Nigel, I have asked myself the same question, ie Why do countless people do this all over the country? Especially young people. My two nieces are at University, and seem to live to get hopelessly drunk as often as possible. They drink before they go out,(one in Durham and one in Edinburgh) they drink in the pubs and clubs, they drink on the way home. They get in at dawn, practically paralytic, with plans to go out and do it all again. They are often terribly sick and feel ghastly for a day or so. I dread what this is doing to their livers, and I wonder what they get up to while in this state, they're both so vulnerable, aged 20 and 21. Their mother is a doctor, but she can't persuade them to ease up. I was at Edinburgh Uni, and I swear we didn't do this. What is the matter with them?