There has been much debate and discussion in Ireland recently about intoxicating substances and our relationship with them. In the past few days attention has centred on cannabis but in previous weeks the focus was very much on our nation’s favourite drug: alcohol.
Even during the debate on cannabis, alcohol was never far from the discussion. The pro-cannabis lobby groups were keen to tell us that their drug wasn’t really any worse than our legal drug.
I am unsure about their strategy of drawing links to drink at a time when our society appears to be on the cusp of facing up to the huge damage that alcohol inflicts upon us. It would be a bit like someone coming up to your house at your party and asking to be let in by arguing that they were not quite as bad as the roaring, violent, window-smashing nutcase you let in earlier.
Like most western societies, we have sought to regulate the alcohol market. Recent history has taught us that regulation, in a general sense, is not one of our talents here in Ireland. Certainly our generation has failed rather miserably in its efforts to keep alcohol out of the hands of children. The age of first drinking has crept downwards in the past few decades, with the average child now drinking at about 14 or 15 years of age.
There is now good evidence that people who start to drink alcohol in mid-adolescence are at increased risk of alcohol dependence when they reach adulthood.
Survey
From the recent My World survey of young people aged 12-24 years we know that drinking patterns among our youth are very concerning. That survey reported that half of all Leaving Cert students were drinking in a problematic manner. By the early 20s the proportion with problem drinking was more than 60 per cent.
The survey also confirmed the link between drinking and mental health problems. The more young people drink, the more likely they are to have anxiety and depression symptoms.
Last month, an Irish government accepted for the first time in recent history that something needed to be done about our drink problem. The Government outlined a range of measures intended to reduce the carnage from its current level of about 1,100 deaths a year.
The alcohol-related deaths among our youth are particularly tragic. These deaths fall into two broad categories.
Source: Bobby Smyth, Irish Times, 13/11/13
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