Booze

Finally a non-technical post, although less about my life and more of a comment on the world.

I feel as though I'm on fairly safe ground saying most of my readers have been hungover. It would still be a fairly safe bet to say most people have been hungover many times. Learning to drink responsibly takes a lot of practise it seems.

Thinking back to my salad days I can think of a number of occasions when I've failed to carry myself in a manner that I would consider civil. However I have to fight the temptation to harshly criticise the current bane of society, the binge drinker. is the problem really as bad as the media points out? Are the majority* of the current crop of wasted people found on our streets on Friday and Saturday night just doing what I did, slowly navigating their way to a more balanced use of alcohol? Has it always been thus? Is my transformation to old curmudgeon complete?

The government announced their minimal minimum pricing for alcohol today. The reaction so far has been muted, most campaigners saying that it isn't going far enough. I'm personally happy because this attempts to remove the sale of alcohol at bellow cost levels in supermarkets (which affects struggling pubs) without attempting to be yet another sin-tax. However will it have any effect on the nations drinking habits? I'm less convinced, but then again I'm not convinced price is the main reason people get quite so sloshed at the weekends.

What do you think? Do we have a problem that needs fixing? How else can we do it?

* There are groups for which alcohol leads to fights and criminal damage. I have no problem with dumping them prison cells and prosecuting them for crimes committed under the influence. Being pissed it not an excuse.