Alcohol prices (From The Northern Echo)

Martin, firstly, congratulations on your fortitude in keeping free of alchol for 24 years.
But why should I and millions of other moderate drinkers, pay more for a simple pleasure simply because some in our society can't control their drinking.
Would anyone dare suggest that the price of cars but put up because of the few (by comparision) car driver who drive very irresponsibly and kill themselves and other road users.
And as far as I know, any addict, whether and alcoholic or a drug user, are never put off by the price, they will beg borrow or steal to get their daily ration of whatever they use.
If on the other had, we want to stop all these idiots who invade town centres each weekend, the answer is simple, anyone found drunk and disorderly, which is still an offence as far as I know, instead of the police taking them to the cells to sleep it off, lock them up in army style barracks for 14 days. When they loos their jobs or don't have mummy to care for them, just a nasty para-military type gaoler to howk them out of bed at 5 in the morning, they would soon change and start to enjoy a drink without getting bladdered, often before they go out on the town.
But don't ask we normal drinkers to pay more just because some cannot handle it.

Absolutely, Dante - I totally agree with you on this one.
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Hitting everyone in the nation with a minimum pricing policy is a disgraceful con. They should tackle the problem directly (although maybe your suggestion is a little extreme) rather than hit everyone, again.