World

Binge drinking becomes campaign issue in Britain

interns Contributor
Font Size:

CARDIFF, Wales—Around midnight on a recent Saturday night, 19-year-old Annelies Hopkins inventoried her evening’s revelry: half a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and four pints and six bottles of beer.

As she waited in line at Lloyds No. 1 Bar, Ms. Hopkins, a secretary by day, said she had no intention of slowing down. “No, speed up!” she cried. Ms. Hopkins and her sister, dressed in sleeveless tops despite the cold weather, convulsed in giggles.

Binge drinking in Great Britain is causing mayhem on the streets and has become an election issue in the run-up to the expected May 6 ballot. WSJ’s Jeanne Whalen reports.

Such raucous partying routinely turns the weekend streetscape here in the capital of Wales into a scene from “Night of the Living Dead.” Drunken young men and women stumble through streets fouled with trash and broken glass, while the police labor to maintain order and tend to those needing help.

Full story: U.K. Reaches Its Limit on Binge Drinking – WSJ.com