Binge drinking 'out of control'

Binge drinking is "spiraling out of control" in Grey-Bruce, with a third of residents who drink alcohol reporting engaging in it during the past year, a figure 12 per cent higher than both the provincial and national averages.

The percentage of local drinkers over the age of 12 binge drinking nearly doubled to 34 per cent in 2007 from 18 per cent in 2001, according to the Canadian Community Health Survey, which monitors a range of health indicators including alcohol and tobacco use.

"For the most part, most places in Canada have not doubled. These numbers are just really high," said Matthew Myatt, associate epidemiologist for the Grey Bruce Health Unit.

"I wouldn't say we expected to see the jump in the numbers because this is really high, 12 per cent (higher than the average) is huge."

The provincial average for binge drinking by those who drink alcohol was 21.2 per cent in 2007, the national average was 21.8 per cent. Binge drinking is considered to be having five or more drinks on one occasion at least once per month in the past 12 months.

"Alcohol abuse through binge drinking is spiraling out of control in Grey Bruce," the health unit said in a news release. "Alcohol is the most popular drug in Grey Bruce and its abuse is on the rise."

Research has proven that adverse health effects due to drinking begin at the "binge drinking" level of consumption, Myatt added.

According to Dr. Geoffrey Fong, a psychologist at the University of Waterloo, binge drinking is heavily affected by social context and peer pressure.

"If you start drinking at a young age it becomes a problem that quickly becomes a social epidemic because it's highly visible and spreads throughout a social group," said Fong, an expert in global health issues and the effects of alcohol on social behaviour.

"What initially may seem like a small increase in drinking will blossom fairly quickly because of social effects."

The local co-ordinator of the FOCUS Community Program says the goal of program is to prevent problems, including injuries and chronic diseases, associated with drinking and drug use.

"If adults that drink alcohol can begin to assess the amount and their patterns of drinking, we hope there will be a change in the culture of drinking in Grey Bruce and also a reduction in the burden of disease," Marie Barclay, a public health nurse, said in a news release.

Owen Sound Sun Times

Should we teach our children to drink?

David Cameron thinks so, championing the idea that children should try alcohol at home. Is it really that simple, asks Alice Wyllie
When it comes to alcohol, there's one thing with which it can be very dangerous to mix: teenagers. It's up there with drugs, cigarettes and "the wrong crowd" on the list of things that keep parents awake at night, often with good reason. A recent study by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with the World Health Organisation found that 13-year-olds in the UK are getting drunk more frequently than any of their peers in the Western world.

A sobering statistic, but sadly one that's not particularly surprising. We're constantly bombarded with statistics about how much alcohol British teenagers drink, their attitudes to drinking and even the resulting health problems that arise from binge drinking as a teenager. However, it's not often that we hear a solution offered.

Yesterday, the Tory leader David Cameron threw his suggestion into the ring while speaking to a group of young Radio 1 Newsbeat listeners. He suggested that children should be introduced to the idea "that drinking is something you can do socially, and something you can do with a meal, and something that is part of life".

He added: "Some of the friends I had, the ones who had the biggest problems, were the ones who actually were never allowed to drink anything at home – whereas the ones who drink responsibly were the ones who were given a glass of wine or a small glass of beer or a shandy or something. That's the right way to do it in the home."

It's not the first time that it's been suggested that parents in Britain try to follow the Italian or French model, where children are allowed to drink with a meal and are less likely to binge drink or drink in the streets. Last year, new research was published that suggested teenagers who drink alcohol with their parents, in moderation, are less likely to binge drink. The study, by Liverpool John Moores University, of more than 10,000 15 and 16-year-olds found that almost 90 per cent admitted to drinking alcohol, of whom 38 per cent binged. Those who were introduced to alcohol at home were less likely to fall into the second category.

It also found that teenagers who bought their own alcohol were six times more likely to drink in public, and twice as likely to binge than those who had alcohol bought for them. However, the report contrasted with a call last year by the charity Alcohol Concern to prosecute parents who give alcohol to under-15s, and not all parents agree with Cameron's views.

"I don't believe that introducing your children to alcohol is an approach that works at all," says Frances Byatt-Smith of The Parent Centre in Edinburgh. "It's not necessarily harmful, but it's simply not going to outweigh peer pressure. Children copy what their parents do, so drinking in front of them isn't a good idea, full stop. Even if you're sharing a bottle of wine over a meal, it's likely that they'll notice it making you more relaxed and chatty. It's not a great message to send."

Linda Russell of the Parent Coaching Studio in Edinburgh largely agrees. "By introducing children to alcohol as part of a family meal, you demystify it and it's not portrayed as something rebellious," she says. "However, the problem with this approach for me is that more and more families aren't sitting down to eat together, so children's experiences of their parents and alcohol tend to relate more to watching them drink at parties or social gatherings. This can send out a dangerous message, because children can then see alcohol as more of a social lubricant."

Anne Coates of parentingwithouttears.com approves of David Cameron's views: "It's the approach I took with my own daughter. She was offered wine with her meal as a teenager and it wasn't until she was 18 that she began drinking with friends. Offering it to her took away curiosity; it was no longer exotic or rebellious, because it was something her mother allowed. Sometimes she'd turn it down – it wasn't a situation where there was any peer pressure, so she felt free to say 'no'. As an adult, she now views alcohol as something to be enjoyed with a meal."

But concerned parents want something to be done about out-of-control teenage drinkers. Research last year found that the number of under-18s in alcohol treatment programmes had soared by 40 per cent, from 4,781 in 2006 to 6,707 in 2007, with the highest increase among 12 to 14-year-olds.

The continental approach is not infallible, though: evidence suggests it is beginning to crumble, with an increasing number of teenagers reported to be binge drinking in countries such as France and Italy, where their alcohol intake has traditionally been more reserved.

According to Italian health ministry figures published last year, 17 per cent of the population are binge drinking at least once a month and one in five teenagers admits to being drunk regularly. Experts have blamed the problem on the breakdown of the traditional family unit.

One wonders, then, if the first step to solving the problem is not allowing children to enjoy a glass of wine at a family meal, but simply to get them to sit down for a family meal full stop?

The Scotsman newspaper

Katine's alcohol problem: a local perspective

When I interviewed four Katine villagers ahead of International Women's Day in March about the challenges they faced as women, I noticed a common thread running through their tales – Katine's men, it seemed, were married more to alcohol than to their wives.

Women, I was told, did a lot of the gardening, finding food, clothing children, providing the family with medical care. What then, I asked, do the men do?

Drink.

This of course, was an extreme reaction, but a telling one. It is normally women who make ajon, the local brew made mainly from millet flour and water. And it is normally women who sell alcohol, mostly to men. But it is also usually women who suffer the consequences of alcohol abuse.

All over Katine, there are numerous drinking joints selling either ajon or waragi – a colourless, distilled drink. But perhaps the boozing capital is Atirir, the main trading centre in the sub-county. As early as 10am, the members of various clubs meet around their pots and suck away at a few straws.

Each time I wander into the centre, I am almost sure to run into Joseph Opuna, an eloquent and perpetually thirsty politician who represents Ojama Parish on the sub-county local council. Opuna runs his own bar which sells bottled beer and soft drinks but I first met Opuna in February, outside the popular ajon bar grandly called 'parliament', owned by Sarah Adeka.

A father of eight and husband of two, Opuna told me he first tasted ajon at 10. He is now 34. He said his father taught him how to make the brew and he grew up to know that, as an Ateso man, he is expected to drink. As he talks, the words "our culture" keep cropping up, suggesting it is a cultural thing to drink ajon.

This week, I ran into Opuna in another bar at the back of the trading centre. With half a dozen men, they were taking turns on a 300ml bottle of waragi. When a baby is born, Opuna tells me, elders place a drop of ajon on the infant's tongue and another on the mother's. Perhaps this explains why his father used to tell him while giving him ajon that, "this is where I come from".

On a normal day, Opuna wakes up at 6am and works in the garden until 9am, after which he goes to his bar. He joins his friends to drink ajon or waragi at 5pm. He admits that while drinking is the cultural norm, some men have become a nuisance because of alcohol abuse. They don't help their wives with farm work and they do not even buy essential household items such as soap or food.

Unfortunately, even as a councillor, Opuna cannot do more than advise his thirsty friends: "If someone does not buy food in his house, you cannot force him."

One of Opuna's friends is known to start drinking by lunchtime, return home in the night and then demand food. But when he is in that state, he does not want peas or beans; he wants chicken. And since he did not buy the chicken and his wife wouldn't have it, he often ends up beating her.

Interestingly, every drinker there agreed that alcoholism is a problem – only it is not a problem for him.

The following day at 11am, I met Opuna's friend again in another backyard bar. Staggering in a yellow and green, flowered shirt, he said he is 60 and has fathered 11 children. In his trembling left hand, he is holding a 150ml bottle of packed yellow orange juice – apparently to neutralise some of the alcohol that he reeks of. Yes, he says, alcohol is a problem, but not for him or his wife Lucy.

I wonder how old his wife might be. "Itomon akany iarei," he replies meaning, "seventeen". My interpreter tells him that this can't be true and, embarrassed, he retorts that only his wife can know her real age.

"When you quarrel with your wife, where do you go for mediation?" I asked.
"I no longer quarrel. I am too old," he replied.
"But you used to quarrel when you were younger?"
"Yes," he smiles.
"What used to make you quarrel?"
"Drinking," he smiles, embarrassed, "drinking."

Guardian

New Test Identifies Heavy Drinkers

A new screening test identifies twice as many heavy drinkers as the commonly used liver enzyme test, a new report shows.

The Early Detection of Alcohol Consumption (EDAC) test determines the likelihood of heavy drinking in the previous four to six weeks and could help physicians spot and treat problem drinkers sooner. It uses an algorithm of 20 blood chemistry levels and compares the subject's test results to data from more than 1,700 heavy and light drinkers in a database.

