Lithuania bans the sale of alcohol

It will be illegal to sell alcohol in Lithuania on September 1 this year. The ban will affect all cafes, hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, shops and supermarkets. Minibars in hotels will be locked, or will have alcohol removed.

September 1 is traditionally a big day for drinking. We don't totally understand why but it has a lot to do with the start of the academic year. Both students and their parents in Lithuania seem to like to celebrate the start of the school year in the same way that everyone else celebrates the end of it. (Actually, they also seem to like to celebrate the opening of envelopes, but... well... let's just not go there. Maybe I'll write something about that on another occassion.)

As September 1 will be a Saturday this year (and someone might open an envelope somewhere), Lithuania's Parliament, possibly anticipating a double-whammy drinking problem, thought it would be a fine idea to simply ban the sale of alcohol on that day.

Local newspapers are carrying stories suggesting that owners of bars and restaurants will come up with creative ways to circumvent the ban. (Offering alcohol but not billing for it until after midnight, giving alcohol away 'free' but compensating on the food bill, selling wine in tea cups, etc.) It will certainly be interesting to see what happens.

We expect this law will have a negative effect on travellers. People who come to Lithaunia for the weekend, ranging from those who like to have a nice glass of wine with their meal to those who like celebrating in a more enthusiastic way, will probably leave with a poor impression of Lithuania.

If Lithuanian politicians wish to tackle problems associated with drinking, it may be better for them to address the root causes of the societal problems, boredom, hopelessness, poverty and frustration that lead to drinking. In other words: they should sack themselves.

Photo, showing drinking and smoking in Vilnius, both of which will be officially naughty on September 1, courtesy of Sco.