To think that Scotland licensing laws are a bad thing?

[bravermanclan]

I'm in Scotland, recovering alcoholic. I remember in active addiction, that sheer panic I would get at 9.30 pm. Even though I had two bottles of wine in the fridge left, I would without fail worry that they wouldn't do me till I passed out. This would result in me jumping in my car to rush to the nearest shop to buy 2 more.

Additionally, have been at houses where starting to run out of alcohol we manage to track down someone that has some that they are willing to sell for an inflated price. Once again, results in someone jumping in their car to collect it.

I visited my friend in London before I got sober, he had a 24 hour garage just down the street and we didn't use it once as the panic that we would run out of alcohol wasn't there. We knew we could go and grab it whenever we liked so didn't need to panic by.

AIBU to think that Scotland alcohol licensing is counter productive and actually increases the problems?

It's difficult as a lot of people don't have the same feelings towards alcohol as you. I have three family members who have had alcohol issues and two of them have described a similar feeling of panic if their access to alcohol is likely to be restricted. One of them says that they can't enjoy the current drink as they are thinking about the next one and making sure it's available.

It was a complete eye opener for me, and very difficult to comprehend as I just don't have those feelings towards alcohol.

I think the licensing laws have been put in place for good reasons and it's clear that, in your situation, it's your personal response to the law causing your reaction IYSWIM. So I think YABU - but I am not someone who has had difficulty with controlling my access to alcohol.