Opinion : Alcohol is the scourge of modern society

It was most pleasant at lunchtime sitting on a bench in the grounds of the Parish Church eating my sandwiches watching the world pass by.

Buses were coming down Castle Street, people were walking to and from Frogmoor, children were running around enjoying themselves and the usual town centre drunks were staggering around with tins of beer in their hands.

In my opinion alcohol is the scourge of modern society. Don’t forget it’s a drug that gives a high and has after affects just like banned narcotics like cocaine and other undesirable substances.

However the sale of alcohol is tolerated, the powers that be have created a regulated market with licensed retailers plying attractively designed bottles to the masses. Of course the powers that be themselves have taxed the alcohol ensuring they get a cut of the profits too.

Regular readers will know of my strong opposition to alcohol indeed my good self even gets offended if someone offers me a brandy snap at Christmas. No, I just don’t want anything to do with the clear intoxicating liquid I often refer to as the liquid of Lucifer.

You can therefore imagine how shocked my good self was to hear that two shops in Wycombe have been handed short-terms bans from selling alcohol by the Licensing Sub-Committee of Wycombe District Council after infringing on the conditions of their premises licences.

Let me make it clear, in this blog I’m not commenting on the whys, wherefores and circumstances of the decision about two shops in question after all that’s best left to the powers that be. However I do feel there is a wider issue here about the sale and wide availability of alcohol in modern society.

In almost every supermarket you will find an off-licence section. These days cigarettes have to be hidden from display behind screens yet alcohol is still openly displayed on the shelves.

When you think about it drinking alcohol is far more dangerous than smoking as it renders the consumer intoxicated and unable to think straight. Every year there are drink-drive campaigns by the police but when did you ever hear of a drink-smoke offensive?

Just like smoking the consumption of alcohol is addictive too. We hear of support groups like alcoholics anonymous but have you ever heard of smokers anonymous?

So after those two examples why are cigarettes hidden behind screens at the point of sale yet children can walk down the aisles of a supermarket with alcoholic beverages openly on display?

In my opinion the regulation around the sale of alcohol needs tightening up and any retailer caught breaching the terms of their license whether they be a pub, supermarket or corner shop should be shut down immediately and permanently as soon as any infringement is found.

Just think if purchasing alcohol mas made harder, or even banned, then Wycombe town centre would not be blighted by the plethora of drunks who wander around the town in the daytime with a tinny in their hand or the drunken yobbos who take over the town centre in the evenings.

What do you think?

*My next blog will be published on Friday evening around 8pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.