Apparently relaxing the licensing rules allowing 24hr drinking was not found to be a "conclusive contributory factor", so it has been disregarded, but cheap booze in supermarkets/happy hours is a conclusive cause. Go figure.
This is all an excuse to...wait for it... put up the tax on alcohol. Because there is a need to raise more tax at present isn't there, to pay back huge sums of borrowed money. And what better way to do it than cloak it in moral outrage, as people are actually cheering on the Powers That Be to increase tax!!
But cheap booze isn't the problem. The problem is that people in Anglo Saxon countries (esp Aust, UK and NZ) think it is acceptable for people to behave like idiots and later disclaim responsibility because they are drunk. In France and Italy it is not acceptable; someone in that state is damaging their own reputation in the eyes of their peers, friends and family, and they run the risk of encountering...erm...robust law enforcement which will cost them significant amounts of inconvenience and money, as well as an official file for life.
The move to "get rid of cheap booze" is snake oil that will do nothing to solve real problems.
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