181 / Ban inebriation in public
Once again the issue of alcohol related violence is in the news, this time because the NSW state government failed to introduce planning rules to ban late-night trading of clubs, pubs and wine bars. SMH
There's a problem here, and it's not that people are able to obtain drinks late at night. Sure, alcohol related violence occurs late at night, predominantly because by that time young men are 'tanked'. So it seems a reasonable approach to stop late night drinking. Or to increase the legal age for people to be served alcohol (to 21).
But I believe this is a nonsense; why should people who enjoy late night clubbing suffer for the few idiots who don't seem to understand that getting inebriated is not cool, even dangerous and sometimes deadly? There is only one solution to the problem: Our culture needs to change. Once and for all: It's not cool to be drunk! Basta.
Until young men (and women) get the drift, there need to be procedures in place that drive the idea home, namely: Drunkenness in public must be made illegal. There has to be a legal limit to the blood/alcohol level, just like for drivers.
If you're over the limit, you get fined, say $100 the first time. But the fine doubles every time you're drunk in public again. How many more times do you think people will get drunk in public if their fines have risen to, say, $800?
It's a no-brainer.