"There is growing concern in the community about violence in the streets occurring when people have been drinking late at night outside entertainment venues," Ms Robertson said.

That concern is shared by police, by health authorities, by welfare agencies, by parents and even by young people themselves who are primarily the ones involved in modern-day night club life.

Despite the widespread concern, what to do about the problem remains an issue.

Tweaking around the edges by upping the price of alcopops and closing doors to patrons after 2 or 3am will have some impact - for a while maybe - but won't deal with it on the grander scale.

The reality is, we are talking about a culutre that's been created over a long period of time and we are not going to change it overnight.

In this day and age, "going out'' means leaving home around midnight and staying out until the sun starts to reappear. And more often than not, young people (and some not-so-young people) will write themselves off as part of the fun.

Reasearch by the Alcohol Education Rehabilitation Foundation reveals some disturbing facts about this culture.

Almost one in four people aged 18 to 24 regularly drinks so much they pass out. A third class themselves as binge drinkers (having more than 10 drinks in one sitting). Forty-one per cent have passed out at least once through excessive drinking and four per cent more than 20 times.

Sixty-three per cent of those surveyed admitted being more likely to have a one-night stand when drunk.

It all paints a pretty ugly picture, which brings with it some pretty ugly side effects.

Ask any buisness owner with doors fronting Lydiard or Sturt streets in the CBD what they have to confront on a Sunday morning and you may be surprised. Vomit, urine, excrement, broken windows, broken bottles are among the standard fare. Sometimes it is worse.