Underage drinking on a high among teenagers

UNDERAGE drinking is rife among teenagers, with higher rates recorded among those living in inner Melbourne.

Teenage drinking is on the rise, with new research showing teens think drinking is normal social behaviour.

UNDERAGE drinking is rife among teens, with higher rates recorded among those living in inner Melbourne.

New research by Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre also found that young people in inner Melbourne had a far more liberal view of boozing, compared with those who live in growth areas.

The study compared people aged 16-24 in inner Melbourne, which takes in Port Phillip, Stonington, Yarra and the City of Melbourne to those in Casey, Cardinia, Melton, Whittlesea, Wyndham and Mitchell.

The study reveals 94 per cent of 16-17 year olds in inner Melbourne had drunk alcohol in the past 12 months, compared to 75 per cent in growth areas.

Inner Melbourne underage drinkers were more likely to have had a drink at a licensed premises and bought alcohol themselves during the past year.

About 20 per cent of underage drinkers in inner Melbourne had drunk alcohol in a bar, pub or club, compared to 6 per cent in growth areas.

Turning Point researcher Dr Sarah MacLean said the findings showed there was a need to beef up enforcement of alcohol bans to minors.

The study, which took responses from the latest Victorian Alcohol and Drug survey of 5000 young people, showed how alcohol patterns and attitudes vary across the city.

It also highlighted the inadequacies of broad brush approaches to combating underage drinking and reducing problem drinking.

Young people in inner Melbourne, where liquor outlet and pub density is far higher, had a more liberal attitude to drinking, whereas those living in growth areas were more likely to drink at private parties.

Those closer to the city were more likely to rate having a drink as 'one of the pleasures of life' and to agree that it was 'not wrong at all' for someone their age to drink regularly.

They were also slightly less likely to view a drunk person as a 'disgusting sight'. The number of 16-24 year olds drinking to get drunk was also slightly higher, 17 per cent compared to 15 per cent in growth areas.

Regular strength beer was the drink of choice among those in the inner Melbourne areas, compared to premixed spirits in growth areas.

"Enforcement of provisions banning alcohol sales to minors is particularly needed in inner Melbourne," Dr MacLean said.

But she said in the growth areas resources should be directed at interventions to ensure parties are safe and caution should be shown when it came to approving liquor outlets.

Jerril Retcher, CEO of Vichealth which funded the research with the Australian Research Council, said almost three quarters of young people are drinking at levels that puts them at short-term risk of injury.

She said regardless of where they live, young people needed to know that getting drunk was not a prerequisite for socialising.

"The reality is that today's binge-drinking teens are on track to become tomorrow's heavy drinking 30-somethings."

The research suggests that different policy responses are need to reduce alcohol-related harm across the entire city of Melbourne.

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