Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has called for increased tax on alcohol in order to reduce the numbers of young people binge drinking.
Now, I am not condoning excess drinking or antisocial behaviour - I just don't think that young people have the monopoly on it.
Apparently, more than 90 per cent of the adult population drink alcohol (Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, 2004). It could be argued that this report gives a very clear message to young people that alcohol, as opposed to drugs, is OK. Straw polls of groups I work with overwhelmingly demonstrate that most people's first experience of alcohol is with their parents. If I did a similar poll among young people who use drugs I think it is unlikely that I would get the same response. So what does that tell us? That most young people try alcohol with their parents' approval, usually at one of the many social gatherings suitable for cracking open a bottle.
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