[The Saucepan Man]

I agree. I don't think that JRRT was seeking to make any point here about the dangers of alcohol. Nor do I think the passage remotely likely to encourage children to drink alcohol. I would have thought that any child of Hobbit-reading age (unless they live in a tee-total society) will be aware that alcohol makes people act strangely or become sleepy (I know mine do [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] ).

I remember that one of my favourite films as a kid was Disney's "Dumbo", and I loved the scene where Dumbo and Timothy mouse get drunk and see the Pink Elephants on parade. And I'm none the worse for it ... oh, but then again ... [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]