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Teen Drinking still High despite Alcopop Tax

By Peter Cutforth

July 4, 2013

Alcopop, Alcopop Tax, Responsible Service of Alcohol, RSA Training, tax increase, Teen Drinking

Since the 2009 tax increase on alcopops many expected the number of school kids consuming alcohol to drop but contrary to people’s expectation a study of hospital admissions in the Illawarra’s most popular schoolies destination, The Gold Coast has shown zero reduction in alcohol-related harm.

According to a team of researchers for the University of Queensland who studied the hospital records from Queensland hospitals, emergency and trauma departments they did not see any positive impact of the alcopop tax increase on the number of teen alcohol admissions.

The group investigated hospital records to evaluate whether the increase in alcopop tax had any effect at all on the number of 15-29 year olds coming in to hospital with alcohol-related harm and injuries such as alcohol poisoning, injuries from assaults, fights, falls, accidents etc. between2006-2009.

This excerpt from www.illawarramercury.com.au provides some background information:

In 2008, the Federal Government increased the excises on pre-mixed alcoholic drinks, commonly known as alcopops, by 70%.

Although Australians have paid $4.5 billion in alcopops taxes since 2008/09, there has been no significant decrease in young people presenting with alcohol-related harm after the tax increase.

These results should come as no surprise to people who remember what they were like as teenagers, or are the current parents of teenagers. Raising the price of just one type of drink may not reduce alcohol-related harm, especially in tourist destinations such as the Gold Coast. Young people may be merely switching to cheaper, and potentially, more potent, alcoholic drinks.

Their response when they go to a bottle shop and find their favourite alcopops tipple has doubled in price is unlikely to be that they will go home and retire to bed with a mug of hot chocolate.

Read more: http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1573382/blog-alcopop-tax-fails-to-cut-teen-drinking/?cs=298

According to the Illwarramercury.com.au many drinkers have simply switched from premixed drinks such as rum and coke to pure spirits since the introduction of the tax. Consumption of pre-mixed drinks fell 31 per cent between 2008 and 2011 but pure spirits consumption increased by 20 per cent over the same period, according to data from The Australian Bureau of Standards.

The study also found that around one third of the young people between 15 and 29 years that were admitted to emergency departments around the state had an alcohol related injury or illness as compared to about a quarter for people from all other age groups combined.

The article went on to discuss another study that looked into the patterns of males and females under 19 years old at the Gold Coast. That study showed that other efforts to reduce binge drinking amongst this age group on the Gold Coast were ineffective including increased policing, holding official drug-free and alcohol-free events – so the increase in alcopop tax was not the only ineffective control measure introduced.

The article goes on to explain:

This again suggests the need for a more comprehensive approach to binge drinking among young people.  Such an approach would include a volumetric tax on all alcoholic drinks, incentives to encourage mid-strength and low-strength beer, restrictions on the availability of drinks with a high alcohol content, more effective regulation of advertising and reducing the number of outlets. In the Gold Coast, for instance, there is practically a bottle shop on every street corner.

Considering the current attention on risky drinking for young people, these results are important and point to the need to look more broadly at the alcopops legislation and other initiatives to reduce alcohol-related harm.

Source: http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1573382/blog-alcopop-tax-fails-to-cut-teen-drinking/?cs=298

One thing that this article makes perfectly clear is that alcohol education is the most important thing in equipping teenagers to become responsible drinkers and have a healthy relationship with alcohol – and that education begins at home. If parents don’t lay the good foundation the chances are all other attempts by authorities to combat this disturbing trend are likely to fail.

 

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