EDITORIAL
Serving Alcohol Responsibly
Monday, August 30, 2004
Next week, the Liquor Licensing Board will meet in its Annual Session to
deliberate on 47 new licence applications that have been received since the
temporary lifting of the moratorium. It will also consider the renewal of
hundreds of existing liquor licences.
While Cayman Net News believes that lifting the moratorium was needed, and
in fact that it should have been lifted permanently, there are recent aspects
of the selling of alcohol at establishments in the Cayman Islands that are
quite unsettling.
As undermanned as they are, the Royal Cayman Islands Police are, more and
more these days, having to respond to reports of disturbances at Grand
Cayman’s bars and nightclubs. Most of these disturbances concern fights.
With more pressing police problems currently at hand, like the recent rash
of shootings, drug trafficking, and even the dangerous driving on our roads,
it is unfortunate that the police must spend valuable time responding to
incidents that are easily avoidable with the responsible conduct of
establishment selling alcohol.
Obviously, a bar or nightclub is in business to make money like any other
business, however because it sells products that can have dangerous effects on
either users or innocent bystanders, a certain amount of responsibility must
be accepted by those who earn a living from this industry.
One of the things that is leading to the increasing incidents of fights in
bars and nightclubs is what is called ‘binge drinking.’ This behaviour is
encouraged by promotions offering special prices during a limited timeframe
like two-for-one drinks or all-you-can-drink for a flat-rate price.
Some customers will drink as much as they can during the limited timeframe to
take advantage of the special prices. It is no wonder that people get drunk
and that fights break out afterwards.
In the UK, violence as a result of binge drinking has become so prevalent -
with alcohol reportedly accounting for 44 percent of all violent crime there -
that a major campaign has been launched to initiate a culture change. One of
the key elements the UK’s campaign is trying to stop is all-you-can-drink
promotions, something that might be outlawed.
Legislation banning such promotions could also be an option here in Cayman,
but local business owners should have the sense to discontinue these gimmicks
if they know that there has been an increase of violence as a result.
In Cayman’s highly competitive bar and club environment, businesses are all
looking to gain an edge on the competition to draw in patrons.
However, there are more responsible ways to do that than promoting
drunkenness. Less drastic drink specials, cover charge savings, and better
entertainment all work to bring customers to an establishment as well. It is
not just the sober patrons of a bar or club that benefit either, because some
of those indulging in binge drinking are getting behind the wheel of a car and
putting innocent residents all over the island at risk.
Alcohol-serving businesses can also help curtail violence by establishing
some other measures, widely used in other places in the world. The idea of
“bouncers” might be foreign in Cayman, but when fights become a routine
occurrence, bar and club owners need to take some security steps to ensure the
safety of their patrons, especially in a tourist location like Grand Cayman.
Business owners must also ensure that everyone in their establishment is of
legal drinking age, something which is a law here, but not really properly
enforced.
In places like the United States, in some cases bar, club and restaurant
owners have been made both criminally and civilly liable for the actions of
patrons that they served to the point of drunkenness.
Unless those who serve alcohol here take a more responsible approach to
their businesses voluntarily, perhaps the Cayman Islands should force them to
through punitive legislation.
Back...
| 
