In just over a week we will again celebrate Australia Day. That should be a day when citizens not only enjoy themselves, but take pride in this wonderful country that is the envy of the world.
Unfortunately for some it will be a day on which to get stinking drunk, cause injury to others - and probably end up in a police cell.
It is hard to understand what motivates those who set out to get deliberately legless. Alcohol can be a good friend - and a deadly enemy. Misused - it is the cause of death on the roads and the reason ordinarily sensible people find themselves explaining the unexplainable - to a magistrate !
The police and the government are looking for solutions, and one of them is to ban the sale of full strength beer early in the day, and high alcohol content drinks as day turns into night.
That sounds reasonable, but it does not do anything about curbing the urge to drink to excess.
Abuse of alcohol has been a problem since the dawn of time - and the emergence of the first civilization. A total ban on it's sale is not the answer - as the Americans found out when they introduced prohibition.
Maybe the answer is a reduction of the alcohol content of all beer, wine and spirits.
Alcohol is heavily taxed, hence paying more for less would at least make getting drunk out of financial reach for some people.
Unfortunately that solution would punish the average sensible drinker and cause discontent.
It seems that alcohol is the ultimate unsolvable conundrum - which will result in unpleasant headlines again in the aftermath of the coming Australia Day holiday.
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