Today I was out for our daily Costa coffee with my boyfriend's mum and had a choice of reading material: The Times or The Sun. I was feeling too down to Earth to be reading The Times, so I turned to the dreaded Sun for some page 3 fun. I'm kidding that's not what I looked at.
Somehow whilst reading The Sun, I was inspired to for once write about a more serious issue (kind of serious anyway, it was the controversial booby ogling tabloid newspaper that inspired me after all), that of Drunk Tanks.
This topic is sweeping newspaper debates everywhere recently (so why the heck did I just admit to reading The Sun?!) but if you haven't heard of them, drunk tanks are where privately run firms will offer drunkards a place to stay for the night. Upon awakening with a banging hangover in a strange place, you'll be given a bill of £400 for your unmemorable overnight stay. These 'drunk tanks' will supposedly provide a place for the drunk and disorderly or those who have lost their inhibitions - and clearly their friends - to sober up.
The best way to avoid such things as 'drunk tanks' even being proposed, is to control your drinking, and not end up like this.
An argument against these drunk tanks is that it's just another rule for society, the view of some is perhaps a bit over the top, such as Nick Pickels who argued that 'today it's being drunk, tomorrow it could be dropping cigarette butts or handing out the wrong leaflets'. If we look at it from this stand point, when the drunk tanks are set up and people are locked away for the night with a hefty fine over their head, what can be changed about society next?
But what's believed to be beneficial about 'drunk tanks'? The belief behind these 'welfare centres' is that they'll cut alcohol fuelled disorder and stop drinkers being a huge drain on the police force and the NHS. In my opinion, locking a drunk away for the night isn't going to stop the drain on the police force or the NHS. If a person is being disorderly and aggressive, the police will need to be called, if a person is seriously ill or injured, they'll need to go to hospital. So, the only way drunk tanks could possibly work is if drunken revellers were tanked up before they caused any fights or injured themselves. That could mean locking up almost any one on a night out.
As students, we do all sorts of stupid things during our nights out, it can involve petty fights (don't worry I'm no brawler), strategic cone placements and sleeping in unconventional places, but do our mistakes when drunk mean we should be kept safe from ourselves and others by paying £400 to stay somewhere we don't even want to? And will drunk tanks really stop the large expenditure that drunk people cost society? Or is it simply a temporary solution?
I'd love to hear your opinion on 'drunk tanks' and if you don't agree with them, how do you think the NHS or the police force could be helped to deal with the cost of alcohol related incidents?
This isn't quite what I meant by drunk tanks.
MissIsGoode
8 comments
What a scary though waking up to that!! I think they're a bad idea for the same reasons as you already said... it's pointless, a waste of time and just really shady... Uhh Im trying to think of something but there's not really much that can be done that easily!
ReplyDeletexxx
I know I'd hate it! I'm disorientated enough waking up in my own room after a night out, can't imagine how horrid it'd be waking up in a cell-like room! There isn't really! My best idea is simply charge people for drunken related injuries that cause A&E an unnecessary amount of hassle on weekends.
Deletexxx
I completely agree with you, a lot of my friends play fight when drunk but then if something happens they tend to sober up quite quickly. Great post xx
ReplyDeletethebudgetbuyer.blogspot.co.uk
Thank you! Yeah silly things can happen when you're drunk but I think many people still have their inhibitions, if not, friends are usually there to stop you doing anything too stupid!
Delete:) xx
This is genuinely such a scary thought! Things like this just don't sound like they should even be legal? It sounds very sketchy. Had no idea this happened! Completely opened my eyes. Thank you so much for the follow and comment! Also a new follower :) xx
ReplyDeleteI know! It doesn't does it, it sounds worse than jail for the night! I barely ever read the paper (may sound silly but it's just far too depressing) but this cropped up and I felt it relevant to my student lifestyle. I'd hate it to happen to me! No worries, I look forward to reading more of your blog!
DeleteThank you :) xx
As someone who coaches alcoholics I think this question is best posed to and answered by the ambulance crews, physicians, nursing staff and anxillary medical professionals who have to deal with them in our packed to capacity, over stretched A&E departments.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with that. I think it needs to be assessed properly, A&E is ridiculously busy on the weekends especially due to drunken incidents. I think it is important that something be done about it, I don't know whether drunk tanks are the answer but it'd be good if they were effective. I think they'll be more effective on people simply on a night out drinking rather than those with alcohol addictions. People who get too drunk on a night our deserve some kind of punishment, whereas I believe alcoholics simply need help.
DeleteThanks for commenting :)
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