Police chief calls for action on female drunks

May 2 2008 by Paul James, The Journal

THE number of women arrested for being drunk and disorderly in the North East has risen by 50% in the last five years, figures revealed yesterday.

There were 2,400 females detained for the offence last year compared with 1,604 in 2003/04 in the Durham and Northumbria force areas. And the figures for 2007/08 only covered 11 months of the year, so the full picture is likely to show even higher increases.

Last night, Northumbria’s chief constable Mike Craik said the figures backed up his calls for complete bans on discounted drinks, happy hours and alcohol advertising.

Alcohol campaigners gave their backing to Mr Craik, but industry figures claimed that more was needed to be done in education in the UK, pointing to cheap alcohol in countries on mainland Europe that don’t experience similar problems.

Mr Craik, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers’ lead on alcohol issues, said: “The reality is that clearly more still needs to be done, particularly about underage drinking and the associated youth disorder.

“That may well include rigorous action on the price of alcohol, a ban on advertising, increased education and advertising around the harm it can do, external regulation or even taking a uniquely harmful substance out of the normal retail chain. There should also be an end to discounted drinks, such as two-for-one deals, happy hours and supermarkets selling alcohol at below cost prices. There should be a ban on the sale of alcopops and no advertising of alcohol.”

Figures obtained by Channel 4 News Online showed that nationally, there were 5,891 females detained for drunk and disorderly last year compared with 3,847 in 2003/04. Chief executive of Alcohol Concern, Don Shenker, said: “There’s no doubt that the number of women binge-drinking has gone up – they are following the example of young men.

“Pubs and bars are now targeting women with special offers and cheap drinks to encourage them to drink more. It should be stopped. The trouble is that women’s bodies cannot handle these large amounts of alcohol.”

David Poley, chief executive of The Portman Group, a pan-industry organisation set up by drink manufacturers to help prevent misuse of alcohol, said: “The industry takes its responsibility very seriously and markets its products in accordance with strict codes of conduct.

“I don’t think that the price of alcohol is the main issue. Alcohol on the continent is a lot cheaper yet there are not the same problems that we have here.

“We feel the best way to change the drinking culture is through education.”