Alcohol abuse unlikely to be tackled, group told

THERE IS little reason to be optimistic that alcohol abuse will be tackled "at any stage in the near future" because of the power of the drinks industry, the Irish Association of Suicidology conference heard yesterday.

Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Bobby Smith said the drinks industry was "desperate to avoid regulation" because it would harm profits. "When drug policy is being discussed, we don't have the drug dealers or their representatives, around the table, discussing the solutions," he said.

"With those who profit from the sale of alcohol dictating the alcohol policy, there is little reason to hope for any improvement in our rates of alcohol abuse."

He told the conference in Athlone that Irish teenagers were beginning to drink three or four years earlier than in the 1980s.

A recent study found that people who were "problem substance users" in their late teens had, on average, begun drinking at the age of 12.

Irish teenagers were spending €145 million each year illegally purchasing alcohol. "To put this in context, the estimated illegal market for heroin for all age ranges is €60-€80 million."