Surely we have to do something about binge drinking!

[vehelpfulguy]

One of the 16 year old morons who kicked the goth girl to death said he had had drank two litres of cider, peach schnapps and lager - and told the jury that he did it because he was drunk and showing off.

Alcohol is now a major social problem amongst young people so surely we must try to make it MUCH harder for people to be able to buy drink.

Kids of 15 and 16 just cannot handle that volume of liquid (most adults cant either)

Maybe we need much stricter controls on where you can buy alcohol from. Maybe no more boxes piled high in supermarkets.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/ 7316601.stm

[libertie]

What an absoloute waste of a young girls life! Deep down I just don't think that making it more expensive or restricting it's sale is going to make much difference! Kids always seem to have plenty of cash! Maybe we have to concentrate our resources on educating the next generation and trying to get the message across that it's just not clever or cool to get smashed then kick some poor innocent kids head in!!

[jake-the-peg]

I disagree with only the word "now".

We've been a nation of binge drinkers for hundreds of years.

Our battle with the booze goes back through the Lloyd George's restictions through temperance movements of the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Cheap Gin in the Eighteenth century to Shakespears time and beyond.

A few weeks back Radio 4's Today program wanted to talk about raising the price of booze and nobody was available for comment from Government or Opposition.

It's a political poison challace not least because of the number of jobs in the booze industry.

It's not just young people - alcohol related accidents go right through the age ranges too and it's not young people dying of liver failure in NHS wards.

And we teach our children to drink by our own example.

If you're a smoker you probably don't encourage your kids to follow your example, that's not the case with booze.

It won't change until attitudes to alcohol mirror those of tobacco.

I don't see that happening anytime soon - do you?

[spaced]

I agree I cannot forsee quick changes. There needs to be stricter policies around under age drinking. Off Licences still turn a blind eye to seling little chavs bottles of white lightning.

There needs to be a one strike and your out. You get caught and thats it, shop closed or licence removed.

I believe that the drinking limit should reflect that of the US, that may help, not sure.

We need to penalise the parents also, though they may have no idea that the children are going out and getting two parts to the wind, but I think that penalising the parents as well as the children might make the kids think twice. What thoughts?

[jake-the-peg]

I think you'll never get elected suggesting raising the drinking age to 21!

I can see the complaints now

"You can die for your country but can't have a drink after"

You won't fix this with law, it's been tried over and over again.

If people can buy drugs easily enough how much easier to get booze?

You've got to change peoples attitudes like tobacco or drink driving.

But that takes a long time and makes poor headlines for the red tops

[daffy654]

The government should ban advertising of alcohol.Also start a campaign to show teens the true damage that alcohol does.

[Gromit]

"You can die for your country but can't have a drink after"

Are they trying to license drinking in the afterlife now?

[josie48]

I say all supermarkets and local shops should have their liquor licences revoked. The situation is just getting worse with people scared to go out at night due to youngsters hanging around the shops asking people to buy booze for them. Ok so booze has been around for ions but violence on the scale it is now? NO!

[Gromit]

There are several laws and punishments already in place in relation to underage drinking, and you are all calling for yet more laws. And why do you think your new law won't be ignored like the existing ones?

In answer to the question 'What can we do?'

We should enforce the adequate laws that we already have more vigorously. The police should be made to do their jobs properly.

[warpig3]

What an utterly needless and dispicable crime. Completely disgusting.

But I would like to raise the question - Is it binge drinking or a lack of respect for human life or a combination of the two.

I have bee p*ssed out of my scone many, many times but have never raised a hand to anyone, so this crime cant solely be blamed on alcohol can it? I would suggest that these people are scumbags, be they sober or drunk. They have no respect for others be they sober or drunk and sadly but quite possibly they may well have been capable of murder, be they sober or drunk.

I personally dont think its just about the binge drinking (in this case) its an attitude they have, a low-life culture, a disregard for others and a lack of respect for life. The binge drinking was just an element.

[persianlady]

I agree with Warpig. It is attitude and lack of respect that is the problem. Drinking alcohol should never be an excuse for violent behaviour. What is it that makes people young or old want to go out and get legless anyway. These days young people seem to think that it is compulsory to get drunk on a night out, why? I cannot see the attraction myself. The law should be enforced better. Anyone who is drunk and disorderly should be rounded up and put into a holding cell. Maybe "Binge Squads " could be set up. There are enough unemployed people in this country to recruit from. This behaviour should not be tolerated.

[sandbach99]

A can of pop has to list all the ingredients, yet a can of lager has no list of ingredients, why, how do we know that the brewers are not adding a substance that makes you belive another is a good idea. Didn't the cigarette companies add something years ago?

Regarding these murderers, they and their parents laughed and giggled through the police interviews which says a lot about their upbringing. Some small corner shop type off-licences are threatened if they refuse to sell alcohol to under-age drinkers, and it's no good ringing or pressing a panic button to the police.

Parents have to start saying NO to their children and mean it.

[ELVIS68]

Most cornershops sell booze to youngsters, they are often run by Mr Patel and his family, they don`t give a sh!t to who they sell to and as long as they are taking money then they are happy

I`ve yet to see a 15/16 yr old buy booze from a supermarket