Fancy a lollipop & some flip flops with your hangover?

Osem · 12-10-2010, 15:18

If so head off to Camden for your heavy night out:

http://www.camdennewjournal.com/news...rs-camden-town

Wonder how long it'll be before someone sues having choked on one of those lollies or tripped over their flip flops?..

Seriously wouldn't it be better to get tough on those licensees who insist on serving people who're already drunk?

Sasha222 · 12-10-2010, 23:59

That is the most stupid thing I have ever heard what they are doing. It's more like encouraging more people to visit there and get then get awarded for getting out of there heads drunk. Who ever thought up this idea needs there heads examined

Stuart · 13-10-2010, 01:11

I can think of many reasons for people to go to Camden. Getting lollypops and flip flops isn't one of them. Especially as Camden is one of the more expensive places in London to drink.

The idea of the flip flops is simple. A lot of women tend to go out in high heels. Then they get ratted, and come stumbling out of the pub. If they are wearing flip flops (or even flat shoes), the chances of injury are reduced.

As for giving people biscuits, sweets and tea, is this not better than them going to a kebab shop, drinking more alcohol (a lot of kebab shops sell some alcohol) and going off to kick off a fight?

Finally, how is helping people get home bad?

I am not saying the scheme is anything more than an attempt to treat the effects of alcohol abuse. It's certainly not going to stop anyone really determined to get drunk and fight, but it might help reduce the problems the area has that are associated with the amount of people who drink in it.

As for the coment about getting tough on licensees, how do you know they aren't?

Sasha222 · 13-10-2010, 01:38

I do agree to a point but I think the money spend would have been more welcoming to open a help center for people who have drink and drug addictions and who want the help.

Osem · 13-10-2010, 10:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

I can think of many reasons for people to go to Camden. Getting lollypops and flip flops isn't one of them. Especially as Camden is one of the more expensive places in London to drink.

The idea of the flip flops is simple. A lot of women tend to go out in high heels. Then they get ratted, and come stumbling out of the pub. If they are wearing flip flops (or even flat shoes), the chances of injury are reduced.

As for giving people biscuits, sweets and tea, is this not better than them going to a kebab shop, drinking more alcohol (a lot of kebab shops sell some alcohol) and going off to kick off a fight?

Finally, how is helping people get home bad?

I am not saying the scheme is anything more than an attempt to treat the effects of alcohol abuse. It's certainly not going to stop anyone really determined to get drunk and fight, but it might help reduce the problems the area has that are associated with the amount of people who drink in it.

As for the coment about getting tough on licensees, how do you know they aren't?

Yes I fully understand the reasoning behind what's being done but there's no doubt that the buggest part of the problem is people getting so drunk in the first place. In my experience of pubs, there are almost always people being served who are clearly already drunk or are obviously buying drinks for people who're already drunk. If the authorities are being tough on licensees who serve such people then I haven't seen it. That's all in contrast to the stance taken with respect to drug taking and violence in licensed premises which seems to be far more severe and results in quite a few pub closures.

I notice the flip flops aren't supposed to be disposable and people are being asked to return them. I'm sure that'll happen....

Flyboy · 15-10-2010, 16:07

But then if one reads the reasoning behind the scheme, it does sound logical:

Quote:

A spokeswoman for Camden Council outlined details of the scheme, saying: “It [Camden Departure Lounge] can also give out flip-flops for women struggling with high heels, condoms and foil blankets when appropriate. It can give out drinks (tea, coffee, squash and water), biscuits and lollipops. These can stop people shouting, make people less aggressive and prevent post-alcohol hunger.”

It has been a long held belief of mine, that low blood sugar, induced by excess blood alcohol levels, is a strong contributing factor to aggressive drunkenness.

DocDutch · 15-10-2010, 16:29

quite a few councils are looking into this but its mainly churches running it, and yes would you start a fight with a lollipop in your mouth???

Derek · 15-10-2010, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flyboy

It has been a long held belief of mine, that low blood sugar, induced by excess blood alcohol levels, is a strong contributing factor to aggressive drunkenness.

Take the bit that says 'low blood sugar, induced by' out the above phrase and you are almost there.

Trying to find a physical excuse for drunken loutish behaviour seems to be looking awfully hard for a reason thats not the one glaringly obvious to most other people.

Some people are obnoxious and violent. When they drink they get more obnoxious and more violent and all the lollipops and flip-flops in the world won't solve that.

I don't tend to get fighty and shouty and the end of a night out despite 9 times out of 10 having excess blood alcohol levels.

The carnage you see on Friday and Saturday nights is more to do with the deeper social problems in the country where people have no respect for themselves or others and have grown up in a bubble where their actions have no consequences.

