| Schoolies - Be Aware of Alcohol Harm – 12 November 2009-11-12 |
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What should be a highlight for graduating students could turn to tragedy, warns the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA) on the eve of schoolies celebrations across the nation.
This week, thousands of New South Wales (NSW) senior students will gather at popular beach-side destinations to mark the annual schoolies tradition. “Excessive drinking is not a victimless crime,” says Chief Executive Officer of ADCA, David Templeman. “One average, one in four hospitalisations of young people aged 15 to 24 happen because of alcohol. ADCA acknowledges the right of students to celebrate after working hard to complete their studies, but is calling for caution." Mr Templeman said it was always devastating to see young people with their whole life in front of them destroyed by making bad choices about alcohol and other drugs. In plain terms, alcohol is the drug which kills on average more than 60 people each week and hospitalises another 1500. All indications are numbers will continue to rise – unless significant changes are made in alcohol policy, licensing laws and more is invested in frontline AOD services. “We must take the harmful effects of drinking more seriously as a culture. Alcohol is a drug too. Binge drinking is partly why alcohol is linked to the deaths of people aged under 35 more than any other drug,” he said. “ADCA has noted the Prime Minister’s comments ‘that prevention is better than a cure’ which were made on 27 July at the launch of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission Report,” Mr Templeman said. “The fact that Australia only spends just two per cent of health funding on prevention, and 70 per cent when people get sick, must be urgently addressed. Hence we do need a strong commitment about investing in preventative health." ADCA applauds measures to curb binge drinking such as the tax rise for RTD’s (or alcopops) which according to Australian Taxation Office has resulted in the decrease of total spirits consumed by 8 per cent. “ADCA calls on the Government to reinvest the revenue from this tax – some $1 billion which has been collected since May 2008 – into health prevention measures particularly against the misuse of alcohol and other drugs,” Mr Templeman said. The New South Wales Network of Alcohol and Drug Agencies (NADA) strongly supports ADCA’s position and hopes that there will be a reduction in the number of alcohol and other drug related incidents at this year’s NSW Schoolies celebrations. “In years past, there have been some terrible incidents during schoolies and we hope that this year young people can simply enjoy themselves and keep safe,” Larry Pierce, Chief Executive Officer of NADA said. |
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