Edges Magazine Issue 41 - Violence & Alcohol

EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 41

April 2005

Violence & Alcohol

How do you behave when you've had one over the eight? Do you stagger around wearing a silly grin telling everyone they're the best friend you ever had?

Perhaps you become talkative, amorous or find everyone and everything around you ludicrously

Maybe you just sit in a corner and sink quietly into oblivion, snoring loudly for the rest of the evening. Or perhaps your addled mind takes a more sinister path.

One of the main excuses used in today's courtrooms for crimes of violence is that the perpetrator had consumed a colossal amount of alcohol.

Only last week a young man was sentenced to a year in jail for being part of a 30-strong gang that humiliated and assaulted a man with Parkinson's disease whose only provocation to them had been to walk with a strange gait. The attacker was fully prepared to admit to his actions and even showed some remorse. His mitigation was that he had no recollection of the attack, after consuming 11 pints of lager.

But is that really an excuse? Surely the point is that if you suspect you are going to turn into the sort of person who could do such a thing after large amounts of alcohol the best thing for you and society is to pack up when you start to feel a bit tipsy. An excess of booze tends to reveal the true nature of the beast and in many cases that nature is very ugly indeed.

So how should the law deal with binge drinkers who harm others because the layers of decency have been stripped away by alcohol?

Drivers who use their cars irresponsibly build up penalty points for minor offences and may even be banned from using their precious wheels. Why not apply a similar system to people who are irresponsible in the use of alcohol?

If someone shows a regular propensity to turn into Genghis Khan every time they have a few sherberts, they are obviously incapable of using alcohol in a mature and responsible fashion and should suffer a ban.

It would be completely impractical to stop people buying booze in pubs, supermarkets and off-licences. But persistent and dangerous offenders could have an implant put into their stomachs _ you know, the type popularised by all those celebrity boozers which makes you violently sick the moment a drop of alcohol is ingested into the system.

The treatment is expensive and very much regarded as a last resort but the cost would be worth it if people could enjoy a drink and a night out without doing it in a climate of fear and violence.