ALCOHOL ISSUES

Annual cost of alcohol

• Alcohol costs the economy £20 billion a year• Implicated in up to 40,000 deaths in England & Wales• 30,000 hospital admissions for dependence and toxic

effects• 60% A&E episodes alcohol related (80% at peak

times)• 1.2 million violent incidents (50% of violent crime)• 360,000 domestic violence incidents• Up to 1000 suicides

Cost of alcohol…..

• 39% of deaths in fires

• 15% of drownings

• One in seven road deaths

• Up to 14 work days lost per annum

• Between 780,000 and 1.3m children affected by parental alcohol problems

• Marriages affected by alcohol problems twice as likely to end in divorce

Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among Young People in England in 2006

• 21% had drunk in the last week• 3% of year 7 and 41% of Year 11 have drunk

alcohol in the last week• Boys aged 11 - 13 years reported drinking on

average 11.9 units of alcohol in the last week rising to 13.9 units at 15 years old (8.6/13.1 in 2005)

• Girls aged 11 - 13 years old drank 8.4 units in the last week, rising to 10.9 units at 15 years old (7.9/10.5 in 2005)

Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among Young People in England in 2006

Alcohol (Sample 8,200, 11 - 15 year olds)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Percentage (%)

11 12 13 14 15

Age (Years)

Proportion of pupils who drank alcohol last week, by sex and age

Boys (3857)

Girls (4036)

Locations

• Drinkers at home are less likely to get drunk than those outdoors

• High volume drinks (white ciders and super lagers) more likely to be consumed outdoors = increasing risks

Alcohol & Sex

• After alcohol 1 in 7 of 16-24yr olds have had unsafe sex: 1 in 5 later regretted having sex

• 1 in 10 unable to recall having sex the night before

40% of 13/14yr olds said they were ‘drunk or stoned’ when they first had sex

Alcohol & Unsafe Sex

• 75% of young people use contraception (condoms) when sober

• 59% use condoms when ‘moderately intoxicated’

• 13% use contraception when ‘strongly intoxicated’

How much is a unit?

• One unit is considered to be 8g of pure alcohol

• This is calculated by multiplying the volume of the drink (ml) by its ABV (alcohol by volume) and dividing this figure by 1000

Calculating units

1 Stella Artois 586ml can @ 8% alcohol

2 Lge glass of Shiraz 250ml @ 14%

3 Ltr bottle White Lightening cider @ 8%

4 750ml bottle Chardonnay wine @12%

5 750ml bottle spirits @ 40%