LAST weekend there was a blitz on alcohol-fuelled violence as reported through the media. 
This seems to be standard practice of dealing with consequences rather than the problem. 
The problem of course is twofold, alcohol abuse and aggressive, violent behaviour. 
Last month I went up to the supermarket on a Saturday morning to buy the paper and as I entered, a lad in his late 20s came out pushing a trolley full of boxes of alcohol. 
Assisting him were two boys about seven and nine years old.
I hope dad didn’t think this constituted bonding time with the boys. If so, we know the boys' future direction. 
Why, with Australia’s culture of alcohol abuse and its destructive effect on society and particularly the young, have we allowed the ridiculous proliferation of alcohol outlets?
Other than profits to shareholders, who are not too concerned about where their profits come from, why do we need alcohol sales in supermarkets?
The availability of alcohol is one issue. 
The politicians who organised the lowering of the drinking age for their own vote-grabbing egos, without any consideration of the effects on society, should hang their heads in shame, that’s assuming they have a conscience. 
The other issue is the lack of distinction between a can of soft drink and a can of alcohol. 
Back to the politicians who allow these insidious marketing techniques to exist.  
Until Australian culture can put alcohol in its proper place as a social drink and not a life-support system, then our young will be at risk for foreseeable generations. 
Violent, aggressive behaviour is another thing, which I don’t think can be changed until alcohol is removed from the equation.