I was disgusted to hear recently that three of the big supermarket chains in the UK, Tesco, ASDA, and Sainsbury’s are selling cans of lager for just 22 pence each. They are sold in packs of 4 for 88p or (in ASDA for example) in packs of 12 for £2.64.
Are these supermarkets only just catering to alcoholics? Who in their right mind would CHOOSE to buy a supermarkets own “no frills” lager? No connoisseur of beer, that’s for sure. This would mean you could buy a 24 can carton (beer in Australia is usually sold in 24 can/bottle cartons) of beer for the equivalent of $12.50. That is truly disgusting. Or…fantastic, depending on your outlook. The alcohol volume of the lager is “light” at 2%. But I’m sure if you drink enough, you’ll get drunk!
To me it’s nothing short of irresponsible. Britain is in the midst of a binge-drinking epidemic. Surely the last thing we need in where the culture has become not about the enjoyment of drinking and drinking to be social, responsibly – to turning into drinkers who just want to get pissed…surely that last thing required is 22p lager? Isn’t the degree of availability of “alcopops” enough without 22p cans of lager? It doesn’t cater for people who enjoy their drinking. It’s catering to drunks, teenage drinkers and homeless tramps. How can the supermarkets live with themselves catering to a market like that?
Granted, when they see the government give licences for pubs and clubs to stay open 24 hours a day, why continue to have a conscience? Twenty four hour licensing should NOT have been granted. And now it has been (and been in place for nearly 3 years now), why are the landlords and bar owners not being held more responsible for people leaving their premises far more intoxicated than they should be?
I’m not against people enjoying themselves, I’m not even against pubs and clubs being open 24 hours, but what I AM against is people having access to alcohol 24 hours a day. I suppose if people want to drink, they’ll drink no matter what. But irresponsible landlords still serving highly intoxicated people and supermarkets selling 22p lager isn’t helping the situation.
And we wonder why 25 year old men and women are rocking up to hospitals with cirrhosis of the liver! Come on government! Wake up!! Stop the sale of these super-cheap lagers and please make landlords and bar owners more responsible for serving alcohol to highly intoxicated patrons.
