Councilors in Perth, Scotland have proposed establishing an alcoholic den in which the city’s alcoholics could be round up and kept away from public view. A BBC article on the subject spells out the concerns of the local government, “Councilors are concerned they give a bad impression of the area to visitors and can be frightening to local people.”
In the same article, Councilor Willie Robertson, convener of the community safety committee, is quoted as saying “So it's a social problem that has to be dealt with." I would hate to see this guy’s living quarters if his idea of addressing a problem is just sweeping the mess under the rug. If you ask me, the real social problem is that as society our love of alcohol is greater than our common sense. It’s the same here in the States, just look at the current debate over minimum drinking age stirred up again by the Amethyst Initiative, a group of educators that feel the best way to deal with underage drinking is to lower the drinking age!
So what is next for Perth for the sake of appearance and tourism, bringing back the opium dens?
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