The database classifies heavy drinkers as men reporting more than five drinks a day or women having more than four drinks a day.

A presentation about the test and its effectiveness was to be made Wednesday at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) annual meeting, in Washington, D.C.

"Physicians can use the test as part of an early intervention," James Harasymiw, director of Alcohol Detection Services in Big Bend, Wisc., said in a news release issued by the AACC. "When patients are confronted with test results, they may be more likely to change their behavior."

Alcohol abuse claims about 100,000 lives in the United States annually, including almost 17,000 people who die in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

"Physicians can show patients the test results to help convince them that their drinking is causing serious damage to their organs and other biologic systems," Harasymiw said.

Washington Post

British drunks make me ashamed

I've always detested the effect that too much alcohol has on people and I've never really understood the joy some people experience from throwing up on the pavement or waking up with a blinding headache the next day. Yet, in much of Britain, being inebriated to the extent of falling down in the gutter or blacking out is almost a badge of honour.

When the government changed the licensing laws to allow 24-hour drinking in 2005, it was hoped binging would decrease and a sophisticated Continental-style cafe society would emerge over time. That hasn't happened. Instead, according to the Local Government Association representing councils across the country the relaxing of restrictions has turned the centres of British towns into late evening crime-ridden no-go areas.

While it's true that enjoying a tipple has always been part of British culture, when I was a youngster growing up in Wales, pubs and bars were still the province of males although some had what was called a "ladies" lounge - reserved for couples. Few women went to pubs alone.

Children were strictly banned from entering establishments that served alcohol and could often be seen sitting on benches outside with a bag of crisps and a bottle of pop. I still recall my terribly prim and proper grandmother hiding the sherry bottle when she knew the vicar was coming to call. How things have changed!

Almost half-a-century later and the World Health Organisation says there are more underage drunks in England than anywhere else in the world.

In May, the British police reported a 50 per cent increase in women being arrested for being drunk and disorderly over the past five years. A 2006 survey of 17,000 people in 21 countries found that women in England and Ireland are the world's biggest binge drinkers, while the Department of Health says that one out of every six women in England and Wales are either alcoholics or suffer from drink-related health problems.

Fact sheet

These increases in consumption are on record. The Institute of Alcoholic Studies (IAS) has put out a fact sheet showing that the estimated annual alcoholic consumption for persons over 14-year-old in the UK was 5.07 litres. In 2004, this estimate had jumped to 11.59 litres. It further states that "UK consumers spend more of their disposable income on alcohol than on, for example, personal goods and services, fuel and power or tobacco".

Britons spend some £17 billion in pubs each year, which is more than double spent on other activities, such as cinema, theatre, museums etc. The total value of the UK alcoholic drinks market exceeds £30 billion equivalent to the entire annual GDP of many small countries.

The IAS says that up to 35 per cent of all accident and emergency attendances and ambulance costs are alcohol related while between the hours of 12 midnight and 5am 70 per cent of hospital emergencies are caused by drinking.

These statistics are shocking, yet a government that had no compunction in cracking down on smoking for its effects on the health of the nation has done virtually nothing to change the prevalent alcohol-fuelled culture, responsible for violent crime, rape, spousal abuse and fatalities on the roads. Could this be because drinking has become a social bedrock that is so ingrained in the British psyche it is practically unassailable, or is the government protective of the tax and VAT on alcohol that greatly swells its coffers?

This post on the Daily Telegraph website from someone who visited Britain during the New Year perfectly sums up this quintessentially British phenomenon:

"I was shocked to hear just about every presenter on TV on January 1 joking about the viewers' hangovers as if everyone watching on that day must have got drunk the night before. I think that is the problem in Britain when it comes to alcohol. Most people seem to feel it's not worth drinking if you're not going to get drunk. Not simply merry, but completely smashed out of your brain."

Now that it's the holiday season, resort towns all over Europe and further afield are bracing for the influx of young boozing Brits, whose morality or lack of it embarrasses locals. Last Sunday, the Observer quoted a police officer on Crete as asking, "What is wrong with the British? Why can't you have fun calmly? We try to be tolerant, after all, these are only kids, but we find ourselves asking why?

Reports of two drunken British women who attacked cabin crew and tried to open an emergency door during a flight from Greece to the UK, the British passenger flying from Manchester who fought with a stewardess while threatening to explode a bomb, and the liquor sodden British couple arrested on a beach in Dubai for indecent behaviour make me cringe.

I'm a vehement critic of the nanny state in the belief that individuals are responsible for their choices and should be free to do as they like as long as their actions do not negatively impinge on others. But in a country like Britain that is riddled with rules, regulations and restrictions in the name of health, safety and security, why isn't anything being done to prevent the terrible toll that alcohol is exacting on a people that were once known abroad for their stiff upper lips rather than their pickled livers?

Gulf News

Think responsibly, drink responsibly!

With summer in full swing, there are countless parties to attend, including the upcoming ATI/RTI weekend. And there are very few party fliers that don't scream 'drinks inclusive', 'all inclusive' or 'super inclusive'.

These terms all share one common meaning - alcohol will be served freely. These parties are geared towards Teenagers, and their advertisements are plastered all over our social networking sites, their fliers are being given out at all our favourite hang-out spots; making it almost impossible to be unaware of them, as well as not want to attend.

Don't get us wrong, TEENs need to go out and enjoy themselves over summer, de-stress from the hectic school year that ended recently, and parties are a good way to do this, whether or not they serve alcohol freely. What we as Teenagers need to realise is that we do not need to drink excessively or any at all to enjoy ourselves when we go out.
Yes, this may be a hard idea to accept, since most of us had our first sip of alcohol from a relative's bottle before we even entered primary school. When we are constantly being bombarded with advertisements of young people partying and having a great time with a drink in their hand, it is hard to think that a good time can be achieved otherwise.

However, according to the report Patterns of Alcohol Use Among Adolescents and Associations with Emotional and Behavioural Problems by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), there is a strong relationship between alcohol use among youth and many emotional and behavioural problems, including fighting, stealing, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, skipping school, feeling depressed, and deliberately trying to hurt or kill themselves. The study further revealed that adolescent alcohol users - regardless of whether they are heavy, binge, or light drinkers - report they are more likely to use illicit drugs (like weed, which a great Teen majority feels is harmful, and also necessary to achieve a good time) than non-drinkers.

Adolescents who were current heavy drinkers were 16 times more likely than non-drinkers to have used an illicit drug in the past month. Light drinkers were eight times more likely to have used an illicit drug in the past month than non-drinking adolescents.

Not only does the use of alcohol affect your behaviour, and judgement, but it also affects your body as well. During your Teen years your bodies are still developing, and alcohol can greatly affect you, especially your brain, and major organs such as your liver. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, Teen drinking may cause more neurological damage than was previously thought. Contrary to the notion that the brain is fully developed by age 16 or 17, the new studies have found that significant development happens until the age of 21 and heavy drinking by Teenagers may inhibit that development. These studies indicate that Teen binge drinking can lead to poor performance in school, difficulty in simple math or the inability to read a map.

According to BBC News, Teens under the influence of alcohol also are more likely to have casual, unprotected sex, leading to the continuous spreading of sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes, gonorrhoea and HIV/AIDS, as well as greater occurrences of teenage pregnancy.

With all these negative effects, it is easier to rethink if the 'good time' Teens get from downing drink after drink, whether out at a party or chilling with friends or even at home alone is worth it. The blame cannot be placed on Teens alone, as party promoters all know that the legal drinking age in Jamaica is 18. Yet, even if their flyers say 'must be 18 or older', many do not check identification at the gate, and let in all the Teeny-boppers, seeing them merely as added profit.

It is therefore up to us to take control of not only our current but also our future health, by not drinking if you are underaged, and not drinking excessively, if you are legally allowed.

Jamaica Observer

Figures Show Drinking Takes Months Off Life

Drinkers in Plymouth are boozing themselves into an early grave, startling figures have revealed.

Men and women are wiping months off their lives through alcohol, say the statistics.

Data compiled by the Department of Health reveals a stark picture of the toll that drink is taking on the health of Plymouth residents.

Government experts say that on average men in the city are losing around nine months off their life expectancy, and women about four months. This is broadly in line with the national average.

In the Devon Primary Care Trust area, which covers the South Hams, the figures suggest boozing is shortening the average life of men by around eight months, and women by about three months.

Figures also show nearly 5,000 people were admitted to hospital in Plymouth for alcohol-related harm last year, equal to 1,785 admissions for every 100,000 people in the area. The national rate is 1,400 per 100,000. In Devon there were more than 12,000 hospital admissions for the same reason, a rate of 1,247 per 100,000 people.

The Government has promised tougher action against the alcohol industry unless it steps up efforts to encourage sensible drinking. Ministers are considering banning happy hours, forcing pubs and clubs to serve drinks in smaller glasses as well as larger ones, and stopping off-licences and other retailers from displaying alcohol at checkouts.

Devon and Cornwall's Chief Constable Stephen Otter has told MPs he wants to call time on boozing hotspots in towns and cities, and expressed concern that alcohol is as readily available as "a glass of cola".

He backed the idea of health warnings on bottles of booze, similar to those found on cigarettes, and raised concerns over the significant increase in booze-fuelled violent crime.

The promise of a government crackdown followed figures showing injury and illness caused by drinking cost the NHS pounds2.7billion a year - up by around pounds1billion since 2003.

Figures for the Plymouth Primary Care Trust area show 129 people aged under 18 were admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions in 2006-07. For Devon as a whole, the figure was 314.

In the same year, booze was blamed for the deaths of 118 people in the city and 379 throughout Devon. There were also more than 3,000 crimes recorded in Plymouth where alcohol was found to be the cause, a rate of 12 offences for every 1,000 people in the city compared to an average of 8.5 per thousand across the South West.

