In one week, the late licensing laws will come into effect, with hundreds of places from the city club, to your local, to the nearest Tesco’s being able to sell alcohol for longer.  Is this going to be a good thing or a bad thing? Why do you think this?

I think it’s a very bad idea.  Though not as nightmare as the media will have you believe, its going to have a detrimental effect on society in both short and long term.  The first few weeks will see the binges of all binges in celebration of moronic junkie excitement proportions.  Once the initial enthusiasm dies down, there will still be violence; I believe more so, plus increased pressure on our already rather busy health service, though I’m certain many jobs will be created for bouncers and street cleaners.

Part of the idea is apparently to stop people rushing to finish their drinks at 11, then piling out at the same time and brawling before they go to clubs.  This is a ridiculous notion in my eyes – that may well be the case, but then they will just rush their drink whenever the place shuts, possibly another 2-4 rounds later.  They will still pack out and to the nearest row of post-pub food/crap joints and brawl there.  It wont be less violent, just many will be more drunk, the advantage to police officers being they’ll be less co-ordinated.  Quieter towns will become rowdier.  Our small town has a block of 6 pubs in short distance of each other, and the violence there is still the moronic level you’d find in a city centre on a smaller scale.  This will be increased, with less people needing to go to the big city to get wasted till 3 in the morning. The residents kept awake longer, the street cleaners will be okay though, they’ll get more overtime washing the vomit from in front of people’s houses and clearing away the garden ornaments the revellers decided to play with/vandalise/defecate.

More medical staff will be attacked, more alcohol poisoning and alcohol related diseases will be confirmed.
The media won’t help; they’ll simply make it into something even larger and more out of proportion.
Few places are acually applying for 24 hour licenses; few would feasibly stay in a pub that long and I doubt staff would want those that do to be there vomiting up the place. It’d be tramptastic.

So BOOOO! I only had a few drinks, then switched to water and after three hours dancing I still fractured my leg.  What if I was like the majority, and instead of switching to water I switched to the shots easily on offer everywhere? What if I was a violent drunk? My injury would have been worse and I would’ve attacked the nearest nurse who hurt my leg whilst trying to do his/her job.  Okay that’s a silly example, but I think for all the responsible people who wouldn’t even have the ‘few’ that I would, those that are sensible with their drinking, are vastly outweighed by the general mass of apes that trash our streets en masse, helping the views of our country go down the drain with the rest of spilt chips and vomit.

Give me your opinions and stories, experience from those in the know, and views from those that aren’t out boozing each weekend.

Cheers!