DEBATE: 24 hour dinking

[Guest confused and hungover]

i've been watching on the news some stuff about a change in licensing laws in the UK to allow for 24 hour drinking. I personally think this is a good thing, not necessarily staying open literally 24 hours, but at least the option to stay open later. When I lived in England, every Friday night I’d finish work and charge down the pub for 8, get as pi$$ed as possible as soon as possible, then before you know it, it’s chucking out time and the only place you can go is that dingy club with the sticky floors where you have to keep your feet moving or you stick to the floor… I think that is where the main problems happen.

Here in Holland, I finish work on a Friday, take my time getting home, have a shower, get ready, go to my mates’ house, have a couple of beers, relax, slowly make our way to the pub about 10 or 11 o’clock, safe in the knowledge that it doesn’t close until 2am… when it closes (often before) we make our wobbly way home, having had a fun, trouble free night.

[Guest mupwangle]

When I lived in Scotland I went to my mates house, had a few beers in front of the telly then went to the pub around ten(ish) and got thrown out about 1. Much more civilised that the 11pm in England.

The crap that is being spouted is ridiculous. Apparently the latest concern is because shops will be able to sell alcohol 24 hours then it means that drunks will have access to alcohol out of pub hours. I didn't realise that the stuff you buy in the supermarket couldn't be taken out of the fridge after 11.....

someone in the police in Scotland suggested that to stop binge drinking the cost of a pint should be at least £7. Or to translate - to stop poor people getting drunk beer should be at least £7.

[Guest confused and hungover]

i remeber when you got kicked out of a pub at 2pm on a sunday, not allowed back until 6pm... there was uproar when that law was changed, i also remember the first day supermarkets were allowed to open on sundays, again, uproar! but now you'd be hard pushed to find someone who doesn't occasionally nip to sainsbury's for some bread/milk/bacon on a sunday morning...

when i lived in france, i once stayed up drinking all night with my dad. at about 6am we stumbled down to the local cafe come bar, it opens at 6am and is licensed to sell booze all day... we sat there till 11am drinking coffee and brandy. ok, so maybe i can't see that catching on in the UK.

[Guest Disco Stu]

There may be some problems as we adjust to the new freedoms, but I don't see why we should be treated any differently to (say) the Spanish.

[Guest bretto]

I think 24 hour opening should be ok but unfortunately the idiots ruin it for everyone. The problem drinkers, the problem gamblers, etc, etc

I dont see anything wrong with shift workers and alike going for a drink after work just like the majority of people who dont work odd hours.

In Australia the hours are all over the place. It all depends on your type of license.

Having working in pubs and bars for most of my adult life (I use this term loosely) I can say for sure that in Australia most idiots hit the wall at about 2am. We call this the silly hour. Its when most of the fights and nonsense happen.

The problem isnt the hours the pubs stay open its the amount of time people spend in them in one sitting. Now if you could some how limit the time individuals spent in a pub you might be on a winner.

I say go for it...cant screw it up any more than we have :)

[Guest confused and hungover]

i worked 9 months of night shift when i moved to holland... every morning i'd finish and go wait for the supermarket to open to buy some beers.... i think thats where all night opening would really be welcomed.

[Guest drblow]

I was under the impression that part of the reason for the 24 hour license was to stagger or get rid of 'closing time'. One of the main causes of on-street violence (allegedly) is the fact that several bars all in the same street, containing several hundred drunk folk, would simultaneously throw all those drunk folk out, creating an on street mass of maybe a thousand drunk folk! That certainly did cause mayhem in Belfast on occassion! :)

I think that is a fairly good idea. If there is no closing time at all, then people will come & go from pubs at their own pace, and the scenes of carbage at closing time will disappear ... in theory!

But to me, the problem is with culture. The whole UK culture is based on how much you can drink. Everybody knows it. The term 'lightweight' is widely used for comeone who cannot drink as much as everybody else, so there is always an enormous peer pressure to get completely wasted. I personally think that is highly irresponsible, given that alcohol is in reality a dangerous, addictive drug, and causes more problems that all the illegal 'drugs' put together. But society treats alcohol as if it's no big deal. to me it can all be summed up by the characters from the well known movie 'Trainspotting'. Th eonly one who is actually dangerous is 'Begbie', the one who doesn't do heroin ... he drinks, and fights ... alot!

I have alot of respect fro french culture in terms of drinking. It's expected that you can handle your drink, and it is encouraged that you should drink quite a bit & have a good time, but 'drunkeness' is heavily frowned upon, and you are not 'cool' if you are rolling around pissed.