Nearly 2,300 booze-fuelled violent assaults were reported last year in the city, while in addition 40 sex crimes were recorded which were attributed to alcohol. It is estimated that around 17 per cent of people aged 16 and over in Plymouth go out binge-drinking.

Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport Alison Seabeck said: "It's a very serious concern."

Plymouth Evening Herald

Alcohol plays a big role in campus crime

Absent in the conversation about the University of Iowa and the football players gone wild is any serious discussion of alcohol's role in campus crime.

By any measure, it's considerable.

The university police department filed 535 charges against students in 2007. Four hundred sixty-seven -- 87 percent -- were alcohol- or drug-related.

Let's break it down: 236 were for public intoxication, 86 were liquor-law violations, 38 were for drunken driving.

When you're talking about alcohol-related "incidents" on campus, the number topped 1,000 for the fifth year in a row in 2007. While that might not seem like an epidemic at a school with 30,000 students, these are the incidents we know about.

If you look at the 18 football players arrested since April 2007, nine of the 23 charges were directly related to alcohol. How many others were indirectly related?

How many across campus? How many disorderly conducts? How many interferences with official acts, assaults, thefts?

Going by campus police interviews, it now looks as if alcohol played a part in the high-profile alleged sexual assault of a female student last fall.

The alleged victim told the campus officer she was an inexperienced drinker, a "lightweight," according to the report, who drank too much coconut rum too quickly on the night in question.

I know, I know. It's college. Students drink, many to excess. I did, you did. OK, maybe you didn't, which could be why I didn't know you.

But still, there is such a thing as the culture of alcohol getting out of hand, harming lives and damaging the reputation of the university.

On Monday, the Princeton Review came out with a survey of college students that ranked Iowa the No. 12 party school in the country, No. 3 in "Lots of Hard Liquor" and No. 11 in "Lots of Beer."

Remember, this isn't a scientific study and should be used for recreational purposes only. How did Iowa State, for instance, end up 17th in "Professors Get Low Marks?"

It could be worse. They could be Illinois, which topped off its No. 16 party-school ranking with an appearance in the "Students Study the Least" category.

But back up. I said it's time for a serious discussion. Let's look at some findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which says binge drinking varies widely from college to college and that campus environment can affect student behavior.

Is it easy to get alcohol? Is it a "wet" environment with many stores offering low prices and special promotions?

If so, the Harvard study project director says, the conditions are ripe for heavy drinking: "If colleges can change those conditions, they can reduce binge drinking among their students."

Is Iowa doing anything to change the culture? Three years ago, the university implemented a mandatory interactive online "AlcoholEdu" course for incoming freshmen.

Iowa (and Luther College in Decorah) is one of 900 or so institutions that use the program. Iowa is the first Big Ten Conference school to adopt the course. Students must complete the course before they're allowed to register for spring classes.

Independent studies indicate the program has a positive effect on behavior, especially among first-year students.

That said, one such study concluded that "AlcoholEdu" is more effective as one of many tools to reduce the damage associated with heavy alcohol use.

What else should be done? Suggestions: Crack down. Change the rules. After the first alcohol-related offense, notify the parents and require the student to pass an alcohol education course.

Second offense, mandatory suspension. Third offense, expulsion.

Get together with the county attorney, the campus and city police chiefs. Go to every bar in town and remind the owners about the Dram Shop Act in the Iowa Code, which holds owners responsible for damage done by alcohol-impaired patrons.

Tell the bar owners you'll do everything in your power to make sure the law is enforced.

Return Friday to the workweek. Schedule the most popular courses and the required classes on Friday to keep the weekend from starting Thursday night.

Do this to show the students you mean business. Unless, of course, you don't.

Des Moines Register

Men Losing Nine Months Of Life by Binge drinking

Binge drinking is reducing the lives of men in the region by nine-and-a-half months, a study has shown.

Figures released by the Department of Health (DoH) show booze abuse shaves 9.4 months off the life of the average man, and 4.4 months off the average woman in North Lincolnshire.

This is roughly in line with the national average but the report also said alcohol caused a number of extra problems, including hospital admissions for under 18s, crime, sexual offences, and even fatalities.

In March last year, North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) revealed there were around 15,000 binge drinkers in North Lincolnshire and top public health expert Cynthia Manson-Siddle said: "It's an important issue and it's a burden on society.

"Alcohol is a toxic substance and can end in overdose."

Binge drinking means drinking eight or more units of alcohol in one day for men and six or more for women. It can also refer to heavy drinking over an evening.

The latest information was released as part of a DoH project to create a national 'alcohol map' revealing the harm done in each region by excessive boozing.

The map showed alcohol-related problems in the region were worse than the national average in a number of key areas.

These included the number of under-18s hospitalised due to drinking, hospital admission for alcohol-related harm, alcohol-related crime and binge drinking.

The PCT, which supplied the new information to the DoH, was unavailable for comment, but Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo called for tighter restrictions.

She said: "The evidence makes it clear this is the right time to consult on a tougher approach to the alcohol industry.

"Individuals have to take responsibility for their drinking, but others, including the industry, also have a role to play."

She said there was no evidence 24-hour licensing laws had any impact on the issue.

The alcohol map also showed there were 24 direct alcohol-related deaths among men and 15 among women between 2006 and 2007, and a further 43 male deaths and 28 female deaths attributed to alcohol.

In the same period, there were 84 alcohol-related hospital admissions for under-18s, and 3,423 hospital admissions for alcohol-related harm.

Related crimes numbered 1,934, of which 1,418 were violent crimes and 30 were sexual crimes.

A spokesman for Scunthorpe General Hospital said: "We are aware a number of different admissions which occur are alcohol related, they could be alcohol overdose, falls under the influence, or people who get into a fight and are assaulted.

"It does put a strain on accident and emergency, and we know people admitted who have been drinking are more a likely group to either verbally or physically abuse A &E staff.

"We would hope, and urge people to drink in moderation and remember the recommended maximum limits."

This is Scunthorpe

The binge goes on

By Any account the Federal Government's controversial alcopops tax appears to have neglected to do what the Government claimed it was all about.

Tackling the culture of binge drinking.

Data released by the Liquor Merchants Association of Australia has shown that the alcopops tax has pushed sales of standard alcohol drinks up by a staggering 21 million.

It confirms what Family First thought would happen all along - that taxing alcopops would simply push people to buy the cheaper spirits and mix them with a soft drink themselves.

What this means is that people are using a spirit high in alcohol content and probably generously adding it to their soft drink.

And that means they're pouring more grog down their throats, not less.

So how does that address binge drinking?

The Government's using the blunt instrument of tax and saying that's how to tackle binge drinking and stop the ensuing violence that we see on our streets - but clearly that blunt instrument is not working.

You only have to walk the streets of Melbourne any given night to see what alcohol abuse is doing to our young people. And at what cost?

Australia is forking out $15.3 billion per year mopping up after alcohol and combating the violence and mayhem that unleashes on to our streets once the grog hits.

Our police force doesn't have the numbers to deal with it, staff at our hospitals spend their night patching up the drunks and the wounded that have assaulted each other after drinking to excess.

Then the binge drinkers wake up the next morning bruised and battered but all ready to go out and drink themselves silly at the next opportunity they get.

It's time to get serious about the scourge of binge drinking and the fallout it causes.

We've tackled our road toll, drug toll and tobacco toll.

Now it's time to tackle Australia's alcohol toll. Here's how to do it.

Put warning labels on alcohol. Tell young people what the effects of binge drinking can do to them.

Give them information to ensure they think before they drink.

Back it up with a solid advertising campaign that encourages a culture of responsible drinking.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying a drink, but it's the difference between drinking responsibly and drinking to excess that we need to address.

Look at advertising of alcohol during sports programs when young people are watching.

Cut it out until after 9pm.

Break the link between boozing and sport.

In a recent survey, 71 per cent of the population agreed that advertising of alcohol products shouldn't be on television until 9.30pm.

Alcohol ads are already restricted from running on TV until after 8.30pm.

But there is a crazy "loophole" that exempts live sport, so alcohol ads can run during the day on weekends and public holidays during sporting programs when young people watch.

There's been lots of talk and debate about this tax but surely now the time has come for it to be put to the Parliament and decisions made.

When the Senate resumes on August 26, Family First will be pressuring the Rudd Government to introduce legislation on the alcopops tax and to explain how it's going to help stop binge drinking.

I'll be meeting Mr Rudd to see what he has to say about our three-point plan to stop the violence, stop the excessive drinking and stop our young people seeking to harm themselves and others by binge drinking.

The Government now faces a challenge in the Senate.

It needs my vote and that of the two other parties who hold balance of power in the Senate.

Whether it gets my vote depends on how committed it is to really tackling this issue, to really addressing Australia's alcohol toll.

If the Rudd Government is fair dinkum about breaking the back of binge drinking, it will implement these key points not just focus on tax dollars.

Steve Fielding is a senator for Family First

Herald Sun

MP's plan to ban sale of booze to under-21s

MP Anne Snelgrove is hoping Swindon will ban the sale of booze to under-21s on weekend nights.

West Lothian has implemented a trial of the scheme where off-licenses and shops stopped selling alcohol to under-21s from 5pm to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

They were referred to the licensing board if they broke the agreement, which was in place between March and May.

Mrs Snelgrove believes a similar system could help tackle anti-social behaviour and youth alcohol abuse here.

“Swindon needs leadership and fresh thinking on antisocial behaviour and I will be talking this idea through with young people, councillors and police,” she said.

“I think off-licences have a lot to benefit from in signing up to this scheme. Even if police back it, it’s down to off-licences whether it happens and whether it works.”

But Bill Carlton, the director of Swindon and Wiltshire Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service said young people might go elsewhere where restrictions are not in place.

“I think there is a controversial issue about this happening in one area and not nationally,” he said.

