ONE problem blighting our society is under age drinking and this is, in my view, down to two things. The first, is the price of booze in our off licences and supermarkets and the second is the mystique surrounding alcohol.

Although, could I honestly say, hand on heart, that I'd be in favour of huge rises in the price of drink sold over the counter? Speaking as a drinker who is appalled by the astronomical prices charged by many of our pubs and bars, off licences and supermarkets help to ease the burden on my over stretched budget.

I don't think you'll ever stop teenagers getting hold of alcohol sold in off-licences and pubs, so maybe charities working in the alcohol field could do more to educate young people about the health dangers connected with heavy drinking? Maybe these organisations need to start by working with children in the top classes of primary schools, before they actually "know it all".

I drank under age, although rarely to excess, and I can remember having a heated debate with the woman at my local off licence, because she wouldn't sell me a bottle of cider. Even at 13 I had quite a high tolerance to booze and I can remember arguing fiercely but ultimately fruitlessly, that cider wasn't booze. For some reason I thought cider was some sort of pop.

I wonder, if children were introduced to drink at an early age, whether they would go on to drink heavily in their teens? In France, apparently, kids have wine with their meals, in a diluted form, so it becomes something that isn't a big deal.

In the late 80s I used to work for a charity specialising in the treatment of alcoholics and I was asked to write a feature on an alcohol free pub for teenagers in north Manchester. What a great idea. Young people could experience the environment of a pub, have a place where they could go and hang out with their friends, and instead of bitter and lager coming out of the pumps, they dispensed soft drinks.

I've no idea whether the pub with no beer is still going - I would doubt it - and I've not heard of similar projects since. And I've certainly not heard of any breweries opening up such establishments. Call me cynical, but could this be because there isn't that much money to be made in alcohol free teen pubs?