The figure looks a bit like an estimate, a difference of £5bn is quite large, but never-the-less, it is still alot less than damage caused by other drugs. Have a look at the article



http://uk.news.yahoo.com/towns-shops-refuse-sell-strong-booze-023102590.html



Here is the writing from the article...



A new campaign encouraging stores in Ipswich to stop selling low-cost,
super-strong lager and cider is being watched closely by other police forces to
see if it cuts crime.



So far, half of the off-licences in the Suffolk town have agreed not to stock
cheap drinks with an alcohol content of more than 6.5%.
Inspector Andrew Mason, from Suffolk Police, said: "Sixty percent of our
violent crime in Ipswich is driven by alcohol ... and it's similar numbers for
anti-social behaviour.
"It's not just street drinkers I'm worrying about. It's young people ...14
and 15-year-olds. We are regularly seizing these products from them."
Action is being taken following the murders of four street drinkers in
Ipswich in the past three years.
The campaign is also being backed by local councils and the NHS.


Last year there were 1.2 million hospital admissions in the UK due to alcohol
misuse. The overall cost to society is put at £17bn to £22bn a year.
Lisa Pennock, 39, used to down three litres of super-strength cider and five
cans of 9% lager every single day. It had a major impact on her health.
"I was drinking absolutely 24/7. I used to even wake up in the night and have
at least an hour-and-a-half of strong lager before I could go back to sleep
again.
"I used to get really bad shakes, my heart used to beat so fast I was
actually so scared to go back to sleep in case I didn't wake up."
Ms Pennock's addiction destroyed her marriage. She walked out on her children
and ended up homeless. Now she is rebuilding her life with the support of local
charities Norcas and the Anglia Care Trust, which has found her a flat.
She fully supports the campaign to get cheap, high-percentage alcohol off
shop shelves.
Tesco, the East of England Co-op and McColl newsagents are among larger
stores to have signed up alongside small independent shop owners like Nayna
Patel.
She said: "I have seen how many problems there are for people and the fights
when they drink too much."
However, without a complete ban there will still be places to buy lager
containing 10% alcohol for not much more than £1.
And that, say street drinkers Mark and Katie, is the problem.


"This is the most that's going to happen, the price is going to go up. That
is it," said Mark, who drinks in Ipswich town centre every day.
"And then that will cause more crime," added his girlfriend Katie. "Because
people won't be able to afford it, they are going to start to thieve it."
The campaign was launched this week but the police have already had calls
from other forces wanting to find out more.







and here are a few comments from people.....

IVOR -think back 50 years or so there was just as many drunks and if you went in a pub
at the weekend and there was not a fieght you were very lucky and there was
always fieghts at every dance i dont know where thease older peaple lived that
says any differantDAVID-But they'll still sell strong wines and spirits, I suppose it's only poor drunks
who need to be stopped, rich ones are exempt from responsibility and can carry
on hiding their problemsSEMTEX-They did this in Winchester a few years ago. Because the so called 'street
drinkers' couldn't get cider or strong beer they switched to drinking vodka
instead, which can hardly be called an effective measure against alcohol abuse.
The same will happen in Ipswich too, banning their favourite types of alcohol is
not the way to get people to stop drinking too muchBARNEY-We need to try the American way in lots of super markets there is no drink on
sale in the main super market with the food, you have to leave the supermarket
and enter a off licence type section by another door at the back of the store
that only sells drink.
Or stop supermarkets selling drink all together and go
back the jug and bottle in pubs and proper off licences these issuses were never
a problem then