“There is an issue regarding people’s rights.”

He said the cheap price of alcohol in supermarkets means many youths are getting drunk before heading to pubs and clubs.

He praised the Swindon Community Safety Partnership’s Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy introduced earlier this year.

Mrs Snelgrove is now seeking feedback on the idea of restricting the sale of alcohol to under-21s. The said the measure was well received in the Armadale, Westfield and Blackridge areas of West Lothian.

Police reported a 50 per cent drop in calls from the public about youths, vandalism and assault during its six-week period of operation.

“I’m floating this as an idea because it’s worked elsewhere,” said Mrs Snelgrove.

“We’ve got problems with binge drinking and underage drinking in the centre of Swindon, licensees and police are grappling with it but it’s clear we need to look at the options. The problems are a great concern for both young people, and the residents on the route into town who suffer from the behaviour of a small section of young people who have too much to drink.”

Chief Inspector Paul Howlett said: “There is a link between young people, alcohol and anti-social behaviour including criminal damage.

“Anything we can do to remedy this will be welcome.

“We rely on the cooperation of licensees to achieve this and there is an agreement already in place with some licensees to put in place an under-21 scheme.

“Clearly licensees who do sell alcohol to persons under 18 years of age commit an offence and we will work with Swindon Borough Council and the Community Safety Partnership to prevent this from happening.”

Swindon Advertiser

Not drinking, not wavering

Binge drinking, teen drinking. Perhaps our biggest social stigma is not drinking at all. Annie Lawson talks to those who don't imbibe.

Nick Johnson can sympathise with Marge Simpson. When the Simpson family matriarch once asked an Aussie bartender for a coffee, he replied, "beer it is". The 28-year-old Melbourne magician also struggles to convince waiters, and friends, that he doesn't drink booze.

Bart Simpson was summoned down under in a cliche-filled episode that caused much uproar when it screened in 1995. Crammed with beer jokes, Australians were portrayed as carefree, alcohol-guzzling (but likeable) louts.

There may be some cultural truth in the way we were perceived. Drinking is the glue that binds many of our social interactions and after sinking a few beers, well, it's easy to not take anything too seriously.

"Somebody at a party offered to get me a scotch or a glass of wine," says Johnson. "When I told him that I don't drink, he said 'OK, I'll just get you a beer'.

"At weddings, I'm always given a glass of champagne and when I explain I don't drink, people are always very insulted if you don't take it. I take it and pretend to drink it."

For some people, alcohol tastes like the devil's poison. Others don't drink on moral or religious grounds. People who regard it as a heavenly elixir are sometimes forced to give up later in life for health or addiction reasons.

For Johnson, the thought of a beer after school became too tempting (when combined with weekend binge sessions) so he gave up at 18.

"I think it was easier for me to give up drinking because I can get up in front of an audience and talk, and am good at meeting new people, so I don't need the courage of alcohol," Johnson says.

"When I go out I'm very gregarious, silly and over-the-top, and always keen to make people laugh. I wonder if that's me over-compensating for the fact that I don't drink."

Clinical psychologist Grant Brecht says drinking is an intrinsic part of Aussie culture, "an offshoot of larrikinism in the Australian psyche".

"It's so readily available and so readily acceptable," he says. "There is social pressure for young people to drink. It's much easier to decide not to smoke because of all the risks we know so much about but we don't talk as much about the risks of alcohol."

Around 7% of the population are ex-drinkers, down from 12% in 1991, according to a Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy survey of 30,000 Australians. The 2007 figures show the proportion of people who have never had a full serve of alcohol - that is, not classified as drinkers - has risen to 10% from 6.5% in 1991.

Abstinence, or at least drinking moderately, tends to be a sign of status, says Professor Ian Webster, chairman of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation. Wealthy people spend more on alcohol but then again, they can afford an expensive drop.

"It impoverishes families if the breadwinner is heavily drinking," he says. "If you look at the communities where alcohol is a big problem, they tend to be lower socio-economic areas where there's not much employment."

These trends are being examined by Webster's foundation as part of a study on the social meaning of alcohol, with the findings expected next year.

Drinking is a great social lubricant but over-indulging incites anti-social behaviour. Non-drinkers often endure immense pressure to have a tipple, perhaps stemming from a belief that drinking strengthens a sense of belonging and fun, and helps people relax.

"People will come under immense pressure because it makes people who drink feel more normal," says Brecht.

"Social support is the greatest buffer that we have against depression and not feeling good. Young people, as they start to draw away from parents, are in a phase of discovering who they are so it makes them feel they are part of a group."

Margery King, 69, is a life-long teetotaller - except for a brief lapse at 22 when she travelled on a ship to Britain. "Everybody else was drinking and I didn't think it would be the end of the world if I had the odd Pimms," she says.

She met her husband on the boat but he didn't drink at all. Brought up in a moderate drinking household, he decided at 14 to abstain after seeing on his way home from school an inebriated man kick a dog.

King's flirtation with Pimms ended before the pair married 44 years ago and had three children.

"We deliberately didn't tell our children to be teetotallers because at one stage the research was showing the people most likely to be alcoholics were the ones either with alcoholic parents or teetotaller parents," she says. "Our three children drink on an occasion but not every day."

At weddings, the Kings were "lucky to get a mineral water for the toast" and felt pressured in restaurants to order wine.

"Quite a few of our friends who stayed drinking heavily are getting health effects in their late 60s and early 70s such as weight problems and diabetes," says King. "We've both been healthy."

The temperance movement, which began in the United States 135 years ago, had great success in its prohibition crusade. Forty years ago, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Victoria had 20,000 members who signed a pledge of abstinence. This has dwindled to 500 because of the difficulty recruiting young people, says national director Anne Bergen.

Bergen and a team of volunteers hold drug information programs for 2000 primary and secondary school children across the nation. With drinking embedded in our culture, the union was forced to dilute its stance and accept moderate drinking.

"We talk about the importance of deciding what you want to do in life and not allowing friends to push them into something they don't want to do," she says. "We see alcohol as something that has caused tremendous problems."

Bergen supports the controversial new guidelines in a National Health and Medical Research Council report that suggest it is unsafe for either sex to drink more than two standard drinks a day.

At 69, Bergen has never had alcohol. Her mother signed a pledge of abstinence when Bergen was a baby and brought up her daughter in an alcohol-free household. Bergen's husband and three of their four sons don't drink either. "I've never felt the need to have alcohol," the former secondary school teacher says. "I like to keep control of my brain and what I do and I know the health risks."

The Age

Alcohol treatment essential

One of the toughest steps for an alcoholic is to shake off the denial. It can fester for years until one day he realizes he's lost — or is on the verge of losing — his family, his job, even his life.

So he takes the plunge and starts to seek a path to recovery. But there are roadblocks. He can't access or can't afford the treatment programs, especially the in-patient ones.

It's a terrible catch-22 for many Wisconsinites who recognize they need real help.

Wisconsin ranks fifth in the country for people over age 12 needing treatment but not receiving it, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Richard Brown, clinical director of the Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles, estimates that only 10 percent to 20 percent of Wisconsinites who need help actually get it.

This is criminal, considering we live in a state that leads the country in risky drinking.

Prohibitive costs and lack of insurance parity for substance abuse treatment are the main culprits. Under Wisconsin law, group health insurers can cap coverage at $7,000 per year for mental health and substance abuse treatment, which includes inpatient and outpatient services.

That might have worked in 1985 when the mandate was established, but today, $7,000 only pays about a quarter to a half of what many monthlong inpatient programs run.

Two proposals to the Legislature, in 2003 and 2005, to raise the annual coverage for substance abuse and mental health coverage to $16,800 died.

If lawmakers really want to address the drinking problem inherent in the Wisconsin culture — and its attendant societal woes — it has to deal with the treatment aspect of it.

We need to get treatment decisions out of the hands of insurance companies and into those of providers and patients. We need insurance parity for alcohol treatment. We need insurance companies to recognize that inpatient treatment is the best option for some.

While it may take more than one run through a treatment program to stay sober, people who get treatment fare far better than those who don't.

In a state stymied by treatment options, we quickly need to consider the most cost-efficient and effective options for all our residents who recognize they can't overcome their addictions alone.

Appleton Post Crescent

County underage drinkers nearly double state average

In a survey given just last fall, one in five eighth graders in Gage County, or 20 percent, said they had used alcohol within the past 30 days.

“Unfortunately, Gage County is a lot higher -- almost twice as high -- as the state average, which is a little over 10 percent,” said Tara Kuipers, director of the Gage County Multiple Agencies Partnering for Success coalition, during a presentation at a meeting of the Beatrice Area Retired School Persons on Wednesday.

She said the high number in Gage County is of concern because starting to use alcohol at an early age can lead to various problems, including issues with learning.

“When you start to use alcohol early, you’re four to five times more likely to become alcoholic,” Kuipers said.

But how do statistics like this impact Nebraskans in general?

Kuipers said underage alcohol use costs Nebraskans $447 million per year for things like traffic crashes, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, injury and treatment for alcoholism.

Drinking and driving in particular costs Nebraskans $130.6 million per year in wages and productivity lost, medical expenses, motor vehicle damage and other expenses, she said.

“It really impacts everything, and it’s all 100 percent preventable,” Kuipers said.

The survey information Kuipers presented comes from the Nebraska Risk and Protective Factor Survey done every two years by the Nebraska Department of Education. The survey asks children in grades six, eight, 10 and 12 what their behaviors are and their attitudes regarding alcohol and drug use.

The fall 2007 survey also found that 20 percent of 10th graders in Gage County reported that they had tried marijuana, she said.

There tends to be a perception that it’s just marijuana, it’s natural and at least it isn’t harder drugs, Kuipers said.

“But what we see from law enforcement is that the potency of the drug is 200-300 times more that what it was 15 years ago,” she said.

