Australia, we need to talk about alcohol

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/14/australia-we-need-to-talk-about-alcohol

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Last week, another young life was tragically taken by a completely unprovoked and senseless act of violence. In NSW’s Kings Cross, only metres away from where Thomas Kelly received a similarly fatal blow in 2012, Daniel Christie, 18, was fatally assaulted by 25 year-old Shaun McNeil on New Year's Eve, and dying two weeks later. McNeil also assaulted four other young men including Daniel’s brother; it was a violent spree that lasted only 90 seconds but will haunt Daniel’s family and friends for the rest of their lives.

This heartbreaking story is one of thousands of violent attacks that occur each year in Australia. Many are fatal: at least 90 young lives have been taken by single hit assaults in Australia since 2000. The overwhelming majority of these involved alcohol and no other drugs. Tony Abbott has called for action on binge drinking and alcohol fuelled violence, demanding that the justice system “throw the book” at such violent offenders. 

A study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence last month shows that alcohol intoxication not only increases aggressive offending, but also the risk of becoming a victim of a violent crime. This reflects well-founded concerns by the community, emergency services and public health experts about Australia's binge drinking culture. Research shows that one in eight deaths of people aged under 25 is due to alcohol, with over 60 % of under 29 year-olds drinking with the specific intention to get drunk.

The latest example of our country’s dangerous drinking culture is a game called "#Neknominate". The game has swept social media in the past week and has since gone global. It encourages friends to "nek" or skol a beer, film it, upload the film to Facebook and nominate the next friend to do the same. Breaking the chain means losing respect among their peers. 

It’s not just the young people – as many as 20% of Australians drink to excess, resulting in long-term health problems including cancer and heart disease. Alcohol-related hospitalisations have increased nation-wide since the mid-1990s, with increases in late night assaults and domestic violence related to alcohol use in Victoria. Hospital emergency departments are overflowing with victims of alcohol-related assaults and up to 90% of night-time police call outs are alcohol related, putting huge stress on our emergency services. Alcohol-related crime in Australia costs $1.7bn annually.

This affects all Australians, and we want change. The Australian National Council on Drugs reports that 80% of us want something done about alcohol-related harm. Over 132,000 people have already signed a petition formed by families of victims, calling for tougher minimum sentences for manslaughter, stronger liquor licensing laws, education campaigns and cultural change.

One of the issues associated with prosecuting these random acts of violence is the jury must be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the death from a single punch was foreseeable. Current campaigns seek to publicise the fact that one punch can kill, so that violent offenders cannot claim that they were unaware of the fatality of a king hit. “One punch” laws already exist in WA and the NT, carrying sentences of up to 16 years. However, most of the convictions since the introduction of these laws have resulted in sentences averaging two to three years. So what is the answer to curb this nation-wide problem that is killing our youth?

A recent initiative in Newcastle, NSW, to curb alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour has been credited with cutting alcohol-related non-domestic assault rates by up to 37%. This “zero tolerance policy” involves 3am bar and nightclub closing, 1am lockouts, and restrictions in the sales of shots after 10pm. This approach however does not tackle off-premise alcohol use and the innate issue of our binge drinking culture in Australia. It also presents problems in larger cities where police, transport and emergency services are confronted with thousands of drunken revellers hurled onto the streets all at once.

What is clear is that we need to educate on the dangers of excessive drinking, and how a single punch can change a life forever. Australia has already demonstrated that significant changes in drug culture are possible. Nation-wide bans on cigarette smoking in many public places, education campaigns and the removal of media imagery glamorising their use revolutionised our approach to cigarette smoking. Less than 16% of Australians smoke today, in the 1970s this figure was almost four fold.

How many more innocent lives must be taken by alcohol-fuelled violent attacks before we confront this problem?

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