We are back to the argument regarding lack of parental control and parenting skills.The day this country gave itself over to depriving young people of their chilhood by allowing too much information to be fed to them from too young an age, ecouraging them to experiment with their sexuality, and all the implications involved. We are in a post Christian country, where values count for nothing, so how can we expect our young to do anything else but seek the feel good factor by binge drinking or taking drugs. The government needs to wake up and realize that they are are at fault in many ways by allowing so much rubbish to fill the minds of the young,such as the book Daddy`s Friend which promotes overt homosexuality to very young children. No wonder thy have no sense of identity or security in their lives.

Your views are well argued. I agree with most of them. But do you not think that the desire of the younger generation to get drunk goes a bit deeper than that? Poor Russians could afford to get legless on vodka.. but why? Not many people over the age of about 25 - hand on heart - can say they have not got pretty well 'out of it' at some stage or another. But not on a regular basis. But politicians being politicians will answer the problem by appointing someone to Minister of Drinking; and will then select a Quango of old friends of the party, at exagerated fees, who's specialities are completely irrelevant to the question, to report in 10 years time.

The present answer to upping the tax on the price of drink achieves nothing. Chancellors have been doing this since before you were born. The higher the price of the drink - the better the street cred. of the kid drinking it. But politicians, in their ivory towers miss this point. These are kids paying £120 for a pair of £10 trainers! Meanwhile, I have worked from 15 years old to 63. Medically retired. But cannot afford a fag and a pint any more. You have killed the wrong group of drinkers !

(1)make all town centre establishments require drinking licence.(2)karaoke bars and youth orientated establishments only allowed outside residential area.(3)Anyone arrested for drunken behaviour who has licence should be banned from drinking in town area and publican heavilly fined.

Alcohol taxation will never resolve the problems related to young people drinking, any more than it will stop them from smoking. If they have disposable income they will use it in whatever way they can. Taxation in this respect is a blunt instrument and ultimate simply penalises the innocent and those who enjoy a modest drink or a cigarette. Make beer £10 a pint and twenty fags £10 a packet and you will still have a problem. We are apparently losing some 50 pubs a week due to the smoking ban and the high cost of buying a pint. In Ipswich alone at least one very old pub has closed its' doors and one cafeteria closed because of bans. It is cause and effect at work or the results of unforeseen circumstances. If the man in the street had been asked then he would have told you what would happen. Soon we shall be without many village pubs and communities will die. Is that the intention of the PC health freaks who brought this about???? So what simple but effective steps can be taken to stop/alleviate youth and gang drinking. Firstly ease of availability. Alcohol can easily be purchased and consumed on the street by gangs of youths. Why? Simply because they can buy a can and rip off the ring pull, or a bottle and unscrew the top! If the eldest in any group is able to get sold alcohol then he/she simply does so for the rest. So, go back a few years. Ring pulls were not heard of, so alcoholic and soft drinks were not consumed on the street from tins because people needed a can opener to get in! So...first step. Make all manufacturers of alcohol and soft drinks sold in cans stop selling them with ring pulls. Second...all alcoholic bottled drinks (this includes ciders and alcopops) should only be sold in a container that requires an opener to remove the cap. So if the youth want to go to the local shop and get alcohol then first they must ensure they have a can opener to get the thing open! Of course it can be argued that they will simply arm themselves with such a tool, but this means carrying it in their pocket or about their person with the specific purpose of using it for the intended purpose. These tools have sharp edges and will soon get in the way. The point here is that some obstruction must be put in their way, if not the problem continues. It should also be made an offence for shops to open such containers for customers since this would amount to consumption on the premises. They should also be prevented from selling the means to open the container! Licences. Go down any street and you will see two,three or more convenience stores with an alcohol licence.WHY? Why do we need two shops opposite each other both selling alcohol? So...reduce the real number of outlets to ONE in each locality. That is to say within at least half a mile. Availability Go into any of these outlets and you are free to help yourself from the shelf and go to the till. Once there staff are often intimidated or threatened if they will not sell the goods. So....All premises with an alcohol licence must have a separate dedicated area for the sale of alcohol, independently staffed, and with adequate counterage and control of sales. Supermarkets are not a problem in this respect, gangs of yobs do not go to places like Sainsburys etc to get alcohol. Most would not be seen dead in there anyway with all the mums and women and the staff are very well trained in sales of alcohol products and have plenty of back up support if matters get out of hand. The security staff would also be on hand to prevent their entry anyway. Friday and Saturday night binging.... This is a culture that has come about because of the clubbing scene which has then been granted an alcohol licence. Once inside the heady atmosphere, loud music and flashing lights are in themselves enough to intoxicate you without any alcohol! Since a large proportion of their profits comes from alcohol sales they do two for one offers or happy hours. This is a distinct encouragement to buy and get drunk. Such promotions in such clubbing or 'night clubs' places should be banned by law. If the local pub wants to run such a promotion that is a different matter, they have a different clientele. Many of these licences MUST be rescinded. If the places close so be it. And those who habitually disgorge gangs of drunken people onto the streets should be closed down. No pussyfooting..simply one strike and your out. The police should be empowered to do this and it should be for 3 months for a first offence, 6 months for a second and 12 for a third. A fourth offence should mean permanent closure with no rights of appeal. To conclude. You will not encourage responsible drinking any more than you will responsible sex. It does not work, period!! Youth will always experiment with alcohol and tobacco not to mention sex, which they invented anyway. When I was that age I would go out for drinks and often get worse for wear, but never with the specific intention of getting legless, happy and carefree yes. Practice showed when enough was enough and moderation crept in. This country is not alone with this problem it exists to my knowledge in Canada and Australia to name but two. Only strong firm action will get some results and pussyfooting around with so called continental style opening hours and street cafe culture does nothing. Come down hard and positive. Get this problem resolved by the time of the next election and you could get in again!! PS My vote of course will go elsewhere! C.Sherry