It's always like that. Somebody dies and we feel the need to start a moral panic. A young lady died during an Open Bar party in New Year's Eve and suddenly open bars are a menace to society. Letters start flooding the press and Taliban-like speeches are made by moral ministers. Opinion polls are flung about like they're the epitome of scientific studies and we panic and start behaving like drunks: confusing things, proposing stupid shit and burping gibberish. Dolores: open bars are a menace to sobriety but not the devil incarnate. They exist because people love to drink. Thinking that open bars turn people to booze is insulting our intelligence. Yes, Malta has an alarmingly high rate of young people who abuse alcohol. But let's get some friggin' perspective here shall we? Turning hysterical is as much a good idea as sitting near a fire to dry yourself from a gasoline shower.
Of course, laws regarding under-age drinking should be improved and enforcement introduced. What you don't do is crusade against open-bar parties. What is causing young people to get wasted every weekend? This should be the question that we should be asking. And that is where the answer lies. As Joe Stummer amply put it: "48 hours need 48 thrills". The weekend is the time when young people take their middle finger out and parade it for the benefit of all those forces that oppress them. Be it boring mind numbing work, lectures on irrelevant shit or an education system that provides them with more crap than life-skills. Alcohol abuse is serious. And so should be its discussion. Pretending a ban on open bars is the way to go is pathetic. Apparently this is not the immigrants season. Let's find another scapegoat shall we?
Disclaimer: I am in no way involved in the organisation of open bar parties. To tell you the truth I think these parties are nothing but glamorous rip-offs and I think that they're more full of hype than booze.
