How drinking hurts others

The Foundation concludes that higher rates of alcohol taxation and more severe restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorship are crucial in tackling the country’s problems arising from excessive alcohol consumption.

Some health experts are again agitating for the legal age for purchasing alcohol to be raised from 18 to 21 years and are concerned that “the latest research showed that one in 20 older teenagers consumes an average 50 standard drinks a month – enough to cause measurable brain damage.” However, the Australian Medical Association in South Australia maintains that “improving education was more important than changing legislation.”

John Harvey