Marijuana also is viewed as a gateway drug, she said, as the majority of people who have used harder drugs started their experimentation with marijuana.

In comparing the surveys from 2003 and 2007, she said the number of Gage County eighth graders who reported having smoked cigarettes went up from 8 percent in 2003 to 11 percent in 2007.

“It’s not up drastically, but that’s still about one in 10 eighth graders who’ve tried cigarettes,” Kuipers said.

It’s the reverse of the trend seen nationally, as cigarette use has generally gone down, she said.

Another statistic of concern, Kuipers said, is that 51 percent of Gage County’s 12th graders reported having been the passenger in a car with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.

“Alcohol-related accidents are the No. 1 cause of death among youth,” she said.

Kuipers said the perception at times is that the message of don’t drink and drive is overdone, but when over half of 12th graders still do it there’s more work to be done on the issue.

On a positive note, binge drinking, defined as having five or more alcoholic drinks in a row, decreased in Gage County from 2003-2007, she said.

“I’m glad to say that number has decreased,” Kuipers said.

In 2003, 43 percent of 12th graders in the county reported binge drinking, while 30 percent reported doing so in the 2007 survey.

“That’s still a significant number of kids, and it’s still quite a bit higher than the state average of 20-22 percent,” she said.

Also on a positive note, Kuipers said the 2007 survey showed that 40 percent of the county’s 12th graders have used cigarettes, lower than the state average of about 45 percent.

In response to a question about what makes this area a hot spot, she said that is not known for sure.

She said these are issues that everyone in the community can help with, whether it’s with their own children or grandchildren or the child that lives next door.

“You all can still play a role,” Kuipers said, as the influence of adults is an important factor in keeping children from using alcohol and drugs.

She said underage alcohol use goes back to adults because 100 percent of the alcohol youths get their hands on comes from adults at some point since it is not legal for youths to purchase it themselves.

“This is a community problem,” Kuipers said.

And that’s where a coalition like MAPS helps.

MAPS is a coalition of individuals from across Gage County representing many areas including human service, health care, mental health, education, law enforcement, churches, youth, and community volunteers. Their goal is to create better communication between the agencies so they can find ways to collaborate, she said.

The point, Kuipers said, is to look at what’s going on in the community and figure out ways they can better support the health of youth.

Beatrice Daily Sun

National law to limit under-age drinking

The Federal Government plans to unify laws across all states and territories to control the supply of alcohol to minors but has ruled out banning young people aged 18 to 21 from buying alcohol from bottle shops.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said there were no plans to introduce a British-style ban on under-21s buying alcohol from liquor stores and supermarkets, a move about to be introduced in parts of England and Scotland.

The Government's taskforce on binge drinking, the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, wants to wipe out the numerous inconsistencies across Australian jurisdictions affecting minors and alcohol.

In some states, Victoria for example, it is deemed acceptable to serve alcohol to a minor in a private home if they are supervised by an adult - who does not have to be a parent. Restrictions on supplying alcohol to minors relate only to licensed premises, or to public venues. State penalties vary from $550 to $20,000.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Graham West, said in NSW adults can give under-18s alcohol as long as the minor's parent has given permission.

Yesterday Mr West also ruled out a ban on takeaway alcohol for 18- to 21-year-olds.

Australian National Council on Drugs executive director Gino Vumbaca said while the UK scheme limiting 18- to 21-year-olds to drinking in pubs, clubs and restaurants had merit, teenagers under 18 already got alcohol outside licensed venues, so raising the legal age to 21 would be similarly ineffective.

He said evidence showed the most effective way to curb binge drinking was by increasing alcohol tax.

Ms Roxon has dismissed calls to raise the legal drinking age despite extensive American research showing that increasing it to 21 reduced road crashes and violence and cut the amount drunk by young people.

Paul Dillon, director of Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia, said cheap alcohol meant teenagers could get dangerously intoxicated cheaply.

"I go out to private schools and the girls tell me they will drink a whole bottle of $30 vodka between three of them, which is just $10 each, while in the poorer areas, kids can get two litres of cask wine for $12," he said.

On July 1, fines in NSW for supplying alcohol to minors rose to $11,000 and/or 12 months in jail, while penalties for minors caught inside licensed venues or buying alcohol doubled to $2200.

Sydney Morning Herald

Politics stymies alcohol treatment

Getting past denial, public stigma just the first battle in alcohol abuse recovery

Kirby Krueger’s hard-working, hard-drinking Wisconsin roots are entwined with a history of alcoholism on both sides of his German-Polish family.

Krueger’s mother, Janet, 72, remembers as a child running to the corner tavern in Milwaukee with a metal lunch pail to pick up beer for her grandfather.

“I didn’t think anything of it,” she said. “That’s just how I grew up.”

So while Janet Krueger didn’t ignore her son’s underage drinking when he was developing into one of Appleton’s premier teenage athletes 35 years ago, she thought he would grow out of it.

“I was raised in a family where you knew who drank too much and who didn’t, but no one got treatment,” she said. “If you had a problem, you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps. I thought he would figure it out.”

But for a long time, Krueger didn't figure it out or seek treatment. Denial cost him his dreams of playing big-league baseball, a marriage and his health, causing him decades of misery.

“In Wisconsin, if you make it to work every day, even with a hangover, and pay your bills and show up for family gatherings with a smiling face, you’re not (perceived as) an alcoholic,” said Krueger, now 50.

His story speaks to Wisconsin’s alcohol-ingrained culture, which not only can engender problem drinking but also can obscure the need for treatment. A toxic brew of drinker’s denial, limited access to services, costly co-pays and public stigma keeps many Wisconsinites who battle the bottle from getting treatment they require.

Those who do recognize they have an addiction often find treatment prohibitively expensive.

Only 10 percent to 12 percent of those Wisconsinites who need help actually get it, said Dr. Richard Brown of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“We lead the nation in risky drinking and, for the most part, people don’t get treatment,” Brown said.

Over the past five years, Wisconsin has averaged the fifth-highest rate of alcohol dependence or abuse in the nation. Nearly 10 percent of the state’s population has an alcohol problem, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Additionally, the state averages the fifth-highest rate of people needing but not receiving treatment for an alcohol problem, the same survey shows.

Brown is clinical director of the Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles, a $12.6-million project to improve alcohol and drug screening, intervention, referral and treatment in the state’s primary care clinics, including early participant UW Health-Fox Valley Family Medicine in Appleton.

“People with alcohol problems don’t realize they have a problem and earnestly don’t believe they need help,” he said, “and then once they realize it and try to get help very often they can’t.”
Badger tradition

Krueger guzzled Boone’s Farm wine when he was 16. His addiction deepened while he was in college.

“You believe alcohol goes with everything,” he said. “You go to a ballgame, you drink. You go out with the guys, you drink. You go to a family reunion, and you’ve got a kegger tapped.”

For his addictions, Krueger has required nearly a dozen treatments since age 16. Drinking led to out-of-control boozing and then to hard drugs and then, finally, to prison.

He has been convicted of drunken driving five times and has been arrested more than once for using crack cocaine.

In some ways, running afoul of the law was a blessing.

“I would never had gotten help if I hadn’t been forced to, to appease the courts,” he said.

In a state where drinking is an inextricable part of the fabric of life, recognizing alcohol abuse, especially in yourself, is difficult.

“People believe it’s no problem,” Krueger said. “Like me, they say I can handle this. I’ll just stop tomorrow.”

But denial isn’t the only barrier to treatment. An even bigger obstacle, Brown believes, is a lack of insurance parity. Treatment costs often go under-funded because addiction is not covered on the same level as other illnesses.

“You’d never tell a diabetic: ‘Your blood sugar is too high but sorry, we won’t treat you anymore because you’ve exceeded your treatment cap,’” Brown said. “But that’s what we tell people here about alcohol all the time.”

Wisconsin is one of fewer than a dozen states that do not provide for some form of insurance parity for substance abuse and mental illness, which often overlap. Under Wisconsin law, group health insurers can cap coverage at $7,000 per year for mental health and substance abuse treatment, including inpatient, outpatient and transition services.

That amount has not increased since it was set 23 years ago, said Sarah Bowen, executive director of the Wisconsin Psychological Association and co-chairwoman of the Coalition for Fairness in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Insurance.

“In 1985, when the state mandate was established at $7,000, you could purchase about 30 days of inpatient care with that,” Bowen said.

That’s no longer true.
Caught up in politics

The renowned Hazelden treatment facility in Center City, Minn., costs about $26,000 for a 28-day stay. Rogers Memorial Hospital in Oconomowoc runs $16,000.

NOVA, one of the state’s few inpatient rehab centers, charges $4,000 for a 28-day stay. Most clients pay out of their own pockets, said executive director Marcia Larson.

“I couldn’t have afforded that,” Krueger said.

Without adequate insurance coverage, cost is a big deterrent for many of those who might seek treatment.

“It is difficult to afford treatment if they have health insurance and almost impossible if they don’t have health insurance,” said Kristene Stacker, executive director of Fox Cities Community Health Center, which serves the uninsured and underinsured in Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago counties.

“About the only way they can get in for treatment for detox is if it becomes a legal situation and they go in on a 72-hour hold.”

Bowen’s coalition, which wants mental health and substance abuse treatment covered under the same conditions and terms as any other medical problem, is trying to educate employers about how they could save money if Wisconsin had parity. Savings would come from reductions in absenteeism, turnover, on-the-job mistakes and overall medical expenses.

The group repeatedly has run into a buzz saw in Madison, however, and Bowen isn’t optimistic.

“We have been caught up in politics and the fact that key people in the state Assembly don’t believe in government enacting laws telling employers what benefits to give employees,” she said.

Rep. Steve Wieckert, R-Appleton, who serves on the state assembly’s health committee, said parity comes up periodically. But, while there is bipartisan support for measures to get tougher with drunken drivers, treatment is a harder sell.

