Brit Happy Hour Ban
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James Joyner | Monday, November 24, 2008 |
It seems our cousins across the Pond are considering drastic action:
Britain is considering a ban on “happy hour” discounts at bars and restaurants to curb drinking, a spokesman said Saturday, as health advocates warned that a rise in liver-related deaths among young people may signal a future epidemic.
Health officials will decide on whether to ban the happy hours — designated times for discount drinks — once an independent policy review is published in coming weeks, a health department spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity.
The proposal was one of several aimed at stemming a trend in binge drinking in recent years, particularly among teenagers and young adults. The government also plans to spend 10 million pounds ($15 million) on a new public awareness campaign, and wants to improve enforcement of laws against underage drinking.
Is this problem really one of people not understanding that consuming large amounts of alcohol along with fatty foods is unhealthful? Or rather people opting for short term pleasure at the risk of long term harm?
via a very concerned Mary Katharine Ham
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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Freedom. Pshaw, overrated.
Happy hour has been illegal in Illinois for almost 20 years. Supporters thought that HH encouraged people to come out and drink earlier than they ought. I blame too much flare.
It's official, Britons are supposed to be unhappy each of the 24 hours every day.
I don't support the legislation, but the aim is less to do with long term health issues than it is to do with curbing the fact that happy hour is perceived (rightly or wrongly) as being linked to people drinking vast quantities of booze in a very short period and then wrecking up the place, vomiting in the street etc.
All your actions are belong to us.
Or...
We will control the vertical. We will control the horizontal. We will control your diet, your exercise, your sex life, your television watching, your driving, your parenting, your computer usage, your reproduction, and...well just about everything else. There are no outer, inner, or any limits at all on how much control the State can have.
Have a nice day.
Steve;
I wonder if it's occurred to any of those twits over there, that the kind of control you speak of is why they drink?
(Sigh) And if anyone thinks that we're not headed there ourselves....
Oh, to hell with it. I'm going to get another beer.
