Interactive: Figure for the cost of alcohol abuse a little hard to swallow

Do you think alcohol misuse is something the government must act on, or is it just part of the Scottish culture that we should accept? Get in touch and let us know what you think

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WHILST nobody can deny that those who abuse alcohol are costing the country money (The 900 Hangover, News, 12 January), I would have thought it is slightly misleading to simply state that the direct cost to every adult in Scotland is 900, without taking into account the revenue raised by the drinks industry, from taxation and alcohol duty to employment and tourism.

By all means, target the supermarkets by forcing them to raise prices, as it is clear that they are root of the problem when it comes to cheap drink prices.

However, to target all areas of the licensed trade and continue to force well-run businesses to close, will very soon result in the revenue received from the industry reducing drastically and further benefits being claimed by those made unemployed.

Can the Scottish Government clarify the real cost to every adult by a simple calculation of income and cost; or would that perhaps be less dramatic a figure?

Sheila Fraser, Beveridge Close, Dalkeith

Global warming 'facts' unreliable

MICK Geggus takes issue with me over global warming (Interactive, 11 January), which he is entitled to do, but to say that I have no understanding of the issue is insulting. That CO2 emissions generated by human activity is causing global warming is not an undisputed fact and has not been proven in practice.

Numerous scientists dispute this theory.

In the US, Canada, Australia and Russia more than 30,000 scientists signed petitions challenging man-made global warming.

One such petition said: "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate."

No doubt Mr Geggus is aware of the controversy surrounding the Climate Research Unit and the revealing e-mails and that the so-called peer reviewing of published papers was restricted to those supporting the global warming "religion".

He must be aware of the computer programmed to produce the infamous "hockey stick" graphs.

The World Federation of Scientists stated that these models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were "incoherent and invalid from a scientific point of view".

The climate is changing as it has done for millennia but the cause is more likely to be solar activity and/or ocean currents than a minuscule percentage of CO2.

Clark Cross, Springfield Road, Linlithgow

Nursing care at ERI is in great shape

READING so much bad news about the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, I was a bit apprehensive about going in for an operation.

I was put into Ward 209. The staff couldn't have looked after me any better, you could see they were busy but could still make time to give comfort or would come back when not so busy.

I was transferred as a boarder to Ward 207 as I was going home. again the same care and attention was applied. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with the nursing care at the ERI.

Andrew Harris, Mountcastle Place, Edinburgh

CCTV is worthless 'security theatre'

HOW disappointing it is to learn of East Lothian Council's pathetic, lemming-like response in pressing ahead with its CCTV installations across the county (News, 11 January).

How is it possible that these people can remain ignorant of all the reputable research confirming that such widespread use of CCTV is next to worthless? For this is just "security theatre", and it will neither reduce antisocial behaviour nor help to catch criminals.

All this is in sharp contrast to West Lothian's recent decision to consider ditching its earlier plans to upgrade Linlithgow's CCTV network and instead to divert the money saved into more effective security measures.

So why is it that the East Lothian councillors can remain so unenlightened about the realities of CCTV and be so ready to waste taxpayers' money? They are behaving both irrationally and irresponsibly, and their East Lothian constituents surely deserve much better than this.

Dr John Welford, Boat Green, Edinburgh