[Guest confused and hungover]

I have alot of respect fro french culture in terms of drinking.  It's expected that you can handle your drink, and it is encouraged that you should drink quite a bit & have a good time, but 'drunkeness' is heavily frowned upon, and you are not 'cool' if you are rolling around pissed.

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hear hear :)

EDIT: dodgy spelling, must have been out drinking all night

[Guest ricardo the fish]

I think one of the main problems facing 24 hour opening is the fact that no-one can see that after the first 2-3 weeks most people will become bored with starting to drink at 6 or 7 in the evening and continue till they pass out. Instead they will go home after work, have meal, then go out later in the evening to meet up with friends. Probably still end up drunk, but less likely to get into scraps as not all pubs will empty at the same time.

[Guest awarner [MVP]]

To summerise the title of this thread,

I can't afford to drink for 24hrs :)

[Guest confused and hungover]

To summerise the title of this thread,

I can't afford to drink for 24hrs :)

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damn, i knew there was a downside.....

[Guest mavisdavis]

Does anybody think this is a coincidence???

24hrs in a day and 24 Cans in a pack??

Coincidence I think not :)

This 24 hour drinking lark has been happening for years right under our noses

[Guest tonijj]

I agree with Disco Stu, have a look at the spaniards. When I lived in Madrid, I went clubbing at 2 a.m. We never left our house before 12, and as c & h said, its much nicer to chill for a while and not rush down to the pub, you'll get drunk anyways, no need to rush that ;)

Thing is, it will take a couple of years (or a decade) for the society to adjust to this, but hey, I'm willing to sacrifice a decade for the good of society :)

[Guest kurtfhouse]

I think there will be teething problems for a while. The idiots who get themselves completely paraletic will just carry on drinking into the small hours probably until they get hospitalised and eventually the'll get used to not having to rush.

Have you noticed the number of people that order two pints and a spirit chaser at 11pm? They buy all that and are forced to down it in 20mins and hey presto when it hits the blood stream you have trouble, now times that by the 400 other people who have done this and its time for a rumble outside the kebab shop. All that will gradually die a death and we should end up with a more relaxed and hopefully mature attitude to drinking.

I don't think we drink more in the UK then the rest of the EU its just we drink it in a shorter period of time and that has a negative effect.

Anyway as they say "the proof in the pudding is in the eating" we'll find out soon enough

[Guest witchnut]

24 hr drinking, I can't see any reason to reduce it.

Witchnut

[Guest fraser]

it can all be summed up by the characters from the well known movie 'Trainspotting'.  Th eonly one who is actually dangerous is 'Begbie', the one who doesn't do heroin ... he drinks, and fights ... alot!

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That's a great scene. He's standing at a pool table, with a cigarette, a pint and a brandy. Knocks back the brandy, takes a draw on the smoke then says (about heroin) "aw they f**king chemicals? No chance". Shame that the point is lost on most people.

Anyway, 24-hour drinking. What's the point if you can't have a fag? I'm in Scotland, where they are banning smoking outright in ALL public places in May. As in, ALL pubs. Combine this with id cards, homing devices in numberplates (I kid ye not!!), lying-ass-making-us-the-enemy-of-extremists-asshole politians and you can see why I'm going to bugger-off abroad before long. Anyone ever been out on Sachiehall Street in Glasgow? Long, busy street, at least 10 night clubs and 30 - 50 pubs. And the door staff need to let everyone out for a fag? What about weapons/drugs searches? Are they going to get searched every time? THAT'S going to be the carnage, not the 24-hour drinking. Bah, and passive smoking "research" is all political motivated bullshit & pop science. Grrrrrr!!! Gimmie five mins with these bozos and I'll tear their lies apart. "X deaths attributed to passive smoking"? Lies, the reputable studies don't see those numbers.

24-hour drinking will be messy at first, unless they actually enforce the existing law about not actually being able to sell overly-inebrated people more booze.

Not that it will bother me all that much; because of the silly 10pm law I always have a crate of beer, some wine and other assorted spirits on hand incase that impromptu "back to mine" develops into a full on party... :o

[Guest confused and hungover]

thats brilliant, i just read that whole post with a Begbie accent and it made no sense to me whatsoever :o thank you

[Guest Disco Stu]

..... because of the silly 10pm law I always have a crate of beer, some wine and other assorted spirits on hand incase that impromptu "back to mine" develops into a full on party... :o

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Now, where are we going to hold the MoDaCo Scotland event ?......

[Guest confused and hungover]

Now, where are we going to hold the MoDaCo Scotland event ?......

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definatley worth a trip up from holland :o :( :lol: