Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

So because you have no self control to do something you want to do, everyone else should be forced to do something they don't necessarily want to do in order to assist you in doing it?

Immature nanny-statism at its finest.

I've loads of self control.

On average I drink about 1 unit of alcohol a week.

But if the price doubles I'll probably only drink 1/2 unit per week.

Both my parents have had struggles with the drink. My dad has been an alcoholic most of his adult life, and very rarely drinks at home, save for a can now and then to get rid of the shakes. It seems to be the pubs that draw him in, he has no interest in drinking in the house.

My mothers behaviour evolved over the last 10 years, a few glasses of wine at the weekend turned into every night. That turned into straight vodka hidden around the house, out of her mind 24/7.

Why does Mr. Harris think my mother needs his intervention, but my father doesnt? Im genuinely puzzled. Im of the view that neither do.

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Both my parents have had struggles with the drink. My dad has been an alcoholic most of his adult life, and very rarely drinks at home, save for a can now and then to get rid of the shakes. It seems to be the pubs that draw him in, he has no interest in drinking in the house.

My mothers behaviour evolved over the last 10 years, a few glasses of wine at the weekend turned into every night. That turned into hiding drink and straight vodka hidden around the house, out of her mind 24/7.

Why does Mr. Harris thinks my mother needs his intervention, but my father doesnt? Im genuinely puzzled. Im of the view that neither do.

Your father is contributing to allowing publicans their continued ability to charge ~€5 for a pint of beer and act as if this isn't an unimaginable rip off. Your mother, on the other hand, is providing desperately needed competition with that industry which, in any functioning market system, would force them to reduce their own prices rather than trying to force everyone else to increase theirs

So naturally, your father is a healthy drinker, whilst your mother is the binge-drinking scourge of society we've been hearing about throughout this entire thread.

On a serious note, I hope you manage ok in that situation and that your parents aren't doing too badly themselves. The hiding drink thing is analogous to those who go to the pub and tell everyone at home that they were working late or at the gym or whatever, it really sucks both for them and for yourself. My family has a history (two generations ago now but all the same) of drink issues, so for myself while I do enjoy going nuts on "the sesh" as evidenced by my own posts in this thread, I do try to avoid drinking at all at least three days per week. And I definitely wouldn't bother doing it if there wasn't anyone else around to enjoy it with.

Whether having most of the week drink-free and having one or two days where you go out for a few pints and wake up the next morning half naked in a shipping vessel full of pigs destined for South America* is healthier than drinking every day but never having full-on seisúins is up for debate

*It's only happened like twice, we all have our skeletons dammit

elperello wrote: »

We could probably have a whole new thread discussing why people drink.

For my part I drink because I like the taste of it.

I used to drink in order to get that "every woman in this club is way out of your league, just stick with your mates and don't talk to anyone" voice in my head (an unfortunate leftover from having been the fat kid in secondary school ) to shut up, but over time my self-confidence has massively improved (whether the beer is having lasting effects or my personality has improved of its own accord, ye decide ) so now I just do it because I enjoy the taste and I like the buzz it gives me. I'm acutely aware of the feeling I get from "the one that's one too many" so I know when to knock it off on a given night before that horrible morph from happy-emotional to sad-emotional.

I do tend to have unimaginably goofy and hilarious phone calls with friends at the end of nights out, but they're for a different thread altogether

bob mcbob wrote: »

The experience I have seen in Scotland is

Any of the high strength s**t beer / cider selling below MUP has gone off the market and in the case of stuff like diamond white, that is a good thing.

The mass market "premium" lagers have not been too much affected by the MUP but the price difference between them and real premium beers (brewdog / innis & gunn) is reduced. More people are trading up and buying quality. The craft beer makers seem to be using this as an opportunity to increase volumes

I have not seen any difference in wine prices.

All promotions on alcohol are gone

Some supermarkets won't let you use vouchers / etc if alcohol is included in your basket

In general for a moderate drinker drinking good beers / wine I have not seen any difference.

There's a big difference between Scotland and Ireland, the rip off culture is not as prevalent in Scotland.
Anyhow you're more likely to see Declan Rice playing competitively for Ireland than this actually bring implemented.

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Really though ?

It isnt clear whether anyone likes the taste of alcoholic drinks.

It is more likely that the 'acquired taste' for alcohol is simply a combination of association with good times, conviviality, being adult, choosing one drink over another as a mark of one's discernment and individuality, affectations of sophistication, and subscribing to the various aspirational lifestyle constructs of the advertising industry.

Combined with a propensity to enjoy feeling squiffy. But that is unrelated to the taste as such.

Learning to appreciate alcoholic drinks does appear more a case of learning to accept them without revulsion rather than true enjoyment.
Children, unaffected by these influences, always repel alcohol (unless masked by excessive syrup or overpowering flavour) - which is the honest human reaction to the the taste.

bollix

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Really though ?

It isnt clear whether anyone likes the taste of alcoholic drinks.

It is more likely that the 'acquired taste' for alcohol is simply a combination of association with good times, conviviality, being adult, choosing one drink over another as a mark of one's discernment and individuality, affectations of sophistication, and subscribing to the various aspirational lifestyle constructs of the advertising industry.

Combined with a propensity to enjoy feeling squiffy. But that is unrelated to the taste as such.

Learning to appreciate alcoholic drinks does appear more a case of learning to accept them without revulsion rather than true enjoyment.
Children, unaffected by these influences, always repel alcohol (unless masked by excessive syrup or overpowering flavour) - which is the honest human reaction to the the taste.

Children often don't like vegetables either.

Quackster wrote: »

Duty free is generally restricted to plane or ferry (or more unusually train) travel as opposed to crossing a land border so you won't be able to claim back the UK duty but you'll still be restricted to bringing back a very small allowance before being forced to pay Irish duty and VAT on your purchases. You may be able to claim back the UK VAT though.

There'll also be the hassle of having to stop at an Irish customs facility somewhere to make your declaration and pay any monies due or risk being stopped, having your goods confiscated and potentially being fined if you attempt to smuggle alcohol across the border.

There's a few between Greece and Turkey, Russia and Finland.An entrepreneurial type will no doubt take up the opportunity.

This might be a stupid question, but can we not just buy it online from another country in the EU and get it delivered to our door?

realitykeeper wrote: »

Under 18s have asked me to buy them drink in the past and I said no. If the law changed so under 21s could not buy drink, I would say no to them also.

They will just ask the person after you to buy them beer.

weldoninhio wrote: »

Will you be lobbying your local TD to put a minimum price on motor vehicles?? 158 deaths last year. Thousands of people hospitalised. Who’s paying for the hospital treatment of all these rta victims??

This thread is about alcohol. Focus weldoninhio.

odyssey06 wrote: »

That's a bag of rubbish. To take one example Tesco don't just have own brand booze, they have own brand bread, toilet roll, refuse sacks, bottled water, soft drinks, juice, biscuits, handwash, toothpaste, shampoo which is 'low priced' relative to a full price branded product... LIDL run weekends with half price wine, they also run weekends with half price toilet roll, pet food and yes, rubbish bags. It's about getting customers in the door and market share. It's not some deep ploy to create a nation of drinkers any more than it's a ploy to create a nation of bog roll users or pet owners.

There are different reasons why drink is cheap, in the above case the motive may be footfall but the consequence is the same as when drink is given away cheaply to lure another generation into the habit of drinking alcohol. Hence the necessity for the legislation.

realitykeeper wrote: »

There are different reasons why drink is cheap, in the above case the motive may be footfall but the consequence is the same as when drink is given away cheaply to lure another generation into the habit of drinking alcohol. Hence the necessity for the legislation.

It's not cheap, you keep saying that without any justification whatsoever. We already have some of the most expensive alcohol in the EU.
Your blatant "ostrich in the sand" attempts to ignore this point have not gone unnoticed.

It's not about luring in the next generation. When you're not sure what to drink, you don't go out and buy a slab of cans of a full bottle of whiskey. You're buying individual bottles of beer, naggins of spirits, premixed cocktails, all of which if you look at the alcohol % and price won't be affected by MUP because they are smaller quanities and so more expensive.
Go into LIDL at 1030 on a saturday morning on a weekend with a nice half price wine. It's not teenagers buying it.

Finally, there's nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation. There's nothing wrong with the habit of drinking alcohol. There's nothing wrong with teenagers coming to like alcohol and enjoying it.

odyssey06 wrote: »

Coming to like something through a gradual process of acquisition is still liking it.

Not everyone's first ride is great either. I suppose we're all only pretending to like sex.

odyssey06 wrote: »

Not only is our drink too cheap but we're paid too much as well.
You are beyond parody at this stage.

You're talking to the guy who wants to bring back workhouses.