Some legislators cite questionable success rates as a waste of taxpayer money.

Legislator Gregg Underheim, (R-Oshkosh), who chaired the Assembly’s Health Committee, said: “Efficacy (of treatment) is a big issue but there is also the question of how do you properly allocate the costs for treatment. This is clearly a social policy decision. Why hide the cost in private insurance?”
Treatment costs

The cost of treatment has been a major obstacle for families of students with alcohol and drug issues who would like to get help, said Deb Larson, a recently retired social worker with Appleton Central High School. Larson worked with students at risk of not graduating, often because of underlying substance abuse issues.

“It’s very frustrating for us, knowing the sooner we can intervene the better,” she said. “Often, it doesn’t get addressed until they land in the county system and request intervention at some point or the county steps in and requires it.”

Options Treatment Programs in Grand Chute specializes in adolescent and adult outpatient treatment and relies on client co-pays, insurance reimbursement, county funding and Medicaid.

Executive Director Jim Webb said depression and substance-abuse counseling cost as little as $300 for six weeks of individual sessions. The cost of 14 weeks of day treatment is $3,000 or less.

There are no waiting lists, however.

“We do our very best,” he said, “but it can be a challenge with some insurance companies, and we spend a lot of time on the phone.”

Options is one of few outpatient agencies that accept low-income clients on Medical Assistance. The government reimbursement rate is poor, Webb said.

“Where an insurance company might pay $30 for an hour of group therapy, Medical Assistance pays $8,” he said.

Those who cannot afford treatment at a private facility have options in the public sector, accessing providers and services through their county government, said Tom Swenson, behavioral health manager for Calumet County.

“But I’m not sure we can continue without more federal and state dollars,” he said. “We’re finding ourselves with less money for support and more people needing it. That is certain to get worse in the current economy.”

As an alcohol and other drug abuse counselor with the Health Center and Fox Valley Psychiatric Associates, Kerrie Jo Larsen has a foot in public and private sectors.

“Most people I see have no insurance coverage,” she said. “They’ve often been through the whole gamut with their disease, progressing from leading a stable professional life with health insurance coverage to no insurance and homeless or living in a shelter — all directly related to their alcoholism.”

Some treatment providers doubt insurance firms have the client’s best interest in mind when monitoring costs.

NOVA’s Marcia Larson said that even though her 50-bed program, one of Wisconsin’s few inpatient rehabilitation centers, is relatively inexpensive, health care management companies prefer less costly outpatient care.

“The biggest single paradox in the insurance industry is that employers purchase policies and have what they believe is a reasonable benefit for their employees,” she said, “and what is not said in these policies typically is that said benefit will be managed in such a way you can’t access it.”
Insurance challenges

Parity may not be the answer if it means even more layers of management, she said.

“Clients practically have to be poised on the edge of a building preparing to leap before the insurance companies say they need to be served in anything other than an outpatient setting,” Larson said.

“We need a more enlightened insurance industry. There are people doing case management who don’t know anything about chemical dependency. They try to cut costs. We try to save lives. Sometimes those agendas are at odds.”

Karrie Jo Larsen, the alcohol and drug abuse counselor, said she thinks it has become tougher to get treatment in Wisconsin.

“It’s very frustrating that insurance companies really dictate treatment,” she said. “Our hands are often tied by how often, how many times and the level of care insurance will pay. An incredible amount of work goes into justifying how much care is needed.”

Insurance companies are not the bad guys, said Greg Thousand, manager of behavioral health for Network Health Plan, Menasha.

He said his role is part gatekeeper with employers’ interests in mind and “part trying to make the best match so people aren’t out in the cold looking for resources in the Yellow Pages.”

Such determinations are based on “medical necessity,” he said, “so people don’t go into more costly residential programs when there might be a more effective treatment match based on their symptoms, such as outpatient treatment or group therapy.”

Thousand is glad to see efforts to bring about insurance parity in Wisconsin, but he said: “I wish they would look more incrementally without shooting for the moon. We’re all trying to keep costs down.”

Webb said the Fox Valley enjoys better treatment options and greater access than other parts of the state, largely because local county boards support alternatives to license revocation and jail that hold people accountable yet help them get well.

Insurance companies and families need to understand it may take more than one stab at treatment to succeed, Brown said.

“The vast majority who get treatment will drink again, just like people who get treated for high blood pressure, diabetes will see their blood pressure or blood sugar get out of control at times,” he said.

“So, often we conclude (treatment is) not effective when we say he got treatment and is drinking again. The better question to ask is do people who get treatment do better than people who don’t? … The answer is yes.”
‘Finally figured it out’

Krueger has gone through 10 treatments, most of which were court ordered. They range from drunken driving education programs and counseling to outpatient treatment and group home rehabilitation.

“I’ve been in so many treatments they all run together,” he said.

“You don’t know which treatment will stick, but you don’t stop getting it, and you hope nobody gives up on you.”

Treatment gave him the foundation he needed to overcome his addictions, he said; it was up to him to build on that.

“They showed me everything I needed to know. It was up to me to use it to my advantage.”

I had to realize I can't stay sober for anybody but me.”

Some court-ordered treatment he didn’t have to pay for, some he did.

His longest treatment was 90 days in a Mooring House and 60 days in a three-quarter house following prison.

He attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings once a week and checks in at Mooring, a halfway house for men in recovery from substance abuse, every weekday — to “stay connected,” he said.

“I do that just for me.”

Krueger said he has been sober for 19 years and has managed to stay away from cocaine for the past three years. “It took me (a lifetime), but I think I have finally figured it out.”

Life isn’t easy. Unemployed and uninsured, he lives with his mother. His health is shaky; he has diabetes, severe osteoarthritis and arthritis.

But before all is said and done, there might be something like an element of redemption in his story.

He has enrolled to start taking classes at Fox Valley Technical College to become an alcohol and drug counselor.

Appleton Post-Crescent

Teen binge drinking

News reports state that about a third of learners in the Western Cape alone are binge drinkers with some as young as 10 classified as heavy drinkers.

The death of 11-year-old Roseline Majola in March this year highlighted the alarming rise of alcohol abuse in children and teens. Majola was stoned to death by her friends who were allegedly drunk at the time.

Her friends aged nine to 15 were charged with murder and four were convicted in May and will be sentenced in June.

The most recent statistics available in South Africa is a survey conducted in 2002. Nearly half of all South African learners had used alcohol according to the South African National Youth Risk Behaviour Survey.

Alcohol usage amongst boys was found to be 56.1% and amongst girls an alarming 43.5%. A further 31.8% said they had used alcohol within the past month and 23% said they had engaged in binge drinking in the month before the survey.

More shocking is that 15.8% boys and 9% girls had their first drink before the age of 13 years.

Izabelle Little, author and co-ordinator of Life Talk, an online forum for teens and parents, says we are facing an alcohol abuse crisis.

"Binge drinking is a huge issue. Every day I get hundreds of e-mails telling heartbreaking stories. Alcohol abuse is leading to tragedies that are avoidable", says Little.

Worldwide problem

Alcohol abuse in children and teens is a worldwide problem.

According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, 90% of all underage drinking is in the form of binge drinking.

A National Health Service (NHS) report released in the UK earlier this year showed that hospital admissions linked to alcohol have increased by 50% since 1995 and prescriptions for treating alcohol addiction jumped to 20% in the past four years.

An Australian study released in February this year found that ten percent of 12-17 year olds engage in binge drinking in any given week. In 16 – 17-year- olds one in five binge drink on a weekly basis.

In March this year the Australian government embarked on a 53 million dollar campaign against binge drinking.

What is binge drinking?

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines binge drinking as the consumption of five or more drinks in one sitting or on one occasion.

Doctor Fourie, regional director of SANCA explains further, "Binge drinking is a pattern of using alcohol in which people intoxicate themselves during weekends or on special occasions."

Why do teens binge drink?

Little says, "We have a culture of drinking in South Africa and teens are a product of the society in which they live."

According to Little teens drink for a number of reasons: alcohol is freely available at parties and clubs; peer pressure – it appears to be the cool thing to do; alcohol advertising is targeted at teens; many teens are bored and alcohol provides a diversion; and some drink to escape from a broken home, poverty or abuse.

The dangers of binge drinking

"Alcohol lowers inhibitions and teens end up doing things they wouldn't normally do. Teens engage in sexual activities, increasing their chances of becoming infected with sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV. Alcohol abuse increases the chances of getting mugged or sexually abused. The abuse of alcohol can also be a gateway to other drug abuse. It can leave life-long scars", says Little.

Dr Fourie explains that binge drinking is extremely unhealthy. "If your blood alcohol level is too high, it affects the brain and could lead to a coma. It also slows down your heartbeat and could be fatal if your blood alcohol level is too high."

Fourie says what makes it even more dangerous for teens are that they tend to drink mixtures of ciders, beers, spirits and wine.

"It is a high-risk drinking pattern that can lead to serious addiction and result in social problems and high-risk behaviour such as engaging in unsafe sex and drunken driving. People can't act and think rationally when they are intoxicated," says Fourie.

The silent scourge

"Parents don't know what's happening. They drop their teens at parties and even night clubs where there is no adult supervision and alcohol is free and flowing. They believe that it won't happen to their child and only find out when they are contacted by a school counsellor, or if something tragic happens," says Little.

Fourie stresses that parents should be cautious about the freedom they give their children.

Little says that society had failed teens by not giving a strong message about the dangers binge drinking holds.

"Teens don't realise how dangerous drinking is. They have the – it-won't-happen-to-me attitude. Children start drinking as young as the age of 10 and by the time they are 14, they are alcoholics.

They think they can cope with their drinking habits, but most of them are in denial of how serious it is," according to Little.

