SO there I was in Sainsbury’s trying to buy two small tubs of low-dosage aspirin. You’d think I was trying to smuggle Class A drugs into kindergarten.

Husband has to take aspirin every day and when we’re away, we have a habit of leaving them in hotel rooms and holiday cottages, so I thought I’d get some spares.

No chance. Not allowed. Too dangerous.

Fair enough, I thought, planning to go somewhere else to buy my second tub. You have to be sensible and all that.

And then in front of me at the checkout were two lads planning a party. Well, I hope they were planning a party. Their trolley was laden high with beer, lager and cider, topped off with assorted bottles of Jack Daniels, vodka, rum and other potent bottles.

Just lifting that lot into the car could have damaged their backs before they got even a drop of it down their necks.

If they decided to drink it all in one session, it would make them a lot sicker than a small tub of low-dosage aspirin.

It was probably enough to kill four grown men. And that’s without getting behind the wheel of a car, getting into a fight, jumping into rivers or balancing on the edge of balconies and all the other stupid things people do when drunk.

But did anyone stop them? Did anyone say “No that could be dangerous.

For your own sake we are going to restrict you to two cans of beer and a miniature vodka and make sure you drink plenty of water”?

Of course not. As long as they were 18, they could go whooping out with the entire trolley load withd the supermarket washing its hands of all consequences. They were grown-ups.

It was up to them to do as they liked and even if they drank themselves to death, killed someone else or just made total nuisances of themselves, the chances of them being prevented from doing so was zilch.

But I wasn’t allowed my extra measly little tub of aspirin.

God forbid that they should ever ban booze – life would definitely be a lot greyer without it – but why are we so inconsistent?

On the one hand, the Government gets more nannyish every month.

They keep telling us we eat too much fat/sugar/processed food. They make us wear seatbelts, motorbike helmets, drive at sensible speeds and not smoke around children. It’s all hard hats, high-vis vests, risk assessments and life jackets. For our own safety, you understand.

But booze? Hardly a whisper. They have a few half-hearted campaigns, but then give us longer pub opening hours. Mixed messages or what.

As for supermarkets, they have even less logic. They’ve made booze ridiculously cheap, but buying knives, glue, fireworks or even Christmas crackers has become such a challenge that you feel a positive daredevil just for trying We increasingly refuse to let grown people make their own decisions and risk their lives and safety in all sorts of everyday situations. So why not with alcohol? Where’s the logic?

HERE are worse ways of being cruel to a child than hitting it: mental and emotional cruelty might leave no physical scars, but can mean a child never develops into a properly functioning adult.

But how to police that?

The Government is said to be considering a “Cinderella” law . But if parents are found guilty, then what?

Children will be taken into local council care, not exactly known for its loving, emotional support.

In the meantime, the name “Cinderella”

law is obviously offensive to step-mothers trying their best to do a decent job It’s not going to be easy, is it?