Doctors urge radical reduction in blood-alcohol limits & increasing drinking age

[Express]

Doctors urge radical reduction in blood-alcohol limits, increasing drinking age


2 April, 2016

Michael Koziol
National political reporter


'Super-consumers' drink 75 percent of alcohol sold - Around 20 percent of the population consumes around 75 percent of all alcohol sold according to the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.


Access to alcohol would be drastically reduced under a radical rethink of liquor laws, taxes and sales being urged by one of the country's most influential groups of doctors.

The blood-alcohol limit for all drivers would decrease from .05 to .02 and then to zero, while the legal drinking age would rise and governments would further restrict the trading hours of licensed premises and bottle shops.

The dramatic crackdown is being proposed by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, which has submitted a string of recommendations to a Senate inquiry on drunken violence.



Doctors have urged a radical rethink of the minimum drinking age as part of broader alcohol policy reform. Photo: Jessica Shapiro


RACP president Nicholas Talley said it was imperative the government adopt the recommendations in full to "bring about a shift in the Australian drinking culture" and reduce the "undeniable and substantial" harms caused by alcohol.

"Australians have a culture of alcohol – that's fine, but we also have a problem with alcohol," he told Fairfax Media.



Royal Australasian College of Physicians president Nicholas Talley: "The harms from alcohol remain very significant and we're not doing enough about it."


The proposed regime recommends:

* The legal age for buying takeaway alcohol should be raised immediately, ahead of a public debate about lifting the drinking age

* State governments should ramp up last drinks and early closing laws such as those implemented in NSW, including shorter trading hours for bottle shops and bars

* Local councils should be given the power to reduce the number of licensed premises in their communities by challenging existing liquor licences and implementing caps on the number of bars

* Sports sponsorship by alcohol companies should be banned, as a precursor to a total ban on advertising alcohol to young people

* Alcohol packaging should carry warning labels, akin to cigarettes, under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code



The RACP also urges that all pregnant women receive screening for alcohol use, and calls for "brief intervention" for pregnant women and high-risk drinkers.

Dr Talley said this would involve making rehabilitation services more widely available, rather than involuntary rehab as advocated by Senator Jacqui Lambie.

The submission reaffirms the medical establishment's support for volumetric taxation of all alcohol, and the imposition of a minimum price per standard drink to be set by the states and territories.

Many of the recommendations are mirrored in submissions from other groups including the Victorian Alcohol & Drug Association, the Police Federation and the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth.

Independent Queensland senator Glenn Lazarus established the inquiry into the "need for a nationally consistent approach to alcohol-fuelled violence" after the one-punch death of 18-year-old Cole Miller in Brisbane. Senator Lazarus' son was also the victim of a glassing attack last year.





The push comes despite risky alcohol use and risky drinking being in decline in Australia. Apparent alcohol consumption last year fell to a 50-year low of 9.7 litres, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's authoritative survey on drug use found that from 2010 to 2013, the number of drinkers aged 14 and over who exceeded the lifetime guidelines for alcohol consumption fell to 18.2 per cent from 20 per cent. Those engaging in binge drinking at least once a month dropped to 26 per cent from 29 per cent.

The number of people who reported being a victim of an alcohol-related incident, including verbal abuse or being put in fear, also fell to 26 per cent from 29 per cent.

Dr Talley acknowledged there was "some dispute about the numbers" but said the level of harm arising from alcohol misuse in Australia was "still way too high". The RACP paper cited studies estimating the social cost of alcohol misuse in Australia was between $15 billion and $36 billion, accruing largely from healthcare costs, road accidents and lost productivity. Each year, 5000 deaths were attributable to alcohol misuse, along with 150,000 hospitalisations, Dr Talley said.

One of the more audacious ideas in the RACP's submission is to empower local governments to reduce the number of licensed premises in their area by challenging liquor licences – effectively giving councillors the ability to shut down venues.

