Alcohol and the law
Alcohol and the law have a shifting relationship as those groups protected or targeted change with the times to reflect the concerns of the ruling party.
Ever since the fifteenth century, governments in the UK have made laws to curb excessive drinking. Concern about political unrest or 'over-indulgence' by the working classes was often the motivation behind public policy.
Licensing laws – a brief history
Magistrates were given powers to close 'troublesome ale-houses' with the 1495 Act because the ruling class feared they would become a venue for political agitation. Later laws restricted young people's access to alcohol and bars to prevent their being 'corrupted' while 'opening' hours were introduced to limit drinking during the First World War.
Who can buy and where?
Today licensing regulations limit where alcohol can be sold and to whom. Basically, it's illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under 18 at a licensed outlet although there is a whole bunch of other provisions relating to alcohol and children. Premises are generally licensed by local authorities and pubs may be open 24 hours a day and off licences can open between 8am and 11pm.
Under-age drinking
Despite all the legal provisions, a Department of Health report, Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use, researched in 2004, uncovered plenty of under-age alcohol purchases. Nine out of ten pupils, aged 11–15, who had attempted to buy alcohol illegally in pubs and bars had been able to do so. And almost three quarters of those who had tried to buy alcohol in a shop had been successful.
The upshot is that drinking starts at an early age in this country. It's been estimated that almost 90% of boys in England have drunk alcohol by the age of 13. In the 13–16 age range, about a third of children drink at least once a week, but mostly in the home and generally in small amounts.
What's allowed
It's not illegal to possess or drink alcohol although it's worth checking a couple of key exceptions. If you live in Glasgow or Lambeth it's an offence to drink in public while other cities have banned drinking in some public spaces. The Public Order Act of 1986 also made it an offence to carry or possess alcohol on public transport travelling to and from certain sporting events.
And what isn't
It's an offence to be drunk in a public place – including licensed premises – or to be drunk and disorderly. Nor can anyone drive when they're 'under the influence' or drunk. Unlicensed home-brewing of beers, wines and cider (not spirits) is permitted, but the products cannot be sold.
Drinking and driving
The legal blood alcohol limit for driving is 80mg of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (80mg%). But prosecution guidelines followed by police forces mean that in practice, drivers are not normally prosecuted until they reach 40 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – that's the same as 90 mg%.
Alcohol and crime
'Alcohol-related crime' is a popular rather than a legal term and it can be hard to prove a direct connection between alcohol consumption and crime. Nonetheless, in its Alcohol Strategy document, published in 2004, the Government reckoned alcohol-related crime cost society up to £7.3bn per annum. It also linked the following to alcohol misuse:
- 1.2m violent incidents – that's around half of all violent crimes
- 360,000 incidents of domestic violence (around one third)
- increased anti-social behaviour and fear of crime – 61% of the population perceive alcohol-related violence as worsening.
Round-the-clock drinking
Pubs with the appropriate permit can now stay open around the clock since the Licensing Act was introduced last November. It's too early to say what the impact has been, is the consensus. But as Emily Rapley, research officer at the Institute for Alcohol Studies says, '24 November was unlikely to be the end of humankind as we know it but rather the start of a cumulative effect'.
- No child under 16 years old is allowed in licensed premises unaccompanied.
- It is an offence to give alcohol to a child under five.
- In Northern Ireland it is an offence for people under 18 to enter licensed premises.
- Elsewhere, children can enter parts of licensed premises, including the bar, where the landlord has requested a special licence (although children must leave the bar area by 9pm); children can also be in the pub garden and (apart from Scotland) can be bought alcohol to drink there, providing they are over five years of age.
- At 14, children can enter the bar (the place where alcohol is bought and consumed) of licensed premises, but not until 18 can they drink alcohol there.
- At 18 years the teenager can legally purchase alcohol in a pub or from an off-licence.
- There's an exception in the provision allowing 16 year olds to buy beer, cider or perry (and in Scotland wine), but only to drink with a meal not served at a bar. In some areas it is a local offence to consume alcohol in public.