The Home Office has banned happy hour promotions, but no one is happy at the University of Westminster student bar. 

 

This move will harm business says a student bar manager.

 

“We’re not forcing people to drink excessively,” says Sarah, one of the managers of student bar, The Undercroft.

 

The bans come following much deliberation and failed attempts by the Home Office to curb binge-drinking.

 

Sarah thinks that happy hour promotions are a draw for students visiting the bar, but that it is not the only reason for them visiting.

 

She insists that students buy full-priced drinks when they visit the bar on Mondays and that they like the mood of the Mondaze promotions.

 

More than just an hour, “we have a happy day,” Sarah says, referring to the Happy Mondaze promotion that the Undercroft puts on weekly.

 

There has been a lot about binge-drinking in the media recently.

 

Issues raised include:

  • The amount of man-hours police dedicate to dealing with drunks and bar brawls
  • Underage alcohol abuse
  • Negative health effects of binge-drinking

“You can’t stop people from getting wasted,” says Radmila an 18 year-old university student.

 

Radmila thinks that even if happy hour promotions are banned that people can still “get a cheap bottle of vodka at Tesco, get drunk and then go out.”

 

Apart from banning “irresponsible” drink promotions, there are also plans to give police more authority when dealing with public disorder.

 

“I don’t think any of us want to have our city centres with people lying on the pavements being sick,” said Home Secretary  Jacqui Smith yesterday on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show .

 

The Home Office spent £4 million on an ad campaign this year targeting 18-24 years olds in an attempt to change their attitudes toward binge-drinking.

 

Don Shenker of Alcohol Concern backed this campaign “Young men and women form the group most likely to binge drink,’ he said. ‘Many cases lead to involvement in accidents and violence, but bingeing can also be a precursor to later, harmful drinking behavior.”

 

More drinking news

Drunk driving limits are also underway.

 

The Advisory Council on the misuse of drugs is calling for a zero tolerance law with regard to underage drivers.

 

Government is said to have “an open mind” on the issue and are deliberating what is an acceptable blood alcohol limit for young drivers.

Click me for background on alcohol abuse.

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