Lyon aims to reduce Le Binge Drinking

French city introduces night time ban on alcohol sales to tackle public drunkenness and antisocial behaviour among the young The French call it le binge drinking and consider it one of the more obnoxious imports from across the Channel. Now officials in Lyon have introduced a night time ban on retail sales of alcohol to combat what is seen as a nasty Anglo-Saxon habit sweeping France. From Monday, shops throughout the city will be banned from selling alcohol between 10pm and 6am in an effort to limit public drunkenness. The ban will not apply to bars, restaurants or nightclubs. Until five years ago, the French viewed binge drinking as a phenomenon largely limited to the UK and Scandinavian countries. This is reflected by the use of the English term, which is widespread and appears not to have been censored by the Académie Française, the body guarding the French language. The official translation is intoxication alcoolique aigue (severe alcoholic intoxication). Now, France is being forced to admit it has a growing problem. The French national institute for health education (INPES) has launched a campaign called BoireTrop (OverDrink) to warn of the dangers of excessive drinking. INPES says alcohol is responsible for about 45,000 deaths in France every year. A World Health Organisation report in 2010 showed the French to be the fourth biggest consumers of alcohol in Europe, based on 2005 figures, behind Estonia, the Czech Republic and Ireland. Britain was 13th. Not surprisingly, most alcohol consumed in France is wine. The report found Gallic drinking habits to be “stable”. Officials are particularly concerned about the increase in drinking among those aged 18-25, especially women, and are keen to address the growing fashion among youngsters for getting drunk as quickly as possible. The trend hit the headlines last year with the organisation of several apéro géant (giant aperitif) parties using social network sites such as Facebook. An apéro géant in Nantes last month attracted 6,000 youngsters. A drunken man was fished from the Loire by the emergency services who had foreseen such an event – several youngsters fell into the river the previous year – and stationed a boat on the river. Another teenager had to be rescued after climbing a crane. Lyon officials said the measure was aimed at combatting the “massive and brutal” summer consumption of alcohol in public. It will be in force until 10 September. They hope the measure will “reduce the nuisances” caused by alcohol including “damage, violence, noise and the breaking of glass”. Shopkeepers who break the drink sales embargo could be fined €750 (£660). Jean-Louis Touraine, deputy mayor and responsible for public order in Lyon, told Le Progrès newspaper: “There are serious dangers with alcohol, for long term and immediate health, with numerous accidents among drunken youngsters who, for example, throw themselves into the Rhone as part of a bet, as well as violence and the nuisance for locals. “We are not hoping to completely resolve this problem, but we want to at least reduce the more serious excesses. “And if people turn to bars, we should remind proprietors that they cannot serve people already too drunk.” France Europe World Health Organisation Alcohol Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 17, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.