Binge Drinking In Australia

These days there are a number of social issues in the community, such as drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is rampant in today’s society, Australian Drug Foundation states that, “Alcohol is the most widely used psychoactive, or mood-changing, recreational drug in Australia.”(Healey, 2002, p. 11). Underage drinking and binge drinking are some of the problems associated with alcohol abuse.

Underage drinking is becoming a serious social issue in modern Australia; with 90% of Australian teenagers over 14 that have tried alcohol at least once. Estimates also suggest that half of Australia’s teenagers drink alcohol on a weekly basis. Underage drinking can cause drink driving and unsafe sex if it is misused. Australia seems to be fond of this drug, and find it to be socially acceptable although it is causing the amount of teenage deaths to rise rapidly due to misuse. Heavy use of Alcohol can also cause health issues later on in the lives of teens that are drinking alcohol. It is hard for parents to be able to prevent their teenagers from consuming and experimenting with alcohol, but they can at least kindly encourage their

Alcohol consumption amongst the youth is now the new future and the way teenagers tend to live their life. It is apart of the Australian norm and culture however, what drives the younger youth to drink?. Australians accept alcohol as a social drug yet it is responsible for the most related deaths amongst the teenage population. Social aspects such as ones peers, gender, risk taking behaviour and environmental factors all relate back to alcohol. The idea of culture is linked with religion, Indigenous practices coupled with parenting skills also leading to consumption. Finally, an economical approach can be explored when dealing with commercializing beverages, pricing and health expenditures. All these concepts interrelate then become an excuse for one

Alcohol is the most commonly used drug in Australia (The Australian Drug Foundation, 2014). The term binge drinking is defined as drinking heavily over a short period of time with the intention of becoming intoxicated (Druginfo.adf.org.au, 2009). Binge drinking is spreading across Australia and is now having a greater affect on adolescents. There are things that individuals, schools, families and governments can do in order to minimise binge drinking. The effects that alcohol has on the body depend on a range of thing such as how often you are drinking, the strength of the drink you drink and how much you drink (Dame, 2016). Alcohol has both short-term and long-term effects on the body. Some short-term effects include alcohol poisoning, blackouts,

Over time, it has become a regular thing for citizens of Australian to drink excessive amounts alcohol; Australians of many different ages drink alcohol for a wide range of reasons; whether alcohol is being consumed due to a special occasion, for stress relief, or as an (not so good) anti-depressant. Alcohol, believe it or not makes a huge impact on Australians as young as 14. Statistics show that at least 90% of teenagers 14 years old and up have tried alcohol at least once, and estimates also show that around about 50% of teens 14 and older consume alcohol on a weekly basis. The problem being caused by this deadly drug is that teens under the age of 18 are not complying with the law and are consuming crazy amounts of alcohol on a regular

My Virtual Medical Centre (myVMC, 2016) identifies that binge drinking has significantly increased since 2004, as now approximately 18% of Australian adults engage in binge drinking once a week, while back in 2004, approximately

Melbourne’s drinking problem is getting out of hand, and the consequences come at a ‘hidden cost’. Toby halls opinion piece for the herald sun, attacks the ever-growing issue about how Melbourne’s alcohol issue is getting out of hand. The article makes a bold statement about how throughout the years the grasp on the dilemma has diminished and it's gotten to a new high. The concerning properties on the headline ‘ it's time to take Melbourne’s alcohol problem seriously’, hints at a sense of concern the reader should feel about this topic.

For many Australians, alcohol consumption is a pleasurable part of everyday life (Parliament of Victoria 2004). However in recent years there have been several reports highlighting that the proportion of adolescents consuming alcohol and the amount of alcohol they are drinking is at record levels (AIHW 2008; White and Hayman 2006; Shanahan and Hewitt 1999). The long and short term sequelae associated with risky or high risk alcohol consumption include negative physical, emotional and social consequences (NHMRC 2001). Immediate harms include accidents, injuries, decreased scholastic and sporting performance, aggression, violence, assault, disrupted family relationships, high risk sexual activity,

Evidence and research proves that the laws related to the legal drinking age does not reflect today’s societal values and that the legislations ‘Liquor Act 2007 No 90 (NSW) Part 7 Division 1 Sections 117 & 116’ should be reformed to raise the drinking age in Australia from 18 years of age to 21. Through surveying different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds of society, information has been gathered to demonstrate that the current laws do not reflect society’s opinion on the legal drinking age in Australia. Research suggests that there are many social consequences related to alcohol in young people including alcohol fuelled violence and major health issues. Despite evidence from leading health experts,

Binge drinking can have a major effect on crime rates. These crimes can include, physical abuse, sexual abuse like rape, and domestic abuse. When a young person comes out of a club after binge drinking they wouldn’t know where they were and would often go back to anyone’s house, this is when the dangers then come into the situations, they are put into situations that they don’t want to be in but they can’t get out of them because they put themselves into them serious situations. Often this causes more damage in later life, some decide that they can’t take the pain of knowing they have been abused and then commit suicide and the rates of suicide is increasing as the years go on which clearly shows there is a link to binge drinking. If there

Australia has a well-established and deeply ingrained drinking culture and while most people are satisfied with a few beers on the odd weekend or a glass of wine with dinner, others have become addicted and have developed alcohol dependence. With alcohol dependency now the most common substance use disorder in Australia the effects of this disorder are far-reaching and catastrophic not only for the individual suffering the addiction and their family and friends, but for our government as well who is shelling out billions of dollars annually to address the fallout of this disorder. However, the devastation caused by such addictions may be a thing of the past as Professor Daryl Davies from the University of Southern California has

This article is a review of previous literature studies conducted on the impacts of alcohol on Indigenous Australians. The Authors objective was to identify previous study methods, update previous reviews, and to investigate if the prior research can hold any keys to interventions that may be put into practice for future reduction of alcohol related harm in the Australian Indigenous population. Alcohol is known to be harmfully used and is a major public health issue. The literature states that Nationally, alcohol-related hospital admissions associated with dependence, acute intoxication and liver disease for Indigenous males in 2002/03 was between two and seven times greater than non-Indigenous males. (Shakeshaft, Clifford & Shakeshaft, 2010).

Australia needs to wake up and realize that society is influencing us to develop the binge culture. Thus, making binge drinking into a social issue. There is a sharp increase of binge drinking in the younger generation with the statistics showing 86.2% of Australian teenagers aged 14-18 years have consumed alcohol. The underage youth are stating that their parents are allowing it, that it is easy to get the alcohol, drinking’s cheaper and that they are getting highly influenced seeing the older (legal aged) youth drinking. Consequently, the younger youth cannot comprehend why they cannot drink

Annually, about 4,300 people under age 21 die from injuries involving underage drinking. Where I stand on this argument is that adolescent drinking is on the rise and is fast becoming one of Australia’s biggest problems. This problem is easy to see and it’s hard not to notice with the amount of TV coverage and social media trends. The amount of surveys showing that drinking more and drinking younger is what teenagers are doing.

As a result, it causes economic and social loss as evident by $4.3 billion loss in Victorian government associated with youth-related crime and violence, road accidents and health care resources in 2009 (Vic Health, 2013; VicHealth, 2014). Kiernan, Ni Fhearail, and Coyne (2012) agree with the statement that alcohol impairs cognition and judgement adversely causing mental ill health such as depression as manifested by anxiety, suicidal thoughts, conduct, and personality disorders (Kelly, Chan, Weier, Quinn, Gullo, Connor, & Hall, 2016; VicHealth,