Strategy to combat teen alcohol abuse

Health chiefs in Cumbria have vowed to crack down on alcohol abuse as almost a third of 14 to 17-year-olds admitted to buying booze in the last week.

Compared to the national average more Cumbrian underage teens are binge drinking and buying alcohol and more than twice the number of 14 and 15-year-old boys report drinking in pubs or bars.

Under 19s cause around a quarter of alcohol-related crime in Cumbria.

Now, more youngsters are admitted to hospital with drink-related problems and more parents are buying booze for their children than the UK average.

This week the county launched its first alcohol strategy – Time To Call Time.

Members of Cumbria Constabulary, the local health care trust, youth offending service, Connexions, probation service and the county council were at the North Lakes Hotel in Penrith to pledge to fight problem drinking.

Director of public health, Professor John Ashton, called the drinking culture in Cumbria a mess.and said that young people’s attitudes to alcohol were impacting on issues such as teen pregnancy rates.

He said allowing youngsters to drink responsibly from 16 would instil greater respect for alcohol.

“It would be better in a managed environment,” he said.

“Boarding schools have a tradition that kids can have a drink at the weekend and if it’s good enough for the wealthy, then it’s good enough for the masses.”He added that meditation should be taught in schools to help youngsters steer away from alcohol in future times of stress.

But he stressed teens should not become scapegoats for wider problems.

He said : “The north of England is the alcohol centre of the UK and Cumbria is right up there – we know we have an alcohol mess on our hands. We need to adjust cultural expectations.”Prof Ashton said supermarkets selling cheap alcohol should take responsibility along with licensed premises that serve to those under-age. He said all adults should be setting a good example by drinking within safe limits.

“We are not talking about being tee-total. The problem is the fish are the last to see the water and in this case the water is the alcohol.

“Alcohol is a subtle and vicious drug if not handled properly,” he added.

The study behind the strategy also revealed around 9,000 children in Cumbria have parents with drink problems, and more than a third of the most serious child cases dealt with by social workers include alcohol or drug misuse.

Kevin Jones, head of partnership and prevention for the council’s children’s services department, called the statistics “shocking”. He said: “Parents overindulge in alcohol and fail to recognise the effects that can have on their children.”

Details about of the strategy will are expected to be developed by August.

Times & Star