Vincentian-born family physician Dr. Malcolm Grant is calling for there to be more responsibility placed on local bars for serving alcohol to already intoxicated persons.
Dr. Grant was at the time a guest on WE FM’s Issue At Hand program, when he said that there needs to be laws put in place to make bars in SVG liable for the consequences that come as a result of these cases.
“I’ve seen actually, bars here in St. Vincent serving people who are tumbling down and with no, to me, outward sense of responsibility as to—okay, what role do they play if this person gets into an accident on their way home, writes off somebody else, a pedestrian, another person coming home, you know, damages property, and one of the suggestions that I’ll be returning to at the end is that we need to pass laws that makes these bars liable to some extent. In other words, you can’t be going after the dollar while disregarding the potential impact that the serving of this extra drink is going to be having on this individual. Yes, he may go somewhere else and get the drink, but let him go somewhere else and get it, make it difficult for him,” Dr. Grant said.
Dr. Grant during his appearance on the program said that alcohol is the most commonly used drug in the Caribbean, and discussed the impacts, both negative and positive that alcohol can have on Vincentians.
