英國取締酒桌遊戲 嚴打豪飲之風

Tough new rules for pubs and clubs - including a ban on drinking games like the infamous "dentist's chair" - will be introduced in Britain this year in a bid to curb the heavy drinking culture that costs the country billions of pounds a year.

Other promotions like "all you can drink for 10 pounds ($16)", speed drinking competitions and "women drink free" nights will also be prohibited.

But, controversially, bulk offers of cheap alcohol in supermarkets - widely regarded as one of the main sources of Britain's problems with under-age and excessive drinking - will not be affected.

Doctors and health lobbyists argue that the government has failed to wield its most effective weapon, the imposition of minimum price controls on alcohol.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he did not want to target responsible drinkers on low incomes, but that the government and the industry had a duty to act on booze-fueled promotions.

"These practices have a real impact on society, not to mention the lives of those who just want to enjoy a good night out," he said.

The dentist's chair, where drinks are poured directly into the mouth by others, was made famous by the celebrations of footballer Paul Gascoigne at Euro '96. That game - and others that promote mass consumption - will be banned from April and publicans will have to ensure free tap water is made available to revellers.

A second set of rules enforcing compulsory ID checks and making sure smaller alcoholic measures are on sale come into effect in October.

The government says excessive boozing costs Britain up to 12 billion pounds a year and has vowed that any premises that breach the new mandatory code will face stiff penalties.

Publicans and vendors could lose their licences, be fined up to 20,000 pounds ($32,750) or face six months in prison.

爲抑制英國人的“豪飲”風氣，英國政府將於今年在酒吧和俱樂部等場所實施一系列新規定，其中包括叫停臭名昭著的“牙醫椅子秀”等飲酒遊戲。據稱，英國人酗酒的風氣每年給該國造成數十億英鎊的損失。

此外，類似“10英磅（16美元）無限暢飲”、拼酒比賽以及“女士免費夜”等酒吧促銷活動也將被禁止。

但禁令本身存在一些爭議，因爲超市裏銷售的大量廉價酒仍然“逍遙法外”，而這普遍被認爲是造成英國未成年人酗酒的主要原因之一。

醫生和健康宣傳人士認爲政府沒利用好控制酒類最低限價這一最有效的“武器”。

英國內政大臣艾倫•約翰遜表示，他不想殃及負責任的低收入飲酒者，但政府和酒類行業有義務取締助長豪飲風氣的酒類促銷行爲。

他說：“這些行爲對社會產生了切實的影響，更別說那些僅想尋得一夜之歡的人的生命健康了。”

“牙醫椅子秀”是一種把人按在椅子上，直接往他嘴裏灌酒的遊戲。這一遊戲從1996年歐錦賽後開始風靡，當時（英格蘭國家隊球員）保羅•加斯科爲慶祝勝利採取了這種方式。從今年四月起，該遊戲以及其它豪飲遊戲將被禁止。此外，酒館老闆必須爲飲酒者提供免費的飲用水。

另外一批新法規將於今年十月起開始實施，包括身份檢查以及酒吧必須保證小包裝酒品有售等。

英國政府稱，過量飲酒每年給英國造成了高達120億英鎊的損失，並表示任何違反新法規的經營場所都將受到嚴懲。

違規的酒店老闆和售酒者將被吊銷營業執照，並被處以最高兩萬英鎊（32750美元）的罰款，或六個月的監禁。

Vocabulary:

under-age：未達到法定年齡的

lobbyist：a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest; a member of a lobby（遊說通過議案者，陳情者）

publican：a person who owns or manages a pub（酒館老闆）

reveller：a person who is having fun in a noisy way, usually with a group of other people and often after drinking alcohol（擺設酒宴者，飲酒狂歡者）

booze: to drink alcohol, esp. to excess（豪飲）

premises：經營場所