COINCIDENTALLY as the government announced an easing of the law on cannabis Judge Raymond Bennett has highlighted some of the dire consequences that another drug - alcohol - has on East Lancashire.

At Burnley Crown Court he spoke of the high number of incidents of violence and said the courts hardly saw any defendants who had been involved in such incidents when sober.

" I do wish the public generally would think about drinking less and perhaps we would see less violence," he said.

Those working with problem drinkers say we have one of the highest levels of alcohol abuse in the country with eight per cent of men and four per cent of women regularly drinking more than twice the recommended limit.

Like smoking and above average incidence of health problems like heart disease these high figures are not a major surprise.

They tend to go hand in hand with high unemployment, low wages and general social deprivation.

Heavy drinking also puts economic pressures on our already hard pressed emergency services.

The police and ambulance service have to deal with drunken aggression as well as the injuries and trauma it causes.

At the hospitals security staff are employed to ensure that doctors and nurses, as well as patients, as not troubled by drunks.

There is a strong case for more money being spent on helping areas that suffer both in terms of covering the costs of the heavy drinking and paying for the programmes that get people to turn away from it.

In addition there are the education campaigns aimed at stopping the younger generation from launching themselves into alcohol abuse in the first place.

But, as MP Greg Pope hints, the biggest single factor in reducing the problem would be a change in public attitudes.

This means people exercising self restraint and enjoying a drink without getting drunk.

It also means an end to the idea that it is somehow macho for men to consume huge quantities of a beer.