'He's drinking a lot - but thank God he's not taking drugs.'
Alcohol is a drug. It's a legal drug, and, in moderate doses, it's a very nice drug. But it's also a drug that kills many more people than illegal drugs like heroin - according to some estimates, 100 times as many. Health experts say alcohol is a drug that's out of control: it's too cheap and too easily available - particularly to the young.
David Henshaw reports on the boom in booze, and asks why a government so keen to control heroin has failed to face up to the dangers of alcohol. Researchers
LIZ CARNEY. LESLEY BLAKER Film editor TONY ROBINSON Editor COLIN CAMERON Producer VYV SIMSON BBC Manchester
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