Does a ban on booze help?

[Herr der Verboten]

I have a family member who works in the Emergency department at Steve Biko and the Alchohol ban helps a ton!

Can you get the actual number of beds before and after with verified cause?

 

[Herr der Verboten]

I would have just added a temporary R10000 tax to every unit of alcohol. If someone gets drunk under those circumstances, you know they invested the effort, and they’ve basically already funded any hospital stay.

We just need a social drinking credit. If you cause it then you need to pay a penalty before submission. Of course this will be applied to other things like road accidents esp. if the car (or truck) were unworthy. This will also extend back to the owning company if any and the responsible people there. Continued strikes will disable submission for you and related people.

However, we know enforcement is kak in RSA so until this change we band-aid it. right.

/lit-n-braai

 

[MaximusZA]

Can you get the actual number of beds before and after with verified cause?

I dont have exact numbers no, but from the previous lock down where booze was banned Bara's trauma was empty on new years day which is a first time ever occurrence.

https://www.news24.com/news24/south...l-trauma-unit-empty-on-new-years-eve-20210101

edit: You could argue the fact that it was the curfew that helps not the alcohol ban, so I can understand the question, but how poorly the curfew gets enforced it would lead me to believe its a combination of both curfew and alchol ban that helps reduce trauma numbers. But as I mentioned before I dont have numbers and have not done a study on it.

here are some more numbers:

https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles...as-wildly-effective-at-preventing-trauma-data

https://www.groundup.org.za/article/study-shows-effect-alcohol-ban/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X20301464

 

[backstreetboy]

No hospitals should be full and making money.

 

[KantSnyer]

So many interpretations for such a simple question.

 

[Moosedrool]

Not as much as limiting travel in general.

 

[Cray]

Does it help, quite possibly, it's the extent that is unknown, still would like to see solid stats regarding hospital ICU and trauma ward capacities.

 

[KantSnyer]

Not as much as limiting travel in general.

So you voted yes?

 

[Ninja'd]

The thing I didn't get was why close liquor stores on the weekend but allow shebeens, taverns and pubs to still trade. Surely someone drinking at home is a lower risk.

And besides, those same taverns allow you to buy booze and hardehout for takeaway on the weekend.

 

[zll]

Minority of the society.

While it may be a minority, it's still an incredibly large number of people when you add them all up.

 

[The_Ogre]

The thing I didn't get was why close liquor stores on the weekend but allow shebeens, taverns and pubs to still trade. Surely someone drinking at home is a lower risk.

And besides, those same taverns allow you to buy booze and hardehout for takeaway on the weekend.

And it's not like the idiots who drew up those amended laws didn't know how taverns operate.

A black man who doesn't know that a tavern/shebeen allows you to buy liquor for offsite consumption is a ****ing coconut!

 

[Brian_G]

I think it helps in some cases.
But other cases I don't think it helps.

Agreed, but still think another agenda is behind this, like so much of this wide exaggeration period.
Going to call it wokechotic (as in psychotic).

@bwana , can't vote here without the Other option.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

And it's not like the idiots who drew up those amended laws didn't know how taverns operate.

A black man who doesn't know that a tavern/shebeen allows you to buy liquor for offsite consumption is a ****ing coconut!

How much did you pay for a quart this morning?

 

[noxibox]

At best such bans are a blunt instrument. They're a sign of the South African government's laziness and inability to think about sensible solutions.

If the black market is managing to sustain inflated prices that means people are buying. If everyone was declaring it too expensive then prices would drop.

I dont have exact numbers no, but from the previous lock down where booze was banned Bara's trauma was empty on new years day which is a first time ever occurrence.

https://www.news24.com/news24/south...l-trauma-unit-empty-on-new-years-eve-20210101

So simply not allowing people to go out drinking on New Year's would itself have had a dramatic impact. If we're going to assume alcohol is the prime factor.

edit: You could argue the fact that it was the curfew that helps not the alcohol ban, so I can understand the question, but how poorly the curfew gets enforced it would lead me to believe its a combination of both curfew and alchol ban that helps reduce trauma numbers. But as I mentioned before I dont have numbers and have not done a study on it.

here are some more numbers:

https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles...as-wildly-effective-at-preventing-trauma-data

https://www.groundup.org.za/article/study-shows-effect-alcohol-ban/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211419X20301464

Those studies have been thoroughly ripped apart here and elsewhere. The data also shows that allowing people to interact resulted in a dramatic increase in emergency room visits. But they like to gloss over that one.

The thing I didn't get was why close liquor stores on the weekend but allow shebeens, taverns and pubs to still trade. Surely someone drinking at home is a lower risk.

And besides, those same taverns allow you to buy booze and hardehout for takeaway on the weekend.

It becomes a lot clearer when you consider where the government's voters are more likely to be acquiring their alcohol. Don't forget this is the same government that did other idiotic things like closing beaches, hiking trails and large parks.

 

[duckgray]

yes, it does. i know of many doctors that work at government hospitals and all of them have said that with the alcohol ban they see a substantial decrease of drunk stabbings and related incidents.

 

[neoprema]

Do you or not agree booze encourages gathering?

I'm waiting to analyze where you're gonna take which answer I give so give me some time

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

yes, it does. i know of many doctors that work at government hospitals and all of them have said that with the alcohol ban they see a substantial decrease of drunk stabbings and related incidents.

Exactly what I have been saying all along
Idiots come home and stab each other
Coz neighbours are pomping their wives
And who knows what else other kak is going on

 

[porchrat]

My concern with it is that other countries who's lockdowns successfully flattened the curve didn't ban all booze. They may have banned drinking at establishments but that was more for people socializing.

Other countries don't have the violence issues we have. Not to mention the dysfunctional police force meaning that it's a lot easier to get away with getting hammered and beating the hell out of someone else.

 

[Speedster]

I love how people drum up all sorts of explanations for this but absolutely refuse to consider the obvious.

 

[TrueSeeker]

I absolutely believe it does so.
However, same as I believed with regards to the cigarette ban last year, smuggling operations and black market trading will inevitably promote the spread of the disease.
I think at the very least they can allow alcohol deliveries.
Any arrangement that minimizes the number of times people leave their homes, and at the same time keep them as content as possible at home, are the ideal solutions.

Boosting the illegal alcohol trade is a secondary concern - And not a small one. Same as it should have been while they were boosting the illegal cigarette industry last year.