SO, booze has killed 149 people in East Lancashire over two years (LT, April 17).

Alcohol is a killer but putting a minimum price on it is just another hidden tax which those who can afford it will still pay.

Those who can just about afford it will still buy it and will do without something else. The worst and last is those who can’t afford it and will steal or kill in some cases to feed their habit.

Alcohol is a drug – a lot of folk under pressure at work start with a glass or two at night and it gets worse (speaking from experience).

I don’t know the answer to stop people taking this drug but it is certainly not a minimum price fix. Ideally, we should ban alcohol along with cigarettes, but this will never happen.

LancsPensioner (via website).