Sidewalk Solutions

Governments are under pressure to force supermarkets to increase the price of alcohol and to stop using booze as a loss leader to attract customers into their stores.

Now far be it for me to protect the innocent – but beware politicians with a cause who say that increasing cash flow to them will solve anything. I am old enough (oh yes I am) to remember the days before supermarkets,  where drunks could be seen staggering around the local pub. Yes believe it or not their were people with drink problems before there were supermarkets.

So now 50 years later we are such an advanced society, not yet a big society, that we need Government to sort out our alcohol problem.  Those who believe that increasing the price of alcohol will stop the drunk from drinking – please say Aye!  Well I am afraid the No’s have it.

So what can we do to try and reduce alcohol abuse. Well I am no expert in this, although I have to admit that I like a bargain of almost any kind and low cost beer is hard to resist, even for a Scot. But maybe we should first try and improve the education of our children and those adults who cannot help themselves in their abuse of the demon drink.

How about putting a penny on every can and making these funds payable directly to a suitable, yes appropriate charity or charities. Let them who know the most about this problem be give the funds directly – yes the supermarkets will pay the charities direct, one penny for every can they sell.

The supermarkets and breweries would also have to give access and appropriate space (an even more precious asset for supermarkets) to certified charities in their stores. The charities will then be able to hand out leaflets and provide educational materials to their booze customers.

Money would be available to educate children on the need to treat alcohol carefully. My guess is that given 10 years of a penny a can can, the general population will be more aware of the dangers of over-consumption.

My other guess is that it will not reduce much the problem of alcohol abuse – but compared with giving the money to Government – at least we would have well-funded charities fighting the good fight, rather than politicians wasting pennies.