Revellers have been told they must leave their pints in the bar if they want to light up outside and landlords in some parts of the country have been warned they risk losing their licences if they fail to stop smokers drinking in the street. Police forces in some parts of the country have told officers to clamp down. Devon and Cornwall Police have warned landlords they could face licence restrictions if they fail to control their customers. The force said pubs could be required to employ door staff, to prevent people taking their drinks outside. In severe cases, their licences could be taken away. - Sunday Express
Age-based drinking guidelines should be introduced to protect consumers' health, says an expert. Recommended maximum intakes should factor in age as well as gender, according to Mary Gilhooly, professor of gerontology at Brunel University. Baby boomers are likely to drink more alcohol in old age than previous generations because they have always done so, she warned. That could create problems because age affects the body's ability to metabolise alcohol. Older people have higher blood alcohol levels after drinking the same amount as younger consumers, previous research has shown. In many cases the elderly should be advised not to drink at all, according to Prof Gilhooly who is director of the Brunel Institute of Ageing Studies. - Observer
Nearly a quarter of 15-year-old girls get drunk at least once a week, according to new research that identifies them as worse binge drinkers than boys. The Schools Health Education Unit study found that in recent years, the overall proportion of children drinking alcohol has fallen, perhaps because of better education - but at the same time a hard core of heavy-drinking children has been growing. According to the research, 23% of 14 and 15-year-old girls admitted they got drunk at least once a week, compared with 21% of boys. - Sunday Times
Although the pub industry in general may weather the smoking ban by adopting the recommended two-pronged strategy of higher-quality food in a more family-friendly environment, it is likely brewers will suffer a consequent decline in sales in the long term. Similarly, rising off-trade sales do brewers no favours. They make much more profit from the on-trade industry in pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants - as much as three times more - and yet consumers continue to show a growing preference for drinking at home. According to market researcher Datamonitor, the value of off-trade consumption of all alcoholic drinks, but mainly beer, will increase to £12.3bn by 2010. - Sunday Herald