I have never been a huge fan of alcohol. When I was younger I drank a bit but the older I get it seems the less I drink. I'm not against alcohol and will get drunk with friends occasionally or have a drink with dinner if we go out but it would be maybe once a week, if not once a month.
Recently I have been drinking a little more, not a lot but every few nights I'll have a couple of drinks and get a bit tipsy. I've found it helps me sleep a bit better but also I have been quite bored, waiting for the roads to open and for us to leave.
I have always been under the belief that if we are going to ban weed and other recreational drugs we may as well ban alcohol as well. It is clearly one of the most dangerous and causes immeasurable damage. That being said I do not condone the banning of alcohol, I believe we should have the right to choose what we put in our bodies, it just never made sense under the guise of harm-reduction.
Alcohol is a huge part of Australian culture and you would be hard pressed to find many people who don't drink or are against alcohol. Imagine my surprise when we went to the bottleshop near Christmas and were told there are restrictions on what you can buy.
What do you mean restrictions?
No bottles of spirits, one 6 pack of full strength beer a day one bottle of wine...
Why and how?
It is being called an "accord", or specifically the "alcohol accord". Essentially the government have decided to temporarily ban or restrict the sale of alcohol.
This has come about due to the once in a hundred year floods that have been occurring in the area. It has been declared a state of emergency and therefore given the government extra powers. The official line is something about emergency services being stretched and resources limited.
The truth is that the displaced people and a large amount of the locals cannot handle their alcohol without doing something fucked up.
Broome (where I am) is a high crime area but so are all the other spots around here. It is driven to extremes by the rampant alcohol abuse in the community and within certain demographics.
These people cannot handle alcohol and often resort to violence and crime, so much so that the police are essentially helpless. On new years eve the police were called to one of the more problematic areas in town and where set upon by hundreds of people. When residents call for assistance because someone is breaking in or trying to hurt them it can take them hours to actually arrive, simply due to the massive amount of crime they have to deal with.
Even when caught and charged for some reason the system is designed to let them go. So many of the horrible crimes are committed by people on bail for another crime. Either that or they are underage and the courts are hesitant to punish first nations children appropriately for fear of backlash.
How long for?
At this point it will have been almost a month. They are due to review the rules again on the 26th of Jan, Australia day. I can tell you if the bogans cant drink on Australia day they will fucking riot.
The general consensus seems to be that these restrictions are here to stay at least for the short term. Displaced people will be here for a while and the government is handing them fat stacks of cash for their trouble. If they didn't restrict alcohol they couldn't stock the shelves fast enough and the place would be a legitimate warzone.
Shit even 2 days ago during the bans I had to go outside with a machete because some guy was beating up his girlfriend in our front yard. This place is a mess.
At least here it is just restrictions, in other places further north like Derby there is a full on ban. Since there is no freight able to get there by road they are on emergency supplies by boat and plane and no alcohol or cigarettes will be brought in.
People have been rioting and protesting at the police station.
Solution.
Many solutions have been attempted but most are a joke.
They introduced something known as the banned drinker register, essentially a database of people who do the wrong thing when drunk and are therefore banned or restricted on alcohol they can buy.
In an area with such a huge problem and so many problem drinkers only 6 people are on the register.
I've seen more than 6 people today that should be on that register, in my street.
I don't know how the system works but it appears to be quite difficult to get someone on it and if not then someone isn't doing their job.
The register seemed to be a good idea in theory but in practice it is just not working and people are fed up.
We are adults and we live under a society of laws. If something is going to be legal then let it be legal. Punish the people doing the wrong thing and let the people doing the right thing have the freedom they deserve...