Teenage drinking has doubled

by BEEZY MARSH, Daily Mail

Teenagers are consuming twice as much alcohol as a decade ago, says a report. The study also shows a steep rise in alcohol-related deaths and the number of people addicted to drink.

The invention of alcopops - alcoholic lemonades and soft drinks - during the 1990s is blamed for increasing alcohol consumption among children aged 11 to 15.

Using Department of Health figures, researchers for the charity Alcohol Concern found youngsters who admit to drinking consumed 10.4 units a week last year, compared with 5.3 units ten years ago.

That's the equivalent of ten and a half pints of lager, seven glasses of wine or seven bottles of alcopops every week.

Government 'safe' limits for adults are 14 units a week for women and 21 units for men. The findings show twice as many people are now hooked on drink, rather than drugs. Three million - one in 13 - are alcoholics, compared to one in 26 who are dependent on drugs.

The number of deaths directly attributable to alcohol misuse rose from 3,853 a year in 1994 to 5,508 in 1999, said the State of the Nation report.

A spokesman for Alcohol Concern said: 'The findings are very worrying, not just in terms of the sheer scale of the problem, but the fact that young people who drink are drinking more.'

The charity wants to see a national strategy to tackle alcohol abuse, involving education, public campaigns, community safety, counselling and treatment.

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