Serious subject. The opiate epidemic may get more headlines at the moment, but alcohol abuse is a problem that has long existed and doesn’t seem to be going away. [level-members]
And while it may not be the subject you’d most like to talk about, we’re better off addressing it head on – or others will do it for us. As in this article from Alabama.
You can find many similar articles across the web, and many make valid and worthwhile points. Those are the points we need to address. Because while it’s easy to dismiss as puritanical any calls for further regulation – Prohibition failed and it isn’t coming back – more regulation will come if the problems continue to grow. For example, higher taxes, which are designed to reduce consumption by raising costs to the consumer.
So there’s a balance to be struck. More regulation aimed at reducing consumption isn’t good for our industry. Ignoring the problem and hoping the status quo remains may work out in the short term, but is probably destined to fail over the longer haul.
I welcome your thoughts: what are our responsibilities. And how to you manage your business priorities with the unfortunate instances where you have a strong feeling that a customer may have a problem? [/level-members]