Booze takes deadly toll as alcohol problems hit harder than drugs

ALCOHOL kills 10 times more Victorians than illegal drugs, according to latest data. The figures show more than 26,000 Victorians drank themselves into hospital beds in 2012-13 — more than three times those hospitalised for using illicit drugs.

Alcohol on the streets. Binge city. Public drinking. Person unconscious on the footpath after being king hit outside Young and Jacksons, cnr Flinders and Swanston. 1.45am Sunday 27/05/2007. Violence.

ALCOHOL kills 10 times more Victorians than illegal drugs, according to latest data.

The figures show more than 26,000 Victorians drank themselves into hospital beds in 2012-13 — more than three times those hospitalised for using illicit drugs.

Alcohol is six times more likely to land a Victorian in a hospital emergency department than drugs, according to the latest report compiled by Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.

The effect of problem drinking is hitting areas of the state in different ways, with pockets experiencing soaring levels of violence and illness.

Victoria’s northwest experiences the highest rate of alcohol-fulled family violence. Mildura has three times the state average and Swan Hill is double.

Melbourne has more than two-and-a-half times the rate of drunken assaults and ambulance call-outs than anywhere else in Victoria.

In Mt Alexander 3.7 people in every 10,000 lose their lives through drinking. Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive Michael Thorn said the data underlined the extent alcohol harmed Victorians.

Mr Thorn said the damage caused by alcohol was greater than that by all illicit drugs combined and the state’s political parties needed to refocus attention on the issue ahead of November’s state election.

“Emergency department presentations for alcohol are more than six times greater than those for illicit drugs, and we see 10 times more alcohol-related deaths than deaths from other drugs,” he said.

“As the Victorian election fast approaches, I again call on the Government and ­Opposition to acknowledge the problem and to stand up and tell the people of Victoria what they intend to do, if elected, to address it.”

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For further information visit aodstats.org.au