As a part of the 99% of sensible people who go out and are known to occasionally indulge in alcohol (minus the roids or attitude) from time to time, juggled with my inability to get up in time for work today due to this, I thought I might turn my self-inflicted pain into an early insight road-test on Sydney’s new lock out laws.

First and foremost, Lock Out laws to me didn’t seem to effect early attendance on venues. Punters still came in the masses as keenly as ever. When it come to the steady flow of people in and out throughout the night, by 1.30am the stream that always did exist had sadly been abruptly shut.

1:30 to 3am is a tricky time because if you’ve been out drinking, it’s often nice to head out of a venue for a little bit to grab a bite and keep yourself on level terms. This was the biggest disadvantage and actually quite detrimental to tipping me over the edge – so to speak – and is the reason I could not lift my head off the pillow. But who needs Civil Rights anyway hey Barry!

Although not the usual busy weekend night, the predicted tip-over onto the streets happened and I could only think how much agitation this IS going to cause once weekend 1 with Mardi Gras and more happens.

From my first road test, I conclude I think economically NSW business is going to be hit the hardest as opposed to it curbing violence. I was more intoxicated by the time I left due to being locked in than most times I would go, so it’s hard to predict what effect this will have on stopping violence. These laws just don’t seem like the answer, but as Wayne and law abiding citizens say, “Party on Garth!’