Policy & Practice: Soapbox - We must join together to combatunderage drinking

The not-so-good news? The March announcement was predictably strong on hopes and ambitions but less clear about detailed means of getting to grips with the issue.

We should use this period after the launch of the strategy to help ministers fill in some of this detail. This can be achieved by forging effective partnerships between the youth and alcohol fields to tackle the increasing problems.

That these problems exist is beyond dispute. Statistics show that underage drinking has doubled in the past 10 years and that young people who drink outnumber those who don't by the age of 13. They also reveal that 56 per cent of 15- to 16-year-olds binge drink at least once a month, and that young people are more likely to have risky sex when they've overdone the drinking.