The Sunday Age reported today that three of Melbourne's CBD 24-hour bottle shops hours have been clipped do try and curb alcohol-fuelled violence.
The Liquor Licensing Commission has been forced to act due to police and public pressure to try and solve the violent problems in Melbourne.
Will this help diminish alcohol-fulled violence? Or just push the violence to an earlier hour?
I don't believe that slashing bottle shop times will change anything. If people want to get drunk, they will get drunk. What really needs to be looked at is the responsible serving of alcohol in pubs and clubs and even restaurants to not give already intoxicated people more alcohol. I understand that at most places it is dark and the bar is often crowded and you're so busy you may not even being that much attention yo who you are serving. But guess what, to be serving alcohol legally in the first place, you need to have obtained an RSA certificate, which means you have learnt that it is illegal to serve an intoxicated person. You need to be paying attention.
I know many mangers and bar owners will not be happy to read this and having worked in hospitality, I know that the bar is the main money earner but at what price?
Most people going to bottle shops are at a home environment and in the suburbs. Violence is still happening there too, so maybe the Liquor Licensing Commission should look further out and crackdown on venues rather then bottle shops.
What do you think? Will this help curb alcohol-fuelled violence, or is it just a scheme for the Liquor Licensing Commission to be seen to be doing something?
Criminalise alcohol. Solved. It kills more people every year than any other drugs do, COMBINED. It's not ice killing thousands, it's not heroin, it's not marijuana, it's not ecstasy, IT'S BOOZE. Alcohol is one of the biggest health problems facing modern day society. You'll laugh at the drunk person stumbling in the street or laugh at the hang over you have the next morning. You'd give your kids a beer or three once they reach the right age. But do you laugh when they come home and tell you they've just taken some LSD or smoked some pot? Two drugs nobody in the entire world has EVER died from, yet so deeply frowned upon by the vast majority.
ReplyDeletePoint your frowns in the right direction. Besides commerce, I'd like a good argument as to why alcohol is legal as apposed to all the other drugs that are illegal and less harmful.