Alcohol Concern puts pressure on Government

Alcohol abuse in children and young adults is on the increase, according to a new report from Alcohol Concern. Britain's Ruin is designed to put pressure on the Government to produce its long-awaited strategy to tackle alcohol problems. It was not a good sign that the responsible minister from the Department of Health, Yvette Cooper, failed to attend the launch.

Young People and Women

The potentially disastrous trend in youthful drinking outlined in the report may well attract the greatest attention. Work done at the Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital has also shown that, from 1985 to 1996, there was a ten-fold increase in admissions of children aged 9 to 16 under the influence of alcohol. All needed resuscitation from alcohol overdoses or had injuries from drink-related accidents or assaults. After drinking, one in seven of 16 to 24-year-olds had unprotected sex, twenty per cent had sex they wish they had not, and ten per cent were unable to remember if they had had sex the previous night. Forty per cent of 13- and 14-year-olds were "drunk or stoned" when they had their first sexual experience.

Doctors put the blame for this increase in teenage drinking squarely at the door of alcopops; sweet drinks designed to be attractive to the taste of young people, which have an alcoholic strength of up to 5 per cent. These young drinkers are less capable of coping with intoxication than adults. It has also been shown that early debut in drinking greatly increases the possibility of dependency and other problems associated with alcohol later in life.

Britain's Ruin refers to the latest research into alcohol abuse irrespective of age group and points out that women are drinking much more (see page 8) Because more women are working, they have the money and opportunity for social drinking. The report stresses what has long be known but seems to make little impression on those who formulate policy that, at a conservative estimate, one in twenty-five adults is alcohol-dependent and many suicides are related to drink.

Government's approach

If the Government's approach to the problem has been characterised by ministerial vacillation, then many experts have seen the influence of the drink industry as lying at the root of this wavering on the part of ministers, the best example of which is the case of the possible lowering of the drink-drive limit. The sad history can be traced throughout the columns of Alert since the Labour Government came to power. Alcohol Concern emphasise once more the importance of this issue and are again asking ministers to lower the legal limit from 80 mgs of alcohol per 100 mls of blood to 50mgs in line with European Union recommendations.

The report urges the Chancellor of the Exchequer to consider what is known as "trigger taxation" on alcohol which would be put into force if consumption increases. In addition, Britain's Ruin is looking for improved NHS treatment for alcohol abusers and for screenings to reveal indications of alcoholism. There is ample evidence that brief interventions at an early stage are effective.

Social Exclusion and Health

It is a government priority "to tackle the causes of social exclusion and to bring about neighbourhood renewal." The report points out that alcohol is a factor in many of the causes of social exclusion: poverty and low income, family break-up, unemployment, lack of education and training, housing and homelessness, crime and anti-social behaviour, inequalities in health, and mental health problems. Alcohol Concern quotes research which indicates that problem drinking "is twice as common in the poorest than in the most affluent of socio-economic groups, and higher levels of consumption have been consistently observed in some deprived groups such as unemployed people and those who are homeless."

The problem of access to specialist alcohol services is highlighted as a "key issue in addressing social exclusion." Provision is inconsistent with rural areas being especially poorly served.

It is no longer possible to ignore the rôle of alcohol, or minimise its importance, as regards mental illness. "Alcohol problems are a significant factor in male teenage suicides" and a study by the Royal College of Physicians is quoted as showing that these are directly attributable to rises in consumption. 65 per cent of all suicide attempts are linked to excessive drinking.

"For all age groups, alcohol dependency contributes considerably to hospital admissions for mental health problems, and heavy drinking is linked to psychiatric morbidity including clinical depression." Figures provided by the Department of Health show that "during a 12 month period there were 72,500 hospital admissions with a diagnosis of mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol, including 31,300 admission for alcohol dependence syndrome."

The burden placed on the National Health Service is shown by the 15 per cent of acute admissions which are attributable of alcohol misuse. Other studies quoted by the report indicate that one in sixteen of all hospital admissions, acute and non-acute, and one in eight of Accident and Emergency attendances are alcohol-related.

Crime and Disorder

Alcohol is particularly associated with crimes of violence and aggressive behaviour. Something in the order of 13,000 violent incidents occur in or near licensed premises every week. "In 41 per cent of contact crime, including assaults and muggings, the offender has been drinking" and 61 per cent of the 125,000 facial injuries sustained each year are the result alcohol-related violence.

A survey of probation officers cited in Britain's Ruin shows that approximately "30 per cent of their clients and 58 per cent of remand and sentenced prisoners had severe alcohol problems."

Alcohol Concern stresses the importance of including automatic assessment of an offender's alcohol problem and appropriate referral in any sentencing. It would be possible to extend the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, currently available to the courts, to alcohol. "A particular target group would be offenders with alcohol problems who present a serious risk of reoffending." It has been shown that specialist alcohol services have proved effective when operating within gaols but these "are not consistently available across the prison service. This results in missed opportunities for changing attitudes towards alcohol use before offenders return to the community."

Costs

Alcohol Concern is also suggesting that a cross-departmental ministerial unit on alcohol, such as previously existed, should formulate policy. At the moment the Government is concentrating on curbing illegal drug use instead of alcohol abuse which causes 33,000 deaths a year besides costing the country something in the order of £3.3 billion a year. The most significant effect is on industry where £2.8 billion is lost through sickness, unemployment, and premature death. In addition, Alcohol Concern states that it costs the National Health Service £200m to treat drink-related illness.

Alcohol-related road accidents cost £189 million, and criminal activity linked with alcohol abuse is responsible for another £68m.

The study can leave the Government in no doubt as to the disastrous impact of alcohol abuse on individuals and society.

Britain's Ruin shows that, in marriages where one or both partners have a drink problem, divorce is twice as likely to occur as in those not affected by alcohol.

Something in the order of two thirds of men who assault their partners do so under the influence of drink. Forty-one per cent of violent crimes, including assaults and muggings, are committed by somebody who has been drinking.

The Director of Alcohol Concern director, Eric Appleby, said: "Given this catalogue of problems, we would like to see the Government's promised National Alcohol Strategy introduced as a matter of urgency."

Alcohol Concern wants to see:

• drink-drive limit cut from 80 milligrams to 50mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood

• police given wider breath-testing powers

• bans on the sale of glass bottles in pubs

• high-profile annual alcohol awareness campaign

• better alcohol education for young people

• more money for treatment and counselling

• training for staff selling and serving alcohol

Alcohol Concern published its Proposals for a National Alcohol Strategy for England over a year ago but so far the Government has failed to act - although proposals were promised for earlier this year. The Department of Health did move in the direction of producing a strategy when it appointed John Poleglass to oversee its formulation. This move caused some concern among observers. Alert (Issue No.3, 1999) commented: "Mr Poleglass has been seconded for this task from the sales department of Bass Breweries, usually regarded as one of the most aggressive companies when it comes to marketing its products including the notorious alcopop Hooper's Hooch."