COMMENT: Alcohol is cash down the drain
We are drinking ourselves into early graves.
Thousands of people are being admitted to hospitals across the Black Country and Staffordshire because of alcohol.
And in the Black Country the figures are higher than the national average.
The only comfort we can take from the latest statistics is that the numbers of under-18s in hospital due to the demon drink is down across the country.
This, at least, is a step in the right direction.
It is in part a victory for tougher regimes to insist that shops check the age of their customers.
But it is also credit to younger people themselves who appear to be rejecting the image of the hard drinking, lad and ladette culture that puts shame on our nation.
Images of young people lying paralytic in the street, having to be scooped up and taken away in an ambulance are an embarrassment.
They are also a sign of further pressure on the already over-burdened NHS.
Young people over the age of 18, and indeed those of middle age who are definitely old enough to know better, might well want to take a leaf out of the teenagers' book.
It is easy to ignore the public service messages and banners under adverts that tell everyone to 'drink responsibly'.
We are bombarded by such messages daily to the point where they no longer have any real impact.
Instead there must be a concerted effort on the part of everyone to understand that drinking responsibly is not just about the state one gets into after a pint of beer too many.
It is also about the responsibility we have to the rest of society to not overburden the health services.
This, of course, does not mean having no sympathy for those battling addictions.
Drink is a demon that lures the vulnerable in and turns a habit of indulgence into an all-consuming need.
It is not something that can just easily be kicked.
All the more reason, then, for those whose drinking is about the pursuit of pleasure to consider the implications for others of going too far.
Each adult treated by the NHS for alcohol-related illnesses or injuries costs between £62 and £74 in the Black Country and Staffordshire.
Perhaps that money could be used to treat those whose injuries are no fault of their own.
It needs us all to take responsibility for ourselves.
