Drink and Drugs

What percentage of crime in Guernsey is driven by drink or drugs?

20-25%?

No, that is probably the figure for those crimes not related to drink or drugs.

Guernsey has a problem and doesn’t seem to be doing an awful lot about it.

Our border control keeps telling us of record seizures but drugs still remain freely available not only in our streets but in our prison too. And you’ve only to look at our High Street on a Saturday night to see some of the problems caused by excessive drinking.

What we need are new tough laws!

No, what we need is a change of attitude to drink and drugs and effective policing of existing laws.

We’ve already started to tackle the problems of smoking but have yet to see the damage to health which levels of increased drinking will lead to. Alcohol is a poison and you cannot keep pouring large quantities of poison into your system without consequence.

The thing is though is that we all enjoy a drink. A couple of beers or a nice glass or two of wine never did anyone any harm. We all need to let our hair down occasionally. No harm in that is there?

Some people are the same with drugs. The occasional puff does no harm. A tab or two makes for a good evening.

But where do you draw the line? How do you control adults who don’t see the problem. So what if I go over the top now and again? Why shouldn’t I have a good time? Who are you to dictate my lifestyle?

It’s about the type of society we want in Guernsey. Do we want to abandon our capital on a Saturday night? Do we want our courts full of drunken excuses for appalling behaviour? Do we want our hospital filled with self induced accidents and emergencies?

Being drunk and disorderly is a crime.

Taking drugs is a crime.

Enforce the law. Extend the law.

If someone is caught driving under the influence, we take away their “right” to drive for a while. So, if someone is convicted of a drink related offence, could we take away their “right” to drink in a public place. Probably not.

How about “Three strikes and you’re out”? Forget the sob stories and the “really trying to turn my life around” defences. Mandatory prison sentences for repeat offenders.

Yes, it is harsh. It is meant to be.

You have a problem with drink or drugs and you are not effectively dealing with it. Society will help you but it will not allow you to push your problem on other people. If you cannot or will not sort it out yourself, then we will sort it out for you.

I can already hear the outcry from the Human rights lobby. What I won’t hear is the low conversations in the places of power from those with a big stake in maximising their profits from “the entertainment industry”. Profits which cost the taxpayer in police, court, and hospital time let alone the wider social service problems.

But remember, we are talking about repeat offenders. Not the occasional “letting your hair down” party which got a bit out of control. Not the “I didn’t realise that mixing drink and drugs would have this effect” idiot. We’re talking about the individuals who get themselves arrested on three separate occasions for drink or drug related offenses. The one’s who don’t care about the rest of us.

Let’s take these individuals and put them somewhere where they can be offered solutions to their problems. But also somewhere uncomfortable enough that they really won’t want to come back. It’s called prison but not as we know it. 

But that’s for another article.