THE stories told in last week’s report of the prevalence of binge drinking among the Island’s young people were nothing less than horrific.

They showed that some teenagers are not only in danger of permanently damaging their health by consuming large quantities of alcohol but are also putting themselves at immediate risk of assault, injury and even death.

The police and ambulance authorities have quite rightly issued a joint warning about the risks being run by far too many young Islanders. Some might take notice and modify their behaviour accordingly. We should, however, be aware of just how ingrained excessive drinking is in this community and we should not be too surprised that bad habits can be developed at an early age.

However, the facts that under-age drinking – often to excess – has been going on for a very long time and that it is part of a wider pattern cannot be used as excuses for doing nothing. If new publicity given to the very real perils of what is without doubt one of society’s most dangerous drugs leads to action and damage limitation, so much the better.

In the course of their regular duties the police play an important role in limiting the illegal use of alcohol among young and old, but they cannot be everywhere and they cannot devote all their energies to fighting drink-related crime. They also work within the framework of laws which undoubtedly require modification from time to time if they are to be fully effective.

With this in mind, it could well be time to use the law not to crack down more heavily on the binge drinkers themselves but on their sources of supply. The focus of attention should clearly be those outlets which sell alcohol to under-age customers, though there are other categories of offender who need to know that stringent penalties are available to deal with their activities.

Among them are older people who buy alcohol on behalf of the young or share it with them.
But answers to the problem of binge drinking youngsters will never been found exclusively through legal means. Parents have a vital part of play and so does the educational system.

Attitudes formed in the home are of life-long importance. So, too, are carefully crafted and delivered classroom lessons – which, in the light of present evidence, might have to be delivered at a surprisingly early age.