Children 'can afford cheap alcohol'By Rebecca Smith Medical Editor
Children as young as 12 can buy up to 17 units of alcohol - four times the daily limit for adult men - with their weekly pocket money, a conference will hear today.
Delegates at the Alcohol Concern conference, Cheap at Twice the Price, will hear how teenagers can binge-drink with their average weekly pocket money of £9.53.
A report for the group found that at a Co-Op supermarket £10 would buy three large bottles of Budweiser, and two big bottles of WKD Vodka Blue coming to a total of 17 units of alcohol. It also said that Sainsbury's sells 10 207ml bottles of Budweiser for £6.59, the equivalent of 10.35 units.
Don Shenker, the director of policy and services for Alcohol Concern, said: "Cheap alcohol promotions help explain just why those young people who drink can afford to do so at far greater levels than in the past."
Alcohol Concern is calling on the Government to introduce higher taxes on alcohol.
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