Response to consultation on plan for action on Alcohol Misuse

Introduction

We welcome the opportunity to respond to this consultation on alcohol misuse, the more so as, in recent years, all the focus and resources have been directed at illegal drug abuse - a problem targeted mostly at young people - whilst alcohol has in fact remained the biggest problem for society.

The following points are based on an interesting and energetic discussion amongst a mixed group of parents and teachers who had a very realistic understanding of what happens and what is involved. The response focuses particularly on addressing the needs of young people but one of our key recommendations is that they should not be the subject of different messages or treated to hypocrisy. It's no good telling youngsters not to indulge in substance abuse whilst giving the impression that this behaviour is OK for older people.

Alcohol Misuse should be viewed along with the misuse of other substances

We do not think alcohol misuse should be viewed in isolation. We see it as one of a range of related issues which includes tobacco smoking, illegal drug taking and glue sniffing. In the past the tendency has been to focus on these one at a time, to put effort and resources into coping with the topic of the moment rather than recognising that they are related issues with common problems. We feel that there should be a common approach to all forms of substance abuse. Moreover, youngsters should be informed of the real risks not scare stories. For example:-

1. with cigarettes, health problems develop over time but glue sniffing can be instantly fatal if the youngster has an adverse reaction.
2. with some substances, the problems are not immediate in terms of the impact of the substance on the individual but they can be immediate in terms of how they lead the youngster to behave.
3. there is a problem of addiction which is quite separate from the substance to which a person becomes addicted. In many cases this is an emotional addiction rather than chemical addiction and part of the message should be to highlight this.

Alcohol misuse is a problem for society as a whole

It is also important to recognise that these are problems for society as a whole. They cannot be resolved in schools or by parents in isolation. It is no good asking young people to behave in a way that is different from the way that adults behave. However, we recognise the importance of education and of giving youngsters the right messages early. We recognise that primary school children tend to absorb anti smoking and anti drug messages very well and often become quite "moral" about such issues. Then they apparently totally disregard all they have learnt when they are teenagers and experiment with different lifestyles. However, even for youngsters who indulge in the most risky forms of behaviour, the initial learning is not wasted. Many come back to living by this original teaching and the years of experimentation are no more than that - years of experimentation.

Availability of alcohol

In relative terms alcohol is cheap. A bottle of vodka can cost less than a CD. Moreover, many youngsters pay less than shop prices. One parent reported on the supply of alcohol and cigarettes from the back of "white vans" in her area. These are vans which have gone to the continent and brought back illegal supplies avoiding customs. Youngsters are amongst the customers of such vans. Increasing the official cost of alcohol is therefore not really a solution. Moreover, this would be strongly opposed by the whisky industry which is important to Scotland whilst the evidence from increasing the tax on tobacco is that it simply leads to more smuggling.

The drink of choice

Parents said that in general youngsters no longer drank cider, but had moved on to spirits, particularly vodka which they mixed with Irn Bru. It was therefore not always easy to know immediately that a youngster had been drinking.

The age of involvement

All parents reported that youngsters emerged very moral from primary schools well informed about the risks of drugs, cigarettes etc. and determined not to get involved. However, this often vanished by the time youngsters were thirteen. What they would indulge in depended on with whom they mixed. For some it was alcohol, for others it was cannabis.

The ineffectiveness of IDs

Parents reported that the idea of ID cards was superficially attractive but in fact they were pointless.

1. In these days of computer equipment it was very easy for youngsters to produce false IDs.
2. Youngsters often didn't purchase their own supplies but rather depended on older people - sometimes older siblings - to make the actual purchases on their behalf.
3. "White van" suppliers were not fussy about the age of their customers and so ID cards would not restrict purchases.

What Works?

In looking for solutions we felt it was important to focus on what had worked. We noticed that most youngsters were very particular not to drink and drive. There were a number of causes for this

1. It had been a campaign run in society as a whole for a number of years and impacted on everyone equally - it did not pick out youngsters as opposed to older people.
2. Youngsters accepted the evidence that drinking and driving often led to serious accidents.
3. The penalty for drink driving was severe and one youngsters did not wish to pay - they valued being able to drive very highly.
4. Other young people were concerned that the person driving was fit to drive and so there was peer pressure on the driver not to drink.
5. Some parents reported that youngsters took the car as a defence against having to drink. It was easier to say "No, I'm driving" rather than "I don't want to drink"

However, whilst youngsters are very careful about alcohol and driving, they are less careful about drugs and driving. We note that some police authorities are beginning to expand their drink driving actions to include drug driving and we feel this is very constructive. It is better to act on the consequences of substance abuse - including alcohol misuse - so that everyone - not just young people - has a powerful reason to moderate their behaviour.

We felt motivating youngsters to avoidance or moderation was the best approach to alcohol and all substance misuse. We also thought it was important not to single out young people but to make it a whole society approach.

The health approach

In advising people of the health risks of abuse, we felt it was very important not to overstate the problems or to pitch it in a way that seems very remote. To say you may die in thirty years to someone who is 13 is pointless as 30 years is more than two lifetimes away. One parent reported great success in persuading her daughter off cigarettes by pointing to people whom the daughter knew and who had very wrinkled faces as a consequence of a lifetime of smoking. We thought the calorie count of alcohol could also be effective in persuading youngsters to minimise alcohol consumption. Another area is to highlight the fact that being drunk could well result in unprotected sex with the consequence of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease. This would probably be more effective than warning against pregnancy. Another dimension to explore is youngsters' awareness of image and their wish to look "cool". We think adverts such as those run by HEBs which show drunks as "pathetic" or "losers" are very effective.

Alternative activities

1. Parents commented that youngsters who had reason to be fit were less likely to indulge in any substance abuse. Youngsters who were keen on playing sport were very careful to keep fit and avoid anything which impacted negatively on their fitness. However, formal sport appeals to a very limited group. We thought this effect could be increased if activities like disco dancing and aerobic classes were included. But, the cost of participation was often a problem - particularly when set against the minimal cost of alcohol. We felt that subsiding young people's entry to sports facilities would be money well spent. The experiment in Glasgow of offering young people free access to swimming pools is an excellent example of what can be done.
2. Young people are very sociable - they like to go around in groups, but there is no attractive counterpart to the pub where they can gather, be noisy and have a good time. If they meet on the street they tend to be regarded as noisy nuisances by older people; they might even find themselves subject to a curfew and marched home. However, market forces dictate that places where they can gather legitimately - e.g. youth clubs - are often in unattractive premises and operate only once or twice a week. Parents reported that Internet cafes were very attractive to young people and we would suggest that where these are not commercially viable, subsidies could be offered to allow such premises to be developed.

Youngsters safety

Finally, in dealing with the problem of alcohol and other substances misuse, the number one priority should be youngsters' safety. One parent said that her local youth club brought youngsters they suspected of drinking inside the building, rather than refuse them admission, and then phoned their parents on the grounds that this was safest for the youngster.