Very dumb laws

people don't drink alot in a short space of time cos the pubs shut too early they do it cos they want to get drunk and it just means ur giving them more opportunity too. i must admit i'd gladly stay in the dancing all night expensive though it may be but i wouldnt go and space out my drinking just because i'd stay there longer.

and yeah Rule Britannia

Well, maybe that's the case in Scotland! But here in London I think it would work fine. For one thing, it must be pretty bloody annoying for tourists to get to the capital of the UK only to find all the pubs shut at 11pm!

I think longer drinking hours would work. I've noticed in the UK that people know that they only have a short space of time to drink so they drink as much as possible. If you know you've got all night it will be spaced out more and strangely enough you won't get as drunk.

Tash

well i'm thinking about parties. u have all night then and people still get totally smashed at them, maybe even more so cos they don't have people kicking them out.

maybe not so much in england but drinking is a massive bit of our "culture" so to speak and most people really don't see it as anything other than a way to get drunk and have fun.

fair enough u do get people who drink sensibly and if i'm out with just my girlfriend or going for a meal or to the cinema we might sit and have just one or 2 drinks before we go in but the rest of the time i go out and drink to get drunk.

this is mirrored pretty much through the whole of scotland, male and female from young to old.

But a party is very different to going to the pub for a drink. At least that's what I've noticed.

Tash

at the end of the day, as long as pubs serve alcohol, people will abuse it. whether they are open until 11 or all night long there will always be some dickheads who drink themselves into a state.

exactly richie pubs close for a reason.

there's some seriously scummy pubs in Glasgow that open at 8 even thought they can't serve drink, they sell tokens instead (it's a loophole, ur techincally selling the tokens which u exchange for drink, thats y festivals do, they sell u tokens saying it's to keep queues down but its really just to get the licence easier)

anyways u have people coming to these for them opening to get drunk, appens in my work too. doors open at 8 and by quarter past u'll have already sold some super lager.

letting the people drink wehenever they want is just stupid.

If letting people drink whenever is just stupid, how come it works in nearly every country apart from the UK?? Here pubs/bars open at 11 and stay open until 2 in the morning and at the weekends usually until 4, you don't see people rolling around drunk here. It's a mentality and a habit that you get into that the night isn't succesful unless you are puking on the person sitting next to you.

Tash

Totally agree. You see some people in our pubs trying to neck as much beer as possible b4 11pm, youd think theyd never seen a drink b4! Opening for longer would work better I think.

well here most pubs open at 10 and close at 12, though u get some that stay open till 3 and the dancings open till 3 or 4 in the morning so in essence we have the ability to drink longer than most of u just now and it's not doing any good.

it's the whole mentality of it all. people drink to get drunk, opening the pubs longer isn't going to make people think differently.