Originally Posted by
LTN Phobia
If the government want to control drinking at airports, setting the minimum price of alcohol (by virtue of taxing them at 500% or something, haha), removing self-serve, and introduce fines for people serving alcohol to intoxicated customers* would be better than a ban.
*Possibly the 'responsible service of alcohol' style, similar to Australia where you have to complete a course and face a rather substantial fine if you disobey
In the UK it has long been a criminal offence if someone "sells or attempts to sell alcohol to a person who is drunk", or "allows alcohol to be sold to such a person". It's also a criminal offence for someone to buy drink for a friend if they are drunk too, which is rather less well known. It attracts a fine on a scale up to £1,000, and would seriously endanger a licensee's renewal. Now this is not ruthlessly enforced (particularly the buying for a friend bit), but even on the Bigg Market on a Friday night every pub there will deny drinks to at least some customers. "Drunk" in this case uses a commonsense definition, the landlord doesn't need to administer breath tests.