Policy & Practice: Briefing - Cost of alcohol abuse fires a newstrategy

There's not much you can tell me about binge drinking - I've cleared up enough teenage vomit in my time. Point taken, but we're not talking about rites of passage; more a sustained shift in patterns of alcohol marketing and consumption. The Government's strategy is a response to widespread concern at what is happening and to its own Cabinet Office study from last year, which put the annual cost to the nation of alcohol misuse at 20bn.

How does that figure add up? Around 6.4bn in costs to employers, 1.7bn to the NHS, 7.3bn on dealing with crime and 4.7bn on other costs. But it is not just the money; there is an increasing outcry over the way town centres are being colonised by young drinkers, scaring off everyone who doesn't share their passion for fighting, mooning and public urination.