Alcohol abuse costs the NHS £1.7 billion a year, with 150,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions each year. Between 30 and 60 per cent of child protection cases involve alcohol. Britain’s drinks industry is now worth more than £30 billion. A 2002 Mintel survey found that 89 per cent of Britons have drunk alcohol at least once. There has been a 50 per cent increase from 1988 to 2001 in the number of women drinking more than 14 units per week. More than 18,000 people were killed or injured in drink-drive accidents in 2000. The British Crime Survey shows 16 per cent of violent acts by strangers are prompted by drugs but 53 per cent by alcohol.

Sources: Alcohol Concern, Interim Report of the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit (PMSU), 2003 Food and Expenditure Survey, Mintel