Hamish Champ: Fancy a ride aboard the de-tox bus?

For some the excess of Christmas and New Year is inevitably followed by a January of abstinence, when bodies are given time to recover and regroup.

Each to their own, but I've always avoided such health-focused programmes like the plague. I mean, January is bad enough without shutting off one of the few avenues of pleasure left.

Still, I suppose as well as the alleged 'feelgood factor' another thing about hitching a temporary ride aboard the wagon is that when one finally disembarks one enjoys the experience all the more.

So it was this past weekend, when a work colleague who rode the de-tox bus in January threw a party in a bar in the Smithfields district of London to celebrate his own 'stepping off'.

Even to the casual observer it was clear a good time was being had by all, but as I necked several beers and then moved onto a range of rather wonderful cocktails I wondered if I'd enjoyed the proceedings more for given up the drink for a month.

I don't need to drink to have a good time, but I won't deny it helps. Nearly a quarter of a century ago while on a ski-ing holiday in Italy a friend of mine was drunk under the table by a girl, and on coming round from his (literally) comatose state he vowed never to touch booze again. He kept his promise.

It wasn't all plain sailing, mainly for the rest of us. The first year or two of his sobriety was punctuated by a near-zealous condemnation of those of us who enjoyed a tipple. I'm glad to say he's calmed down since.

Drink does different things to people. Some of this past weekend's newspapers reported new figures suggesting young women are catching up with the boys when it comes to drinking to levels regarded by the medical profession as life-threatening.

How much is this is just an extension of what we would have called 'rite of passage' stuff back in the day, or something to be genuinely scared about? Medical practitioners certainly point at alcohol-related hospital admissions and express grave concern.

Are matters worse than when I was in my late teens, early 20s? Possibly, due to the proliferation and availability of stronger alcoholic drinks that simply don't taste like alcohol. Me, I love cocktails, but I prefer drinking pints because they take me longer to drink and I feel like I'm getting my money's worth; a cocktail I can demolish in a matter of seconds. That can make for an expensive evening.

On Saturday night I left the 're-tox' party when it was still in full swing only in order to catch the last train home. I awoke on Sunday morning with only a faint buzzing going on in my head, which reminded me that one of the reasons I don't get hammered like I used to: I just can't do the hangovers anymore.

It's taken me nearly 50 years to reach this stage. I guess the 'kids' have a long way to go yet…