The forthcoming ban on public drinking by under 18's is a long awaited solution to a major British social issue. But is it? And does it go far enough?
Drug policy in the United Kingdom is based on a number of factors, not least of which, is how much harm does a specific drug cause to society?
Its no secret the biggest killer drugs available currently in the UK, responsible for 90% of ALL UK drug related death's, are tobacco and alcohol.
And while tobacco has traditionally borne the brunt of the PR man's public health campaigns over the years,
Could this be your daughter..?
the recent revelations regarding the amounts of people who die every year as a result of alcohol abuse, have started to receive their own share of bad press.
A recent trend, is the amounts of young people who are coming into contact with law enforcement. Groups of minors hanging about on council estates and street corners is nothing new. But this new generation is fueling itself up with cheap, widely available alcohol, and spoiling for a fight with an unwary citizen who is just going about his or her business.
The police, are the ones left to pick up the pieces, and at huge costs in terms of manpower and public expenditure.
Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians agree's not enough is being done to combat alcohol uptake
In answer to this problem the Home Secretary has announced a shake up in the way alcohol is policed, giving the nations police forces the powers to confiscate alcohol if its being consumed in a public place.
Bizzarely, no law exists which makes it an offence for the under 18's to actually consume alcohol so while they can't buy it, they are certainly allowed to consume it, and by law.
According to the government the solution, is to make it an offence to consume alcohol in public spaces, so no more gangs of under 18's having barbecue's at the beach is one good thing to come out of this, but is it enough?
The idea behind this new initiative is to force youngsters only to consume alcohol at home. Which involves the parents more and at face value thats no bad thing.
But we've already seen instances recently where a house party full of teenagers has gotten out of hand. As the law stands currently, thats perfectably acceptable behaviour.
Cannabis is proven to be a lot less harmfull than alcohol. If that's got you spitting at your monitor don't take my word for it. Check out the statistics. But the fact is if these teenagers where smoking cannabis there would be a public uproar. All in the name of solving a social issue of course.
Yet on the streets its a warzone and the annual "tally" is over 9000 dead per year. Not "if". Not "maybe". But dead.
The question of whether alcohol and tobacco should be regulated in the same manner as cannabis is a question which will be asked many times in the future.
The question of whether the consumption of alcohol by under 18's should be illegal, doesn't even need asking. The Canna Zine is 1 year old this week. Happy birthday to us, and thanks to everyone who visits the Canna Zine to find out whats happening in the world of cannabis.
You won't find any Police or government propaganda reports on the Canna Zine. We leave that to other cannabis websites. We tell it just like it is, so here's to another successful year of cannabis news, and exerting pressure on UK government to change the irrational policy on cannabis.
Set up in February 2007, the Canna Zine is the first-in-the-world news agency dedicated to the global issues surrounding cannabis, hemp and illicit drugs in general. To post your press release, sign up for a free account on http://pr.cannazine.co.uk , post your news release, and the Canna Zine will do the rest.
Canna Zine - more 'evolution' than revolution! A new era in postitive response communications. http://cannazine.co.uk
Latest News 