She emphasises that it is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. "The government is aware of the problem and some initiatives have been set in place; however more can be done. Alcohol abuse and underage drinking are only the symptoms of underlying issues. We should start addressing the causes. Parents, schools and communities all have a role to play."

Know the signs

Little advises to look out for the following signs:

* Personality and behavioural changes

* The smell of alcohol

* Signs of a hangover: headaches, red eyes, shivers, throwing up

* Excessive and sudden use of mouthwash and breath mints

* Alcohol is disappearing from your liquor cabinet

* Your liquor has been watered down

* Wild parties, late nights and sleepovers

* The hiding of bottles in bedroom cupboards

"If you suspect your teen has a drinking problem, get help. Seek professional help. Don't try to handle it yourself," says Little.

Health 24

Fighting alcohol abuse

Drinking habits of young people in Dorset are to come under scrutiny in a major review into alcohol abuse.

A panel of councillors has been tasked with heading the review, which will seek help from youngsters themselves to get to the root of the problem.

The panel is aiming to gauge the full extent of alcohol misuse among youngsters in the county and then work with expert groups and youths to get a better understanding of the causes.

It will then attempt to come up with a set of measures to tackle the principal issues, which will be presented to the Dorset Health Scrutiny Committee in May next year.

The review is a county-wide initiative with the panel made up of councillors from Dorset's county, borough and district councils and involvement also coming from the Dorset Primary Care Trust, Dorset Police and Dorset County Council's children's services department.

Dorset County Council's health partnerships officer Lucy Johns said: "The government has identified tackling alcohol misuse as a public health priority.

"As a nation we are drinking more and more and there is concern that use by people under 18 exposes them to all sorts of risks.

"The Health Scrutiny Committee is very concerned about what extent this is happening in Dorset."

The panel will be working with the Dorset Youth Council to get the views of the younger generation and is also hoping to get other teenagers involved.

Miss Johns said: "We will be wanting to hear the experiences and talk to young people more widely.

"The key thing the panel want to focus on is how to make a difference. Their role is to find out where they can make a real impact and effect real change."

Health Scrutiny Committee chairman Ronald Coatsworth added: "Alcohol misuse by young people is both a national and a local problem.

"At every level we must do all we can to equip young people with the facts they need so that they can make the right choices.

"This review will hopefully give us the information we need to guide our future generations."

This is Dorset

Agencies working to combat underage drinking

Officials and advocates throughout the county are teaming up to fight underage drinking.

An “intense wave” of compliance checks will take place in August and September throughout the city and county to prevent minors from obtaining alcohol, according to officials.
Alcohol remains the number one drug of choice among young people, said Anne McGee, director of the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership.

McGee said 43.6 percent of Cabell County sixth through 12th-graders reported using alcohol in the past year during a recent survey. More than 59 percent of Marshall University students reported drinking before the legal age.

The partnership announced Friday it was joining with the Governor’s Highway Safety office, Marshall University, the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, and local law enforcement agencies to reduce underage drinking.

The added partners and funding will help to continue ongoing efforts and have a great impact, said Larry Kendall, traffic safety director in the West Virginia Governor’s Highway Safety Program.

“We’re really thrilled to be able to continue the program ... and save a few lives in the process,” Kendall said.

Efforts over the past year have reduced the times minors were able to purchase alcohol from 43 to 17 percent, according to ABCA statistics.

Officials will target underage drinking on campus and throughout the county, according to Cabell County Chief Deputy Jim Scheidler.

Scheidler said efforts to check bars and convenience stores will occur during summer and continue as the fall college session returns.

“Drinking is associated with so many problems on campus,” said Amy Saunders, coordinator of student health education programs at Marshall.

Violent crimes, sexual assault and failing grades often involve alcohol, she said.

Scheidler said the majority of police reports involving juveniles during the summer are also related to alcohol consumption.

Herald Dispatch

Concern at binge drinking

Mount Gambier police Superintendent Trevor Twilley has expressed his concern about youth drinking in Mount Gambier.

“Whilst underage drinking is not unique to just the South East, it is a concern to the police and should be a concern to the community,” Supt Twilley said.

“Also of concern are those who choose to drink excessively and disrupt the peace and comfort of community members, something that the community should not tolerate and something the police will not tolerate.”

Supt Twilley said South East police had an “extremely good working relationship” with stakeholders including pub and club licensees, council and security.

“(We are) employing a number of strategies to reduce and or minimise the impact on the community from these quality-of-life crimes,” he said.

Supt Twilley said he was disappointed with the willingness of some parents to allow their children to drink in excess.

According to the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF) alcohol can cause permanent brain damage as different parts of the brain develop at different rates as we grow.

The pre-frontal cortex, which houses the part of the brain that controls rational thinking, does not begin to mature until the age of 19 and only fully matures by around the age of 21 in women and the age of 28 in men.

Damage to the pre-frontal cortex during its development can have lifelong consequences for the young person’s memory, personality and behaviour, according to the ADF.

Border Watch

Cheap alcohol 'fuelling trouble'

The Sale of cheap alcohol in Swindon centre is fuelling binge boozing, as the hospital is having to deal with teenagers having their stomachs pumped.

Swindon has one of the highest rates of under-18s being admitted to A&E for binge drinking in the country, according to a Government-sponsored report from KPMG.

And the figures are backed up by statistics obtained by the Adver showing 80 teenagers were admitted to the Great Western Hospital for alcohol misuse from August 2006 to August 2007.

Service delivery manager Steven Arnold at Swindon Ambulance station said: “The number of alcohol related incidents we attend in the town is a concern and the problem is worse at the weekend.”

He said that paramedics mostly had to deal with people being incapacitated or injured through drink-fuelled violence.

Consultants KPMG visited Swindon and other towns on behalf of the Home Office to find out if clubs and bars were meeting their social responsibility of discouraging binge drinking.

Researchers visited 88 pubs, clubs and off-licences in Swindon over a five-day period in February.

In the town centre, the researchers found 23 per cent of premises promoted alcohol with the use of sexual images and eight per cent offered free drinks to certain customers.

They saw alcohol being sold to three drunk people and what appeared to be four youngsters.

Their report of the inspection, released yesterday, said finding cheap drinks was a major motivation for punters in the town.

“Purchases and custom appeared to be largely down to the price of alcohol rather than entertainment or atmosphere,” said the report.

It said chain pubs offering cheap drinks were the only busy bars in town.

Richard Palusinski, head of community safety for the Community Safety Partnership said changes have been put in place since KPMG’s visit including the launch of an Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy.

He said: “We have a credible document that says we will help people stop harming themselves from the misuse of alcohol.

“We are reviewing the licensing of premises that are acting in a way that is unhelpful to the people of Swindon.

“There is a dual responsibility. Yes the licensees are responsible for making sure they sell appropriately-priced alcohol to the right people but I don’t think we can escape the fact that there is a responsibility with the individual.”

Jane Leaman, Joint Director of Public Health for Swindon PCT and Swindon Council said the trust was working with the police and council through the Community Safety Partnership to raise “awareness of excess drinking and the potential impacts on people’s health.”

The KPMG report –titled Review of the Social Responsibility Standards for the Production and Sale of Alcoholic Drinks – said traders were failing to put drinkers’ safety first.

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: “At best the standards are being applied in a fragmented way, at worst in many places alcohol is being sold and marketed irresponsibly.”

Researchers from KPMG visited North Norfolk, Coventry, Hackney, Harrogate, Manchester, Tyneside and Newquay as well as Swindon.

Swindon Advertiser

Binge drinking a problem in Grey Bruce

Binge alcohol drinking is on the rise in the region -- in fact, the Grey Bruce Health Unit says it's spiraling out of control.

The latest figures from the Canadian Community Health Survey show 34 per cent of people in Grey Bruce engage in binge alcohol drinking.

That is 12 per cent higher than both the Canada and Ontario averages.

And the 34 per cent registered in 2007 is almost double the number found in the 2001 survey at 18 per cent.

The survey monitors people who the age of 12 who drink alcohol -- and it shows alcohol is the most popular drug in Grey Bruce.

Medical Officer of Health Doctor Hazel Lynn says binge drinking is an increasing problem and it's costly to our society.

She wants to reverse the trend.

The Grey Bruce Health Unit is now issuing warnings about excessive alcohol use.

Officials say alcohol is the third leading risk factor contributing to illness -- such as heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer.

But it also has negative social effects -- including strained relationships with employers, friends and family.

The Health Unit also notes young people are especially at risk and parents should try to set an example by watching their alcohol consumption.

The Low Risk Drinking Guidelines recommends no more than two standard drinks on any one day.

Bayshore Broadcasting Corporation

Alcoholism and problem drinking

Alcoholism means you are addicted to alcohol and cannot function without it. If you crave alcohol as soon as you wake, if you tremble, shake and feel sick without it, then you could be an alcoholic. Alcoholism is a very serious disease which affects around 2 in 100 women in the UK and can kill. The best treatment is to stop drinking altogether, have therapy and occasionally medication too.

Alcoholism is a word which many people use to mean 'alcohol dependence' (alcohol addiction). Some people are 'problem drinkers' without being dependent on alcohol. If you are alcohol dependent then detoxification ('detox') can help you to stop drinking.
Problems with drinking alcohol

There are roughly four 'levels' of alcohol drinking - social, heavy, problem and dependent. As a rule, each level increases the risk to your health and safety.

Social drinking: Most people drink some alcohol. However, even a small amount of alcohol can be dangerous if you drive, operate machinery, or take some types of medication.

Heavy drinking: This is drinking above the recommended 'safe' limits which are:

* Men should drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week (and no more than four units in any one day).
* Women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol per week (and no more than three units in any one day).

One unit of alcohol is in about half a pint of beer, or two thirds of a small glass of wine, or one small pub measure of spirits. See leaflet called 'Alcohol and Sensible Drinking' for details.

Drinking above the recommended safe limit increases your risk of developing diseases such as cirrhosis (liver damage), damage to the pancreas, certain cancers, heart problems, sexual problems, and other conditions. About 1 in 4 men, and about 1 in 7 women, drink more than the safe limit. In general, the more you drink, the greater the risk.

For example, if a man drinks five units each day (not greatly over the recommended limit) then, on average, he doubles his risk of developing liver disease, raised blood pressure, some cancers, and of having a violent death.

Problem (harmful) drinking: This is where you continue to drink heavily even though you have caused harm, or are causing harm or problems to yourself, family, or society. For example, you may:

* Have cirrhosis or another alcohol related condition.
* Binge drink and get drunk quite often. This may cause you to lose time off work, or behave in an antisocial way when you drink. But note: not everybody with problem drinking binges or gets drunk. Many people with an alcohol related condition such as cirrhosis drink small amounts frequently, but do not get drunk.
* Spend more money on alcohol than you can afford.
* Have problems with your relationships or at work because of your drinking.

Many problem drinkers are not dependent on alcohol. They could stop drinking without withdrawal symptoms if they wanted to. But, for one reason or another, they continue to drink heavily.

Alcohol dependence, addiction

This is a serious situation where you drink every day, and need to drink to prevent unpleasant withdrawal symptoms (see below). In the UK about 2 in 100 women, and about 7 in 100 men, are alcohol dependent.

What are the symptoms of alcohol dependence?

If you are alcohol dependent you have a strong desire for alcohol. Sometimes the desire is overwhelming. You have great difficulty in controlling your drinking. In addition, your body is so used to lots of alcohol that you start to develop 'withdrawal' symptoms 3-8 hours after your last drink, as the effect of the alcohol wears off. So, even if you want to stop drinking, it is difficult because of the withdrawal symptoms.

The withdrawal symptoms include: feeling sick, trembling, sweating, craving for alcohol, and just feeling awful. Convulsions occur in a small number of cases.

As a result, you drink alcohol regularly and 'depend' on it to prevent these symptoms. If you do not have any more alcohol the withdrawal symptoms usually last 5-7 days, but a craving for alcohol may persist longer. The severity of dependence can vary. It can develop gradually and become more severe. You may be developing alcohol dependence if you:

* need a drink every day.
* drink alone often.
* need a drink to stop trembling (the shakes).
* drink early, or first thing in the morning (to avoid withdrawal symptoms).
* often have a strong desire to drink alcohol.
* spend a lot of you time in activities where alcohol is available. For example, if you spend a lot of time at the social club or pub.
* neglect other interests or pleasures because of alcohol drinking.

If you are alcohol dependent you are usually 'tolerant' to the effect of alcohol. This means that you need more alcohol to notice any effects and to become drunk. This can make things worse as it tends to make you drink even more.

If you are alcohol dependent you may get drunk regularly. However, you may not get drunk. You may drink small amounts regularly to keep the withdrawal symptoms away. You may then be able to 'hide' your problem from others. However, you are still at serious risk of developing conditions due to heavy drinking (liver damage, cancers, etc).

Delirium tremens ('DTs')

This is a more severe withdrawal reaction after stopping alcohol. It occurs in about 1 in 20 people who have alcohol withdrawal symptoms about 2-3 days after their last drink. Symptoms include: marked tremor (the shakes) and delirium (agitation, confusion, and seeing and hearing things that are not there). Some people have convulsions. Complications can develop such as dehydration and other serious physical problems. It is fatal in some cases.

Should I cut back, or should I stop alcohol completely?

If you are, or have been, alcohol dependent, or if you have a condition due to alcohol such as liver damage, then stopping alcohol completely is usually best. Otherwise, reducing to a safe level of drinking is an option.
If you are trying to cut down, some tips which may help include:

* Consider drinking low alcohol beers, or at least do not drink 'strong' beers or lagers.
* Try pacing the rate of drinking. Perhaps alternate soft drinks with alcoholic drinks.
* If you eat when you drink, you may drink less.
* It may be worth reviewing your entire social routine. For example, consider:
* Cutting back on types of social activity which involve drinking.
* Trying different social activities where drinking is not a part.
* Reduce the number of days in the week where you go out to drink.
* Going out to the pub or club later in the evening.
* Try to resist pressure from people who encourage you to drink more than you want to.

What can help me to reduce or stop drinking alcohol?

Alcoholism and problem drinking treatments

No-one can make you stop or cut down drinking. You have to be committed and determined to do this yourself. However, it can be difficult, and one or more of the following may help.
Accepting the problem

Some people deny to themselves that they have a problem. The sort of thoughts that people deceive themselves with include: "I can cope", "I'm only drinking what all my mates drink", "I can stop anytime". Accepting that you may have a problem, and seeking help where necessary, are often the biggest steps to cutting back on alcohol, or cutting it out completely.
Self help

Some people are helped by books, websites, leaflets and their own determination. It is thought that about 1 in 3 people who have a problem with alcohol return to sensible drinking, or stop drinking, without any professional help. See the end of this leaflet for a list of resources.

Talking treatments

Some people are helped by counselling and advice from a practice nurse or doctor. Sometimes a referral to a specially trained counsellor may be advised. They can help you to talk through the issues in more detail and help you to plan how to manage your drinking. In some cases, more intensive talking treatments such as cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) may be appropriate. CBT helps you to change certain ways that you think, feel and behave, and may help some people with alcohol related problems.

Treatment and detoxification

Treating other illnesses

Alcohol may seem to be a 'quick' answer to the relief of stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health problems. However, the effect is short-lived and drinking a lot of alcohol often makes these conditions worse. If you feel that these conditions are the underlying problem then see your doctor. Medication and talking treatments such as CBT often work well for these conditions, and are a much better long-term option than heavy drinking.
Detoxification ('detox')

This is an option if you are alcohol dependent.

What is detoxification?

Detoxification or 'detox' involves taking a short course of a medicine which helps to prevent withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking alcohol. Benzodiazepine medicines such as chlordiazepoxide are used for detox.

Many GPs are happy to prescribe for detox from alcohol. A common plan is to prescribe a high dose of medication for the first day that you stop drinking alcohol. You then gradually reduce the dose over the next 5-7 days. This usually prevents, or greatly reduces, the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. You must agree not to drink any alcohol when you are taking the detox medication. Your GP or practice nurse will usually see you quite often during the time of detox. Also during this time, support from family or friends can be of great help.

Some people are referred to a specialist drug and alcohol unit for detox. This is usually better for those with little home or social support, those with a history of severe withdrawal symptoms, those with physical illness caused by alcohol, and those where previous attempts to stop alcohol have failed. The medicines used to detox in specialist units are much the same as GPs prescribe. However, these units have more staff and expertise for giving support and counselling. Some people with serious alcohol related problems are admitted to hospital to detox.

The medication does not make you stop drinking. You need determination to stop. The medication simply helps you to feel better whilst your body readjusts to not having alcohol. Even after the period of detox you may still have some craving for alcohol. So you will still need willpower and coping strategies for when you feel tempted to drink.

Other medication sometimes used for alcohol problems

* Vitamins, particularly vitamin B1 (thiamine), are often prescribed if you are alcohol dependent. Especially during detox. This is because many people who are dependent on alcohol do not eat properly and can lack certain vitamins. A lack of vitamin B1 is the most common. A lack of this vitamin can cause serious brain conditions called Wernickes encephalopathy and Korsakoff's psychosis.
* Acamprosate is a medicine which can help to ease alcohol craving. This may be prescribed to some people after a successful detox to help them stay off alcohol.
* Disulfiram is another medicine which is sometimes used following a successful detox. When you take disulfiram you get very unpleasant symptoms if you drink any alcohol (such as flushing, vomiting, palpitations and headache). So, in effect, the medicine acts as a deterrent for when you are tempted to drink. It can help some people to stay off alcohol.

After detoxification and staying off alcohol

Many people who successfully detox go back to drinking heavily again at some point. There are various reasons why this may occur. It is thought that you are less likely to go back to drinking heavily if you have counselling, or other support to help you to stay off alcohol. Your doctor, practice nurse, or local drug and alcohol unit may provide ongoing support when you are trying to stay off alcohol. Self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous have also helped many people to stay off alcohol.
If you do go back to heavy drinking, you can always try again to stop or cut down. Some people take several attempts before they stop drinking, or keep within the safe limits, for good.

good to know

GBP 25billion spent on alcohol abuse

Pubs and clubs have been ordered to help stop binge drinking, amid claims that alcohol abuse costs the country £25billion a year.

Licensees were told yesterday that they would face new legislation outlawing happy hours and large measures unless they cleaned up their acts.

The warning came as an official report showed alcohol abuse cost the equivalent of £415 a year for every man, woman and child in Britain.

Health minister Dawn Primarolo said: 'Around a quarter of the population drink to a harmful level.

'These people could be drinking themselves into an early grave – we need the drinks industry to give them the help and information needed to drink at a safer level.'

The £25billion bill is made up of NHS costs of £2.7billion, crime costs of up to £15billion and loss of productivity of up to £7.3billion, the Department of Health report said.

It is much higher than previous estimates, which looked only at the cost of alcohol-related illness.

There are more than 800,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions a year, the report said.

It recommended pubs, bars and clubs do more to tell people how much alcohol is in drinks and proposed banning promotions such as 'women drink for free' nights.

The report suggested pubs should be forced to sell wine in smaller measures and off-licences be prevented from displaying alcohol near check-outs.

Brewers have been given until the end of the year to put health warnings and unit values on bottles and cans.

Alcohol Concern spokesman Frank Sooden said: 'The figures show the problem faced by frontline staff in the NHS and the police services is much greater than many people realise.'

But the drinks industry claimed it was being made a scapegoat. The British Beer and Pub Association said: 'This is punishing the majority of responsible drinkers for the misuse by the minority.'

Metro