Alcohol in every corner of the supermarket

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patspost

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The other day I was in the supermarket and it struck me that at almost every corner, maybe the top or bottom of every other aisle there was an alcohol promotion.
While I am partial to an alcoholic beverage myself and feel that I am fortunate to be able to enjoy a drink responsibily this is not something that others can do.
I think that alcohol should be confined to a defined section of the supermarket only, this would put less temptation in the way of those who would like to avoid it.
I have no gripe with cheap booze or that, but I feel it should be retricted and that if you are nipping in for a bit of shopping you should not be bombarded with booze.
One supermarket before Christmas was doing a promo, half price bottle of wine when you spent over €xx on groceries, this is surely wrong.
Am I too sensitive about this issue, what do others think?
 
Some people have an obsessive compulsion to shoplift - maybe we should clear the shelves altogether to remove this temptation from them?
 
I've often thought the same to be honest & I do think alcohol should be sold separately to the food/groceries. Seems sensible given the nature of the product.
 
Patspost! Looks like you're getting yourself into a lot of tight corners lately. Perhaps you need to stay in more often.
 
I think its great that there are so many deals on alcohol these days.

Every now and again I avail of 3 for £10 on wine. But that doesn't make me a wino.

I know where you are coming from, but we shouldn't have to stop selling and promoting alcohol just because we have a society that can't cope with it in moderation.

For people like myself it is a great deal. If however you can't go into a supermarket without being tempting to go overboard on alcohol shopping then perhaps you need to look at yourself and go and get help.
 
It comes down to personal responsibility. You can make alcohol very difficult to purchase and the people with alcohol abuse problems will find a way to abuse it regardless. Being on sale in every corner of a supermarket is not what causes alcohol abuse problems.
 
Calico said:
I've often thought the same to be honest & I do think alcohol should be sold separately to the food/groceries. Seems sensible given the nature of the product.
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Why? to make it difficult to enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner?...
 
Look, we all know that humans are mindless fools and when they see a bottle of alcohol they simply must have it - so thank God for the good people who try to take temptation from our path.
 
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RMCF said:
Every now and again I avail of 3 for £10 on wine. But that doesn't make me a wino.
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It sure doesn't make you a wine connoisseur! Seriously I bought some cheap wine just before the holidays on a 2 for 1 deal and I haven't touched the second bottle. I'm keeping it in case I need to remove some varnish from the living room floor. It was disgusting - talk about tannins, I think it was made up of nothing but!
 
diarmuidc said:
Why? to make it difficult to enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner?...
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Well, it's not that. But, the OP is right, there is no alcohol-free place in the supermarket these days. It wasn't long ago when in most supermarkets the booze was still sold, but in a seperate off-license bit. I think that was a good compromise.

In general I abhor the idea of curtailing a person's freedom to choose, but the reality is that we are a nation of heavy drinkers and alchol can be an addictive substance which has ruined many lives. So I just think it's reasonable to believe that maybe it shouldn't be as prevalent and promoted in supermarkets where most if not all people go for their shopping.

Having said that, maybe the new relaxed way will eventually help to foster a new drinking culture? I honestly don't know.....don't see much evidence of that yet though.
 
Calico said:
Having said that, maybe the new relaxed way will eventually help to foster a new drinking culture? I honestly don't know.....don't see much evidence of that yet though.
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In fairness, the vast majority of people who drink alcohol in this country do so responsibly and in moderation. It is imho unfair to punish them for the overindulgence of a minority. In any society, you will always have a certain element who will abuse alcohol.

Around a decade ago, I spent a few weeks in India, where there is absolutely no drink culture and where probably 99.5% of people are total abstainers. Yet in some places I still saw "winos" hanging around the street, out of it.
 

Don't think the OP was looking to punish drinkers, just make it less in your face in supermarkets. I don't see whats wrong with having a seperate area and still having the deals, if your looking for drink you will know where to find it.
 
I don't see what's wrong with having alcohol or any other goods distributed throughout the store. One way or another those who want to use or abuse it will find it so I don't see what the point in corralling it into one spot is to be honest. In fact one could argue that putting it all in one spot might just give those who want to abuse it too much choice in one place. An argument as facile as the original one in my opinion.
 
Does anyone have any sensible suggestions as to how such legislation could be enforced? Are we going to have yet more inspectors travelling from shop to shop at the taxpayer's expense? How will small shops and convenience stores comply if their retail space is limited? Imho, we have far too much regulation as it is - much of it of questionable value, and all of it very costly for the taxpayer.
 

Prohibition! That will sort it out.
 
As obesity is supposed to be more of a danger to our health these days than alcohol, we should also prohibit the sale of potatoes, as people might be tempted to make chips.
 
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