Why does any government think that raising the price of a bottle or can of beer is going to make any difference to the longterm drinking problems that effect our town centres on Friday and Saturday nights?

It may end up with the kids drinking drain cleaner and making moonshine in the woods. I am not sure if making the prices higher will make a blind bit of difference as Jagermeister is £18 a bottle mix it with Red Bull and you gives some fairly hefty shots - not a cheap drink but a popular choice.

If cocaine turns out to be cheaper than beer and ecstasy is flowing cheaper than bottled water - we just end up diverting the stream into a more addicitve and damaging course.

"It's down to longterm education and fewer all night opening hours"

People can only binge so much. Watching many kids and their friends, they do most of their drinking at home, this consists of red bull and jagermeister shots, vodka & red bull and budweiser - by the time 10:30 - 11:00pm has come they are already set up for the night.

The nightclubs charge between £3.30 for a double vodka/coke upto about £6.50 for a high-end drink and they are open until 4am or later.  

lads and ladettes often come home near enough with the milk. They are not usually wild, just typical and part of a good natured crowd that gets decidedly cantankerous with massive infusions of late night alcohol. Young bodies are not designed to cope with being wrecked with 12 hours of solid drinking twice a week.

Close these places at 1am and you cut out a lot of the excesses. Not a perfect solution by any means nor any good in isolation, but as part of a comprehensive education process it would more than likely work. Less time to get wrecked, less time to get into trouble, and quieter streets leaving the Police to more serious issues and the A&E departments with less drink related accidents.

This should not be an issue about raising taxes to price the alcohol out of reach but, the longterm health issues of the younger generation who embrace thei lifestyle because it is popular to do so. The cost of not recognising this will create a health crisis in 20 years with increased organ failure and drink related issues swamping the NHS.

So, lets have a joined-up solution here, more responsibility by local government in restricting outlets that are allowed to sell alcohol [ban those that discount], reduce the hours of drinking in late-night establishments, clamp down on outdoor drinking in public places, and combat the dumping of cheap alcohol such as vodka on our supermarkets and off-licences.

I'm all for a good time, but part of that surely is waking up in the morning and feeling alive instead of fighting off alcohol poisoning and related symptoms, or worse dealing with the memories of a more detrimental and lasting impact of a criminal record or serious binge related injury.

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