"That's a challenging recommendation but yes, we would like to see that looked at," Dr Talley said. "We don't believe it's appropriate to do nothing. The harms from alcohol remain very significant and we're not doing enough about it."

Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm, a self-described libertarian who is conducting an inquiry into matters around personal choice, labelled the proposed regime "nanny state central".

"I think Australians are sick of people who consider themselves their superiors telling them how to live their lives," he said. "In a free society, harm is an inevitable consequence of adults making choices. You can't ever get zero harm."

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politi...31-gnvslp.html

[Franco Cozzo]

Too many taxes come in from alcohol, its not a good idea to make it harder to access.

[Rockape]

Getting a bit sick of being told how to live my life..

[CoupeKing]

Should put respective warning labels on alcohol like they do with cigarettes.

Probably wouldn't work. Pics of someone running over a family, spouses bashing each other, Ambo's getting king-hit, raging lunatics punching the &^%$ out of their kids...and then there is the health pics.

[poppa smurf]

won't make a scrap of difference......we had a mob of youngsters (all well under 18) used next door as a party house.

drink, vomit, drink, pass out, drink .....some red lolly water stuff was their choice, stains all over the house and road.

police were regular attendants, not once were they asked where they obtained the alcohol or who bought it for them.

Culture now is that a "good time" can't be had without getting drunker than the next one, without booze they have no "good time".

age is not the problem, the amount is.......the culture that is behind the habit must be changed.

[Adamz Ghia]

Punish everyone for the actions of a few. Wish these people would go away. If I want to buy a six pack at 11pm why shouldn't I be able to?

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

We already have some of the toughest drinking restrictions in the world of any developed country.

Gemany has a drinking age of 16, and alcohol is available freely to buy in take away shops and supermarkets. Most other countries have 18 as their legal age.

Dropping the drink driving limit has nothing to do with drinking, its about driving safely and vehicle control, and has no relevance to drinking in general and will have no affect on people binge drinking and abusing alcohol.

The limit is low enough IMO, as it is based on how the blood alcohol level influences vehicle control. I don;t think further restrictions are necessary or even relevant.

The more restrictions you put in place the more 'bas ***' kids are going to feel when they get wasted.

Just because some idiots can't behave themselves on the grog does not mean it should affect everyone else.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

Punish everyone for the actions of a few. Wish these people would go away. If I want to buy a six pack at 11pm why shouldn't I be able to?

Yeah thats it, they should sell alcohol at servos as well.

[Ford_The_Win]

Educating the unwashed masses is the key to encouraging healthy behaviours, including those with alcohol. I find it ironic that through 'self education' on Facebook and blogs, people believe that vaccines cause autism or that fluoridated water is poisonous, yet they are happy to guzzle alcohol which is a classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the WHO.

[olfella]

So, like ciggies you price there use out of reach so people look for alternatives. I think that is why ICE is so popular. Now dont get me started on taxing sugar drinks.

[thefargo]

I think poppa smurf nailed this one.
A drink, to me, and with me, is a social thing. Have a drink with a few friends, enjoy the company.
As poppa said it is the culture of drinking until something breaks that is the concern.
My limited experience suggests that the youth of today will drink until they can drink no more. Binge drinking is the norm.

[Jess1992]

Originally Posted by thefargo

I think poppa smurf nailed this one.
A drink, to me, and with me, is a social thing. Have a drink with a few friends, enjoy the company.
As poppa said it is the culture of drinking until something breaks that is the concern.
My limited experience suggests that the youth of today will drink until they can drink no more. Binge drinking is the norm.

My grandad said he and his mates would drink at the pub all down until the passed out or couldn't stand anymore. I don't think it's just the "youth" of today who like a drink

[Express]

Originally Posted by thefargo

My limited experience suggests that the youth of today will drink until they can drink no more. Binge drinking is the norm.

I'm 55 and many of the youth of my day did exactly the same thing, at least we who lived out in the far north west of NSW did.

