According to Government statistics, in 2003/04 some 4,647 children were admitted to hospital suffering from mental and behavioural disorders caused by the effects of alcohol, liver disease and the toxic effects of bingeing. The figures were up by around 11% from 1996/7.
During the same period, adult hospital admissions resulting from the effects of alcohol rose 15% from 35,740 to 41,122. Yet, against this background, the Government recently pushed through legislation relaxing the licensing hours. This will mean that many bars will stay open later at weekends and some outlets are now able to sell alcohol around the clock. As we enter a new year, we wait to see the consequences.
However, there is every indication that many people, especially young people, are not good at handling such freedom responsibly. The anecdotes of town centres becoming drunken battlegrounds on Saturday nights are well known. There was a report that in Plymouth victims of weekend drunken violence are to be treated in a permanent ‘field hospital’ to relieve congestion in the local hospital casualty unit.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …