Aussies debate government battle against booze

Prohibition never worked
A young woman leans over and ejects the contents of her stomach onto the sidewalk. It's 2 a.m. on a Saturday in Kings Cross. The street has become a slalom course of discarded beer bottles, trash and vomit.

Tom Evreniadis, a street musician who has worked this neighborhood for eight years, plucks his guitar while keeping an eye on the crowd.

"Whether they've been binge drinking all night or whether they're on some pills or drugs, you don't know what you've got," he says. "And the aggression is ..."

A beach ball whacks him in the head, interrupting him. A glassy-eyed stranger on the sidewalk laughs maniacally. Evreniadis tosses the ball back and continues: "Like you see, they've got a lot of aggression to let out."

Nothing will stop them, he says. Prohibition? That never worked anywhere.

'There is no cure'
He pauses for a moment.

"There is no cure," he says finally. "It really is the culture. You do see your father drinking. He does put a beer in your hand when you're 6. ... You can't stop it today."

A group of unsteady men lurch by. Evreniadis grins and launches into a rendition of the Eagles' classic, "Desperado."

"Desperadohhh," he croons after them. "Why don't you come to your senses?"

The men stop to listen. They laugh. Then they turn and stumble off into the night.

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