Cider with high alcohol content can be bought in supermarkets extremely cheaply and it has become the drink of choice with young adolescents. It is commonly referred to as white cider and can be purchased in large 2 or 3 litre bottles for very little money indeed.

Binge drinking among young adults in the UK is truly a problem, a health hazard for those involved and fore sure a tax burden waiting to happen in later years so far as the health service is concerned if this culture continues. There still a significant cost to the health service dealing with the adverse effects of smoking and with obesity and alcohol abuse on the rise, from a cost perspective these are bound to take over where smoking left off. Add the fact that it’s young kids (14 and 15 year olds) abusing white cider and not only is it a cost problem tomorrow for our health service, it is also a problem today with anti-social behaviour.

I like to think that I drink responsibly, some would argue that I like my white wine a little too much but everyone has to have a vice don’t they? Weekends of course are the worst (or should that be best) when many of my friend congregate for a pre-dinner drinks in our village pub and when it comes to Summertime, there’s nothing better than a super chilled pint of dry cider. In fact it the weekend ritual starts a lot earlier than tea time.

Saturday morning I’ll search the internet for some easy barbecue recipes and then nip out to buy any ingredients that I’m short of. Next I prepare one of the great barbecue marinades that I love (thinking about it, many of these involve cider too!) Levitra and then sit back and relax. Before heading over the road for my pint of cider, I light the barbecue charcoal safe in the knowledge that when I return in an hour, the charcoal will be absolutely perfect for the evenings grill.

So whilst I’m all for taking preventative measures to reduce binge drinking and to deter youths from getting drunk on high strength white cider, is it fair that the likes of you and me that drink responsibly should have to carry the financial burden?

In the UK at the moment there’s a groundswell amongst folks like me to make a protest to the government and I have to say that I was tempted to join in. What form is this protest going to take I hear you ask. A petition to number 11 Downing Street maybe? Surely there isn’t enough anger and support to arrange a demonstration at the centre of the government in Whitehall? Well you’re right on that score.

The protest will be for everyone who wants to show their support should buy a copy of “I am a cider drinker” by The Wurzels and try and knock Lady Gaga off the number one spot in the UK pop charts! Well you have to laugh but will it have any effect?

For sure it’s not going to make Alistair Darling make a U-turn and similarly we’re all going to get punished whether we are cider drinkers or not by hearing this West Country ditty for the next few weeks. It’s enough to drive a man to drink!

Author Bio: Paul Yates writes Easy Barbecue Recipes. All the best BBQ tips and information together with recipes for grilling, smoking and hotplate cooking. Some super barbecue marinades too!

Category: Politics
Keywords: cider tax, tax protest, cider drinkers, barbecue,