Off licences are allowed to remain open during stricter lockdown

[reliefistheword]

Off licences are allowed to remain open during stricter lockdown because responsible drinkers were entitled to have a drink

This has been deemed essential.

Ridiculous.

OP you have not answered ANY of the questions or points raised on the thread. At all.

The OP is studiously ignoring all the posts about the massive detriment to the NHS if a large group of alcohol dependent people are suddenly forced to dry out. Funny that.

Yep local. Off licence (a corner shop that also sells alcohol) is the only place within walking distance where my dad can load his electricity key.

You are conflating too many things here - and believing that it's alcohol that causes domestic abuse. It's not, it's the abuser.

Quite right too. How else are we to keep topped up with enough to see us through these trying times? I had to buy a different brand because the supermarket didn't have my normal one. Thank god for the off-licence.

@reliefistheword Yes. Now imagine how much worse it could get if that man couldn't get his hands on a drink, if he was in such a physical state of withdrawal that he was going to die? Can I ask why DV is the only angle you're willing to see this from?

I’m confused! My brother owns an off license but it’s like a mini grocery store too and delivers to customers - groceries and papers. There are very few off licenses that just sell alcohol and it’s his livelihood! I’m sure if he got shut down he would just deliver to customers.

In fact, I'm going to order in some nice beers now. And tomorrow will be doing a tin and biscuits stock up from the local corner shop, that also sells alcohol, bbq charcoal and weird tiny sewing sets.

If I'm locked down for 3 weeks and a bottle of wine is the only fun I've got left then you better believe I'll buy it. And as others have pointed out off sales don't just sell alcohol.

Not that you care about any of that OP.

I've just cracked open the wine 🥂

Violent men still beat women regardless of alchol, not getting their alchol also a reason to beat wife. Wife beaters are wife beaters with or without alchol and alchol isn't an excuse op.

Got a nice box of wine waiting in the fridge for me, got to have something nice in these times

Keeping off-licences open is not going to dramatically increase the level of alcohol consumption in the general population any more than keeping pizza delivery places open is going to fuel a huge and sudden increase in obesity.

I think we should ban the sale of ice cream. Not essential, gives only pleasure, the space better used for frozen meals. Would that make everyone feel more hair shirt virtuous?

Most people don't NEED alcohol but as I said upthread, it is a huge industry bringing in billions to the economy and employing hundreds of thousands of people. The government has to strike a sensible balance between restrictions that are necessary created by CV and the fact that the economy is going to be fucked for an extremely long time and that impact is likely to cause more damage than COVID.

Which is what the MN army of 'well it's not essential' shouters aren't considering but the government have to. Businesses and many entire industries are going under or are unlikely to recover for years already so increased unemployment from that leads to increased homelessness, poverty and its physical and mental health effects, increased crime and yes, DV.

And that's not just about alcohol, its all the extremists on MN telling people not to buy non-essentials even if already in the supermarket doing your normal shopping or not to order anything online that is non-essential in their eyes. People stop buying - small and large businesses close, manufacturers and factories close..

Making sure people can buy booze to drink at home will both keep people indoors away from each and lower the risk of civil unrest.

Seeing as an alcohol addiction isn't illegal there's absolutely no comparison to those addicted to heroin and cocaine.
With that statement alone your argument holds no weight.

Out of interest, where do you order wine online from? I might look for an online supplier for when the DCs are away when all this is over.

If you are too lazy to do the 10 minutes research that would demonstrate to you exactly why alcohol needs to remain available, you're going to get a lot of replies that you don't like.

People die from sudden enforced detox. Even if you don't care about them, care about the added pressure that would bring to services.

@blackberrysoup I get mine from Aldi at the moment. You can get 6 bottles of any alcohol (so could be 4 wine, a gin and a bourbon for eg). Efficient delivery. Cheap.
In the past I’ve used Laithwaites - delicious wine and very flexible, but much more expensive.

I think it is essential .Brits love a good drink and in these times, why not. I’ve been buying a few better quality bottles as nothing else to spend money on. Might as well get pissed.

And yes, we should be making provision for dependant users of other drugs, because pious moralising will do fuck all to solve the problems that will occur when those people cannot get hold of their usual supply. If anything this crisis has just exposed that a significant proportion of the population walk around deaf and fucking blind to reality.

I don't really drink much at all so it wouldn't bother me. DSis however has been working in tears every day trying to find a way to not lay off workers because the business she works for won't have the funds to pay all their staff whilst still paying to operate without staff (their company needs to pay outside companies in order to provide the services they do) and then claim the 80% wages back in three months time. Getting a grant and a reduction in paying rates is a bandaid on a broken bone.
Give the poor woman her damn wine!

I for one am certainly concerned about the impact of illegal drug users no longer being able to service their addictions. Even if one doesn't have the slightest sympathy for them as individuals, the potential impact of that on other people and the NHS is obvious and worrying.

Dear God what’s wrong with some wine. As soon as I’m off these blasted antibiotics I will have a glass. There is no point in going all hair shirt - things are bad enough.

My local "off license", primarily branded around wines, is actually our corner shop. We've been living off their food for a while as we don't drive and there are no delivery slots.

Yes, they are essential.