Flyboy · 15-10-2010, 23:00

Why don't you tell us what you know about the effects of low blood sugar on people who have been drinking?

CycoSymz · 16-10-2010, 07:47

When I get drunk, the last thing I want is a lollipop...They should hand out kebabs and paracetamol

Derek · 16-10-2010, 11:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flyboy

Why don't you tell us what you know about the effects of low blood sugar on people who have been drinking?

I know all about the effects of low blood sugar on some people

It doesn't change the fact that alcohol itself is far more likely to be the main cause of people acting like twonks.

As I've mentioned before when I go out and get ratted I don't get fighty, neither do my family, my friends and colleagues. Either we are all amazing and have huge blood sugar reserves or maybe, just maybe we have it at the back of our minds that fighting and being generally obnoxious isn't a good thing to do and despite alcohol fogging our judgement we don't do it.

Trying to blame alcohol fuelled disorder on anything other than alcohol seems a bit strange to me.

Flyboy · 16-10-2010, 17:20

In which case, I suggest you read my post again. I wrote that it was a contributing factor, not the main cause.

But you still haven't told me what you know about the effects of low blood sugar and how it is affected by the prescence of alcohol in the blood and what effect alcohol has one ones blood sugar.

**Hugh** · 16-10-2010, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flyboy

In which case, I suggest you read my post again. I wrote that it was a contributing factor, not the main cause.

But you still haven't told me what you know about the effects of low blood sugar and how it is affected by the prescence of alcohol in the blood and what effect alcohol has one ones blood sugar.

Actually, you stated that

Quote:

It has been a long held belief of mine, that low blood sugar, induced by excess blood alcohol levels, is a strong contributing factor to aggressive drunkenness

.

I have a long held belief that you frequently obfuscate and prevaricate - doesn't make it a fact, though.....

Whilst hypoglycemia induced by alcohol intake is a well known clinical problem in diabetic patients, I haven't read of any clinical trials showing that low-blood sugar as a result of excess alcohol intake in non-diabetics led to violence.

Sasha222 · 16-10-2010, 20:05

Blood sugar is an important statistic to understand when maintaining a healthy lifestyle and diet. Just how does alcohol affect your blood sugar levels?

First off, what is blood sugar? It's, basically, the amount of sugar floating around in your blood. Sugar is the basic fuel your body uses. If you take in other fuel types - alcohol, protein, fat - your body converts those to sugar to use. If your body ends up with excess sugar, it then turns that back into fat and stores it for later use. You always want to keep your blood sugar levels at a healthy middle level - not too high, not too low, no wild swings.

Now for alcohol in particular, very little of alcohol is turned into sugar. Instead, alcohol is treated by the body as a poison (which in fact it is) and the liver begins to work extremely hard to process and get rid of the components down your urinary tract.

The issue here is that the liver has other things to do. Your liver is supposed to help regulate your blood sugar levels. So if your blood sugar levels start to get out of whack - i.e. maybe you haven't eaten in a while and your blood sugar levels are dropping - your liver can't help out because it's too busy getting rid of this poison alcohol. So your blood sugar levels plummet and you run into trouble.

On the other hand, alcohol is as mentioned a fuel source for the body. So if you were to drink a fair amount of alcohol quickly, that is a large influx of calories pouring into your system. Once again, your body is trying to process the alcohol as its first priority to get rid of it - but in the meantime your blood sugar levels are spiking. There's nobody with time available to handle that spike. Bad things can happen.

So in general, alcohol is pretty unique in that it can cause blood sugar levels to go up OR to go down, depending on the exact circumstances. In general, it disables your body's ability to healthily regulate its blood sugar levels. If you are having issues with blood sugar, it's wisest to stay clear of alcohol until you get that under control. Your body can only really work on fixing one thing at a time!

Here's some interesting reading here about what drink does to your blood sugars when drinking

Flyboy · 16-10-2010, 23:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

Actually, you stated that .

I have a long held belief that you frequently obfuscate and prevaricate - doesn't make it a fact, though.....

Whilst hypoglycemia induced by alcohol intake is a well known clinical problem in diabetic patients, I haven't read of any clinical trials showing that low-blood sugar as a result of excess alcohol intake in non-diabetics led to violence.

As you have pointed out (and I don't really know why) I wrote that it was a belief, not a proven fact. As a diabetic, I am fully aware of the effects of alcohol on ones blood sugar. Blood sugar levels affect the moods of everyone. When it is too low, it can cause stress levels to increase, forcing the body to produce adrenalin and therefore, for example, accentuating ones desire to defend oneself. This defence mechanism is manifested in violent tendencies, culminating in the drunk person behaving in a malevolent manner.