Discussion and Research

Initially we all disagreed with statement but decided to look at both sides of the debate in order to form an honest opinion on the subject. To further research the topics, our main source of reference was the internet and online resources. We firstly viewed the BBC news website and the Scottish government website which were recommended sources but looking at these websites encouraged us to search further and this led to the ISD Scotland website and others to find statistics and to provide more information on the need for change and the new guidelines. From all this information that we sourced, we were able to put together this presentation which gives an insight into both sides of the debate and what these new laws will actually mean to the drinking culture in Scotland.

Our Group

In the beginning, it was difficult to decide how to deal with the project as this was a new experience for us all. Yet after some initial difficulties, we decided to exchange emails and started to each work individually on the presentation. As mahara can be accessed individually, it meant that we didn't need to meet up continuously in order to work on presentation. This was also useful because we struggled to figure out how to set up and run the presentation and where and when we could meet up due to other commitments we all had. However we were still able to complete the presentation despite difficulties in the way we worked as a team.

Working on this presentation has been a worthwhile experience because it has allowed us to see what kind of projects we could encounter at university and also let us gain basic knowlege on how to use the mahara facility before actually having started our courses.

Working on the presentation also allowed us to see where we had done well and poorly as a team. The main positive from working in the group is that we had similar views on the topic and therefore it made the presentation much simpler to piece together. Yet there were also flaws in how we worked as a group because we lacked communication which meant that it was sometimes difficult to know what stage the presentation was at and perhaps the enthusiasm and work that went into the project wasn't fully shared by the whole group. However in general, it was a good experience and a helpful induction into university life.

'Raising the price of alcohol in Scotland will reduce its harmful effects on the social, physical and economic health of the nation.'

Do we agree or disagree?

Initially we all disagreed with the statement as we didn't think that raising the price of alcohol would do much to halt the Scottish drinking culture and the links of drink towards anti-social behaviour and serious illness. However to fully understand the situation we had to look at both sides of the debate, those for the new legislation and those against the new regulations.

Agreement

The positive effects of raising the price of alcohol are :

  • Drinking could become more sociable because people will drink less as they can't afford to buy so much alcohol and this could lead to people drinking without the ultimate goal being to get drunk
  • As people would be drinking less (too expensive, end of cheap drink promotions, etc.) this could lead to less anti-social behaviour and in the long term, could produce a decline in the number of alcohol related cases appearing in hospitals

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Disagreement

The negative effects of raising the price of alcohol are :

  • Raising the price of alcohol will not stop people wanting to drink, in order to afford alcohol people will just cut back on other areas of their lifestyle to have enough money to go out.
  • Due to the increase in price of alcohol, people may opt to go out less but when they do, drink to the excess as it's one of the few opportunities they have to do so. Therefore this could result in a further increase in binge drinking which would cause even more strain on the NHS with people frequently being admitted for the effects of having too much to drink.
  • As the price of alcohol rises, the amount bought by the consumer will fall which could lead to a decline in the drinking industry which could ultimately result in unemployment. Mass unemployment is never a good thing but it would be even more harmful on the nation during this economic downturn where already, pubs across Scotland are closing down daily.
  • The regular consumer of alcohol in Scotland drinks responsibly and therefore raising the price of alcohol punishes the regular customer for something which only the minority of drinkers are responsible for (anti-social behaviour, expense on the NHS).
  • Finally, the strongest argument against these new regulations is that changing the drinking laws in Scotland is not enough to try and cease the drinking culture associated with Scotland. There will always be new generations who link alcohol to getting drunk and there always will be unless something is done to alter mentalities towards alcohol.

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Conclusion

After having discussed both sides of the argument, it still appears that we disagree with the statement. The culture in Scotland can't be fixed by raising the price of alcohol as it's not going to stop people drinking excessively and it's repercussions of anti-social behaviour and alcohol-relating illnesses. The issues of alcohol in Scotland are more serious than that and in conclusion, the only strong hope of changing this harmful culture is to invest more time in changing the opinion of alcohol, for example, through education.

Why are these new laws being introduced?

These new laws are being introduced into Scotland because of the staggering amount of anti-social behaviour and illnesses which are linked to alcohol.

For example, according to ISD Scotland, in 2007-08 :

  • 42430 alcohol related discharges from hospitals (a 20% increase over 5 years)
  • 6817 cases of alcoholic liver disease
  • 4646 cases of alcohol poisoning

And according to police statistics for Strathclyde, the number of people arrested in 2008 for being deemed 'drunk and incapable' in central Glasgow and West Scotland was 343 which has risen drastically over six years from 2002 where the figure was under 200 at 198.

 

References

 BBC News 2009 : www.news.bbc.co.uk  

  • Scots plan to stop cheap alcohol
  • Scottish alcohol plan at-a-glance
  • Mixed response to drink strategy
  • Scots rank high on drink levels
  • Hospital drink cases hit new high

The Scottish Government 2009 : www.sotland.gov.uk

  • Alcohol
  • Scottish Health Survey: Revised Alcohol Consumption Estimates 2003

ISD Scotland : www.isdscotland.org

  • Information and Statistics - Alcohol

Drunken Behaviour Captured on CCTV

What are the new laws?

The Scottish government has put together the following new legislative which contains both short and long term goals :

  • end cheap drink promotions and cut price alcohol being sold in pubs, clubs, bars, etc.
  • try to set a minimum price for drink
  • give local areas the power to decide whether to raise the age of buying in off-licenses to 21
  • restrict the advertisement of alcohol in retailers
  • set out news ways to advise people to live with drink

Another Drunken Brawl