Forum hears youth binge drinking on the rise

Tag : health slipper

A Sunshine Coast forum on binge drinking has heard teenagers aredrinking more alcohol since a federal tax was placed on pre-mixed'alcopops'.
More than 60 local high school students attended the Kawana youthforum on Monday to learn about the health, legal and social impactsof binge drinking and suggested ways to tackle the problem.
The Liberals' federal Member for Fisher, Peter Slipper, saysstatistics show young people are now banding together to buybottles of spirits and mixing stronger drinks.
"Evidence is now showing that while the consumption of alcopops hasnow dropped by a third, the consumption of spirits bought by thebottle has gone up 48 per cent," he said.
"I've actually had young girls come to see me to tell me that whenthey were drinking alcopops, they could at least measure what theywere drinking because it was on the can."