I started going to pubs at the age of 16 and kept myself in a state of a total mess until my late thirties when my body said enough was enough.

Today I have a glass of wine with dinner each evening and if we have visitors I have a few beers and I never drink when I'm out if I'm the designated driver.

I don't miss hangovers.

I also don't like being told what to do all the time.

[thefargo]

Well I've learnt something today. I now stand corrected.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sprintman1]

Best day of my of my life the day I gave up alcohol. Not cheap stuff either, I remember days drinking Latour and Mouton at BBQ's, bloody madness! Seemed like a good idea at the time though but reality shows it was just a waste of many ten of thousands of dollars.

[lgpking22]

best idea ever as usual along as people dont have to deal with the consequences of these idiots its all perfectly fine as it is i frankly believe hospitals should be able to choose who they treat let drunk morons and drug addicts who have hurt themselves lay outside on the pavement. simple breath or blood test should work out whats what then out on your ****.

[tranquilized]

This just makes my blood boil. Who are these idiots? Hidden agenda or just a bunch of wowsers? We already have the strictest laws regarding alcohol in the western world, and coincidently? one of the biggest problems with it.

It's exactly the same with road laws - just keep lowering the speed limit don't worry about education or training. Tackling a complex problem with a massive hammer.

Pass me another beer...

[Streets]

I agree with poppa smurf that there is a drinking problem but it's not just restricted to young people. Sadly it's a badge of honour to get ****faced in this country but not just among the youth.

I do feel bad for the doctors having to deal with the aftermath of it all.

[Ben73]

Young people always get a bad rap in threads like this.
At my work place of 200 odd people, several have failed the breathalyser test when signing on. I think the youngest to fail was aged about 35. The rest were in their 40s or early 50s. Around half the workforce would be aged under 35, but no one in that group seams to fail the rbts.
Not saying young people don't binge drink, but it seams the older guys tend to be the ones who must drink a 6pack or 2 a day, no matter what.

As for lowering the driving level, I bet that people who keep under the 0.05 limit are not the people who are in the 20% of people who drink most of the alcohol.
USA have a driving limit of 0.08 but seam to have less drinking problems, so I don't think changing the driving limit will change much.
Raising the drinking age might make a very small differance, but what we need to change is attitude.

But punishing everyone for something that about 20% of people are doing sounds like the usual Australian thing to do.

[castellan]

What a load of nonsense just dreaming.

Some people are more useless drivers at 0.0 than others a 0.10 and that's a fact, because I have seen it in reality.

Hidden agendas sure to be sure, big bro rules, fact is big bro is a moron.

Tranquilized is correct.

All people have to be lowered to the lowest denominator just for our Marxist socialist big bro, who wants to rule everyone with an iron rod, treating everyone as some sort of in breed numbskull.

[The Yeti]

with all the talk of taxing wine like beer, I'd prefer it if they taxed beer like wine

yeah I know its got no relevance to the lower blood alcohol limit but its part of the proposal so its kinda on topic

[Blue Shadow]

I dont know if much has changed. I would drink myself into a coma as a young bloke. I worked fro a Govt dept for 22 years and I dont think i was ever sober. These days i dont drink much at all.
I reckon if its made hard to get it will just go underground with all the other crap, Prohibition never worked, gangsters made a fortune, people were killed and there were still a heap of drunks.
This quack is just another do-gooder in desperate need of a BJ

[b0son]

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/foru...517206&p=4#r61

I've seen the figures gathered from road crash investigations by someone who was in a relevant senior position in Victoria where he had access to them. His figures confirmed what the scientists originally found. He couldn't identify any more than an insignificant number of cases where a blood alcohol level below .10 caused a road death.

That is, the blood alcohol limit is already lower than is required to eliminate virtually all alcohol related road deaths, and is down at the level where it isn't preventing victims it is creating them. It is losing people their licences and jobs without any good purpose. To lower it even further would create more victims, without saving any more lives.

