I attend the Edinburgh international book festival as a "Scottish Youth Debate" which was set up by the Scottish Youth Parliament and other organisations to discuss the youth of Scotland and where they fit in to the future of Scotland. The issue of Scotland's relationship with alcohol was brought up by Hardeep Singh Kohli who is a former TV presenter for the BBC show called the "One Show". He voiced views on how Alcohol should be taken off the supermarket shelves and how prices should be put up. He also went on to say that heroin should be make legal as the statistics show that less people are harmed by the drug. I was outraged at his views, Glasgow has a problem with heroin users and I can tell you that from personal experience that it is a much larger problem. People who take heroin will mug people no matter who you are, old and young. I said "Our European cousins have the right idea by having a relaxed attitude to alcohol. I think that Scotland would benefit from a relaxed attitude as this would educate young people that alcohol can be enjoyed socially". He too this statement personal and said "the statistics show that less people are affected by heroin" he then went on to say, "your views are stupid and you should get a train ticket to the real world" I said "the only reason less people are affected by heroin is due to less people using the drug, I am not denying that Scotland has a problem with alcohol, but I don't agree that raising the prices and banning supermarkets from selling it is going to help the problem". I was shocked and offended that he made things personal. I could have raised about how he was suspended from the One Show for sexually harassing a female college, but I decided that I was better than that. I personally think it was rich for him to tell me to get a train ticket to the "real world" with his track record!, however on a better note the event went really well and was a great success, people from all over the world attend including people from the USA and New Zealand.If you have any questions please e-mail me at:
austin.sheridan.msyp@sypmail.org.uk and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Posted by Austin Sheridan MSYP
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This article can be found at: http://austinactive.yolasite.com/blog.php
