A lesson for those who want to clamp down on binge drinking

Comes from the LA Times which reports that drinks makers are avoiding paying a new tax

Beverage makers admit they aren't paying the new taxes. They say they don't have to because they have reformulated the drinks -- more than 6,000 varieties -- to transform them into simple beers by limiting the amount of distilled spirits they contain.
They won't explain how. The formulas, they say, are trade secrets. And beverage-industry officials and federal regulators say there are no tests to determine how much distilled spirits the drinks contain.

The new taxes were

intended to raise the price of a typical six-pack by $1.74 -- or 20%. Advocates were hoping that would deter teenagers from buying the brews.

A Baccillian problem to solve?

Sisyphus (and this is true) was sentenced by the gods to roll a huge rock up a steep hill for eternity. Each time he would bring the boulder just about to the summit, and then something would cause the blasted stone to roll right down to the bottom again. The ancient Sisyphus was punished for his cleverness, but we modern Sisypheans are condemned by our stupidity to have the same debate about how to alter the behaviour of our fellows, over and over and over again.

David Aaronovitch in this morning's Times uses the mythological metaphor to dismiss political attempts to cahnge our drinking culture.

Maybe he is correct but regardless of the issues,this knee jerk reaction by Labour to attending to the headlines is surely doomed to failure.

The concern says David,

arises partly out of the endless recent publicity about binge drinking and antisocial behaviour, and partly because of worries about the health of individuals.

But is legisaltion really the way forward?