[Adamz Ghia]

I like a drink, but in saying that I'll have three or four and then I'm done, I'm full of liquid and I just don't want anymore. I drink ciders so they're big drinks. But my friends look at me like I'm an idiot when I've had enough as they proceed to get blind. That's the culture we need to change. Getting drunk does not make you a hero.. If you like to get drunk and can handle it and not be a nuisance to society then it's not the job of government to stop you. That's what I meant when I said if I want to buy a six pack at 11pm I should be able to. I don't drink to get drunk, although I have on occassion. I drink because I like the drinks. Why should I be punished because of another group of idiots?

That's what's happened in the last 10- 15 years in this country, governments and advisory bodies have decided it's easier to punish everyone rather than tackle the issues themselves.

[BPXR6T]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Yeah thats it, they should sell alcohol at servos as well.

they do in Orbost.

[xtremerus]

Doctors do a great job in dealing with road trauma cases etc.
But if total deaths reduction is the goal, then maybe doctors should look and get their own shop in order.
Over prescription and misuse of legal drugs, malpractice etc. kill more people than cars.

[sprintman1]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Yeah thats it, they should sell alcohol at servos as well.

They used to in Canberra which has almost non existent liquor lic rules. Strange going interstate where normal shops don't sell alcohol, kinda weird.

[OCTANEBOSS]

I remember buying a slab of MB at 16 from Safeway in Greensborough every Friday night and drinking it with my mates down the park. The trouble was I only looked 14. Gotta love the 80s. Try and do that now, surely would be harder.

My old man told me that before I was born the pubs closed at 6 oclock so last drinks where a round of say 36 pots for six blokes just before service finished and drink up and go home in your car. How things have changed. Just think if you didn't drink at all what you could you possibly turn out to be.

Maybe a doctor or specialist.

Australia has the highest rate of medical error in the world according to the World Health Organisation :-

18,000 people may die every year in hospitals through preventable medical negligence in Australia
50,000 people suffer from permanent injury annually as a result of medical negligence in Australia.
80,000 Australian patients per year are hospitalised due to medication errors.

No offence to the thousands of great & valuable doctor & specialists that we have here in Australia today, I have witnessed this first hand and there is many too, but people love statistics that the puritans bandy about to make themselves feel important.

Maybe I was lucky to be taught to respect yourself and others. Maybe if we could get those dysfunctional young-ens to have some self respect and half these problems may not ever exist.

I smell a tax increase

[SYZ]

On the whole, I agree with the recommendations of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and let's face it, their members are certainly in a position to observe and comment on the results of drunken driver road accidents.

And the fact that senator David Leyonhjelm labelled the proposed regime "nanny state central" simply further reinforces my opinion that the bloke is not fit to be in Parliament.

He says; "I think Australians are sick of people who consider themselves their superiors telling them how to live their lives. In a free society, harm is an inevitable consequence of adults making choices. You can't ever get zero harm."

There's nothing at all "superior" about doctors advising people about the harmful effects of alcohol, or the cost to the community of over-indulgence. I do agree that you can't ever get "zero harm" in a free society, but you can certainly lessen the chances by curbing excess alcohol consumption by its members. In some cases the so-called "nanny state" has a moral and ethical responsibility to step in, and protect intellectually-challenged people from themselves.

[Express]

Originally Posted by SYZ

There's nothing at all "superior" about doctors advising people about the harmful effects of alcohol, or the cost to the community of over-indulgence.

Sure let them advise the public of the harm and consequences but then it should be up to the individual to be allowed to decide if they wish to heed to that advice or not.

Originally Posted by SYZ

In some cases the so-called "nanny state" has a moral and ethical responsibility to step in, and protect intellectually-challenged people from themselves.

Not at the expense of everyone else, this is why we are slowly losing all our freedoms and becoming a nation regimented by rules and laws to protect a minority from themselves. Life is about choices and risks, let us be happy and free to live it that way.