[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

Look, there's a simple solution to the problem of (cheap) alcohol abuse and minimum pricing is not it. What needs to be done is quite simple. Licenses to sell alcohol are withdrawn from every corner shop and licenses to sell alcohol (other than wines and spirits) are withdrawn from every supermarket. That just leaves your traditional pubs selling alcohol in volume and as such you reinstitute control on who is drinking and by how much. And you also keep traditional pubs alive.

Good idea - but, get a cheap ferry over to France and buy 90 litres for between less than 50p a pint (7.9%). You can't stop it either, so everything just goes black market, like it has with tobacco.