I disagree with you in principle.

[Power Metal Dom]

I'm 21, 22 soon. I give not a toss.

[hr]

Like flames on fuel...upon metal I drool

[Big X]

foo - are you serious? it would be a TOTAL hassle, it would mean impromptu booze ups would become almost impossible. people would have to buy shit loads of booze at a time in an effort to always have some around if you wanted it, which would then just result in it being consumed 'becauase it's there'. anyone over 21 would never get a moments peace from every tom, dick and harry they know who is under 21.

crap idea. instead of outsourcing the problem to every person between 18+20 how about the snp think up some decent polices, like giving kids something to do or even, GOD FORBID, spend some money on some more policing

[hr]

"Never apologise for showing feeling, in doing so you apologise for truth" Disraeli

[exnihilo]

It would be a huge hassle - the more so as supermarkets are now refusing to sell alcohol to someone who is WITH someone who looks underage. Were I 18, 19 or 20, I would take immense umbrage at having to hang about outside while a friend bought alcohol for me - to take to a dinner party, say, or even to consume at home.

It's disgraceful, and, once again, it tackles entirely the wrong problem. Enforce the law on shops selling to underagers by all means, but preventing someone who has reached the age of majority from exercising his full rights is quite, quite wrong.

[David Bean]

Absolutely - yet another disgraceful assault on individual liberty by a government no less despicable in its casual disregard for the freedom of a large section of the adult population than the one we have to put up with in Westminster.

Are you really going to take this? If I were in Scotland right now, and particularly still a student, I'd be demanding that the SRC take action. This is, after all, nothing more than age discrimination: if they employed the same policy in their hiring practices, they'd be sued out of the country.

[hr]

Psalm 91:7

[HookerBot]

I was thinking a bit more about this.

If I can (if I wanted to):
*Buy cigarettes and run health risks,
*Have a child
*Get married
*Die for my country

because I'm over 18,Then I want to be able and have the right to buy myself alcohol.

And have good times

[Haunted]

To the main issue at hand here, I'm completely against raising the age. I mean come on it's one the of the few things we have on America. We should try to aim ourselves towards the legislation our European cousins have adopted with regard to this issue since they seem to have it under control.

[hr]

Now with 100% more corn

[Frank]

Have a bit of faith in humanity.
(Or wait a few years then laugh at humanity and say "We told you you couldn't control yourselves; no drink for anyone!")

I'm not a fan of this at all.

[hr]

"There is only ever one truth. Things are always black or white, there's no such thing as a shade of grey. If you think that something is a shade of grey it simply means that you don't fully understand the situation. The truth is narrow and the path of the pursuit of truth is similarly narrow."
Also, some years later:
"here we are arguing about a few uppity troublemakers with a bee in their bonnet and a conspiracy theory."

[Hennessy]

Who was it, Tacitus, I think, who said:

"The more corrupt a Government, the more it legislates"

I'm seriously beginning to believe all politicians do now in power is try to destroy civil liberties. I don't care if some 16 year olds get hold of alcohol, underage drinking is one of the trials and in many cases first great successes of growing up. And it's not like the kids who are most likely to cause trouble are hard to spot, every member of the public with eyes can point out the ned in a crowd by virtue of their sports shop tracksuit and baseball cap/hoody. Absolutely and utterly ridiculous, all this legislation proves is how high the ivory tower politicians have built stretches away above the rest of us.


[hr]

"What happened to Spoon?"
"There is no Spoon"
Dog Soldiers

[Starla]

Quoting David Bean from 19:14, 18th Jun 2008
. This is, after all, nothing more than age discrimination: if they employed the same policy in their hiring practices, they'd be sued out of the country.

[hr]

Psalm 91:7

Absolute toss my friend. Getting wasted is not a right, it's a privilage. "Civil liberties" my arse, do you really have nothing better to complain about?

I mean really, when starting the country do people go "Right no discrimination. Check. Right to public assembly. Check. Geting totally fuckin' mashed. TRIPLE CHECK!" Get over yourselves.

Jez

[hr]

"We all live in our Fantasy and only endure our Reality..." - R.A.Wilson

[eagle]

Not everyone drinks to get wasted, Starla.

I think what David Bean was getting at was that this proposal will impose on those responsible 18-21 year olds who enjoy alcohol without the need for drinking gallons of white lightning and puking in bus shelters or stabbing people.

The problem, as has been mentioned in very many other places is not the 18-21 year olds, but the underage drinkers who "spoil it for the rest of us".

Perhaps the SNP's policies would be better directed towards providing alternatives to these youths, instead of making alcohol even more of a forbidden fruit.

But what should these alternatives be? Do Youth Clubs work?

[What?]

Quoting eagle from 12:03, 19th Jun 2008
But what should these alternatives be? Do Youth Clubs work?

National service does?

[eagle]

Awesome, we should bring back National Service.

Why was it phased out, anyway?

[rob 'f*ck off' wine boy]

Because it was found that too many gays were being attracted into the army, and they attract enemy radar.