Alden backs booze shops remaining open
The current restrictions across the community designed to contain the spread of COVID-19 were not about making judgements over whether people should be allowed to drink alcohol or not, Premier Alden McLaughlin said at Saturday’s press briefing. Facing questions about closing the liquor stores, he made it clear it was not sustainable to shut them, not least because of the lengths people would then go to trying to get booze.
“If we close the liquor stores, I want people to think about what is going happen,” he said. “We are already having to deal with speakeasies that are sprouting up around George Town, because people are going to go in search of liquor.”
The premier pointed out that under the current circumstances, the authorities are able to control the access that people have and the liquor stores are now subject to the alphabetical division as well. He noted that there are far less instances of people driving under the influence now than before the crisis.
“We do not believe it is sustainable for us to shut the liquor stores without serious consequences,” he said.
McLaughlin said he believed most people drink responsibly, himself included, and the minority that have a problem with drink are going to behave in a certain way, regardless of the rules.
Pointing out that in most western countries people can buy alcohol in the supermarkets anyway, he said that as far as he was aware, no bans had been introduced on liquor because of this pandemic, as he emphasized that the liquor stores would not be shut down.
The premier pointed out that under the current circumstances, the authorities are able to control the access that people have and the liquor stores are now subject to the alphabetical division as well. He noted that there are far less instances of people driving under the influence now than before the crisis.
“We do not believe it is sustainable for us to shut the liquor stores without serious consequences,” he said.
McLaughlin said he believed most people drink responsibly, himself included, and the minority that have a problem with drink are going to behave in a certain way, regardless of the rules.
Pointing out that in most western countries people can buy alcohol in the supermarkets anyway, he said that as far as he was aware, no bans had been introduced on liquor because of this pandemic, as he emphasized that the liquor stores would not be shut down.
