We must stop cut price drink offers

I couldn't quite believe my eyes when reading this article.
£5 for 5 hours worth of alcohol I think is a ridiculous price and can only serve to encourage binge drinking. The majority of us would be able to fit in an incredible amount of drink in that time, much more than £5 worth I'm sure. To try and suggest as the manager does that bar staff are keeping "an eye" on how much customers are drinking seems rather ludicrous too. How can they do that with a club full of revellers? It also begs the question, does the offer extend to soft drinks? The answer would probably be no, so those who choose not to consume alcohol have to pay through the nose for a coke or orange juice. It's a similar situation to the one created by a leading supermarket a few weeks ago, where the price of lager was cheaper than bottled water.

But then, perhaps that's where part of the problem lies, that pubs and clubs are just trying to compete with supermarkets when it comes to offering cheap booze. That just provides customers with a double whammy though, having cut price drinks from the supermarket at home, before going out. Then drinking as much as they can for £5 in their local club. Perhaps one way to stop this would be for politicans to introduce a fairer pricing system for alcohol across the board, applying to ALL premises which serve drink.

And what about the consequences of this cut price alcohol?

BMA members (doctors) see it as first hand. It can cause family breakdowns, is a major factor in domestic violence, ruins job prospects, is often related to crime and disorderly behaviour and it kills. Alcohol misuse is related to over 60 medical conditions including heart and liver disease, diabetes, strokes and mental health problems. Alcohol misuse not only costs lives it also costs the country many millions of pounds. The NHS spends millions every year on treating and dealing with alcohol problems and the criminal justice system also spends similarly large amounts dealing with alcohol-related and drink-driving offences.

It is for all of these reasons that the BMA continues to call for an end to such irresponsible promotional drink activities.