Consumers in Cardiff are now being asked to use breathalysers prior to being allowed to purchase alcohol at the shops.
New measures are being introduced on a daily basis to keep alcoholics from causing disturbance and violence on the streets. Recently the government had made efforts of increasing tax on alcohol and cigarettes. Vendors and shopkeepers are also obliged by law to refuse selling alcohol to those who are already drunk. Use of breathalysers is one such initiative.
While alcoholism is a major issue that the city is constantly attempting to fight, is using breathalysers in supermarkets going a step too far?
Some citizens were asked to comment on this new attempt at tackling the problem of alcohol consumption. Here is what they had to say:
Lee Sutcliffe, 46, Cardiff
I myself have been breathalysed on one or two occasions going into certain shops. I think it’s a good idea, what I am concerned about is that even though the shops breathalyse people because of consumption of alcohol there are clubs and pubs that you can go in and get absolutely as drunk as you like without being tested.
Val Elvise, 63, Liquor Seller, Cardiff
Well, I’ve never done it here because normally you can tell when people have had too much to drink. I don’t think it’s going to make an awful lot of difference but I suppose if you’ve got a shop its more difficult when people come in, if they’d had too much drink, to actually refuse to serve.
Ruth Nortey, 31, Policy Research Officer, Cardiff
I guess it’s a quicker way for them to identify if someone is over the limit and then to put those measures in place and show them that they are obviously over the limit ” therefore I’m not going to serve you.” I think the shops have to have confidence in being able to enforce it and the public just has to be able to listen to people.
Archy Bhatt, 24, Student of International Planning and Development, Cardiff
I think it’s a good way but I’m not able to make up my mind because if someone is already under the influence of alcohol it is going to be visibly clearly, so you don’t need a breathalyser to check. And if it isn’t visible then I don’t think you need to check because they have their own capacity and they are in control so there is no need to use the breathalyser. That is invasion of privacy.
Dylan Tom Goldring, 22, Monk, Cardiff
As a monk I would perhaps think of a quote that comes in mind from Albert Einstein, he said that “a problem cannot be solved at a level that it was created on”. But if we wanted to solve the problem of alcoholism then I would suggest, as a spiritual person, something called the higher taste.
Falicity, 23, Student, Cardiff
I guess its quiet good but people get very angry about it so for people working in the shop it’s probably not very safe. I wouldn’t want to test someone because I’d know that they would be drunk and they’d shout at me.
