The study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, breaks down this $20 billion into: 

• $1.6 billion for the child protection system due to an adult carer’s drinking; 
• $560 million for alcohol related domestic violence
• almost $3 billion in lost productivity due to people having to care for a drinker.

“This is the first study to also measure the cost to those impacted by others’ drinking through alcohol-related traffic accidents, crime, violence and aggression, family hardship, caring for drinkers and their dependents, and healthcare and social services,”

Overall, the amount expended on those impacted by drinkers and their drinking is equivalent to the same amount again for those who drink, bringing the total annual bill to about $40 billion. This forensic analysis, by La Trobe University researchers, reveals the cost of everything from alcohol-related violence, car accidents, child services, impacts on quality of life and damage to property.

Complete article https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2022/release/alcohol-bystanders-burden-revealed

(Dalgarno Institute comment: Our 160 plus years of challenging this outcome has seen such before – in fact our movement was really started as a result of these outcomes. Note to, it is the ‘legal’ drug that is causing these egregious harms. A protected and commercialized drug that has become completely engrained into the culture. 

What is of even greater concern, is that pro-drug activists want to give the same carnage inducing ‘pass’ to currently illicit substances such as cannabis, cocaine, mushrooms, and crystal meth. 

We know that high THC cannabis alone causes psychosis and all its accompanying chaos. The ‘Kincare’ industry in South East Queensland is ‘booming’ because of ‘Ice’ impact on parents ability to not just care for their kids, but shocking harms done to them.  

The insanity of promoting ‘permission’ models for substance use cannot be overstated. It is time to #preventdontpromote and focus on the first priority pillar of the National Drug Strategy - #DemandReduction)

Also see                                                      

1. Children – The Life Long Sufferers of Parental Substance Use
2. AOD Use and the Kincare Crisis
3. Children:Domestic_Violence_The_AOD_Impact 
4. Police launch operation to help curb impact of ice on kids

As a risk factor for disability, alcohol has shown the most rapid rise over the past 30 years for people aged 55 and over compared to other age groups. Studies that have claimed health benefits from drinking remain flawed in their design. Many fall down when comparing drinkers with non-drinkers, as they do not take into account the so-called “sick quitter” effect of people in non-drinking control group who have given up drinking through poor health. The other common flaw is studying healthy older people, who represent a selective group who have remained in good health in spite of alcohol, not because of it. Above all, the most recent study concluding purported health benefits did not assessment cognitive impairment at all.

The bottom line is that to protect the brain from alcohol in older people with health problems, it is safest not to drink at all. In those older people who remain healthy, starting to drink would not be advisable, as alcohol is associated with a range or other physical disorders that balance out any “benefits” seen in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in some groups.

Can alcohol consumption increase your risk of dementia? - Alcohol Health Alliance

(15 Years of successful policy undone – under the radar – in just two months!)

Just 7 of 400 communities to remain dry from Sunday

By Zizi Averill,  Jul 15, 2022 

SEVEN Aboriginal communities have chosen to remain dry following a controversial decision to overturn a booze ban for more than 400 remote areas. On Sunday, alcohol will legally flow into previously dry communities across the NT for the first time in 15 years.

SEVEN Aboriginal communities have chosen to remain as dry areas following a controversial decision to overturn a longstanding ban on booze sales for more than 400 remote communities.This Sunday, alcohol will legally flow into previously dry communities across the Territory for the first time in 15 years.The changes come as a result of the Associations and Liquor Amendment Bill 2022, which passed through parliament in May despite outcry from Aboriginal medical groups, legal advocates, social services, and the NT Police Association.Communities were given the choice to ‘opt-in’ to a two-year extension to their dry community status.On Friday, Liquor Licensing director Philip Timney declared an extension to alcohol bans for the Bagot, Bulman, Jodetluk, Knuckey Lagoon Indigenous Village, Palmerston Indigenous Village, Railway Dam, and Weemol community areas.A spokeswoman for Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said 10 other communities were also in talks to remain alcohol protected areas, with the deadline to sign up set for January 31, 2023.“These restrictions are not designed to be permanent but allow those communities extra time to more closely consider their long-term alcohol aspirations,” the spokeswoman said.She said the changes did not impact 112 communities, which were General Restricted Areas prior to the 2007 Intervention.However, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress said more than 400 communities would be affected by the Liquor Act changes.Ms Fyles’s spokeswoman said the changes brought to an end the “last living remnants of the Intervention”, ending the “race-based policy targeting Aboriginal Territorians with little to no engagement”.However, the decision to lift the longstanding bans were widely rebuked for a lack of consultation.AMSANT chief executive John Paterson said the NT already had the highest per capita rate of alcohol consumption, with concerns the return of takeaway alcohol could devastate regional areas.“(This) will bring about an immediate increase in alcohol intake in certain communities and homelands, and in turn this could lead to an increase in alcohol-fuelled violence and crime,” Dr Paterson said.He said the “11th hour” consultations had not allowed communities to have the time to discuss, make informed decisions and then implement strategies to minimise harms.

For more 

This study found that consuming alcohol alone during adolescence predicts future alcohol use disorders, especially for women. This finding holds true even after controlling for other factors such as binge alcohol use, frequency of alcohol use, socioeconomic status, and gender.

The study found that about 25% of adolescents and 40% of young adults reported using alcohol alone.

The odds of having alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms at age 35 were 35% higher for adolescents who used alcohol alone and 60% higher for young adults who used alcohol alone, compared to those who consumed alcohol only in social settings.

According to previous research by Creswell and colleagues, young people mostly consume alcohol alone to cope with negative emotions. This pattern of alcohol use has consistently been linked with developing alcohol problems. Young people are now at even more risk of developing alcohol use problems since the pandemic as their anxiety and depression levels have also gone up.

Read more

By CHLOE TAYLOR, July 16, 2022 

People under the age of 40 start risking their health if they consume any more than two teaspoons of wine or two and a half tablespoons of beer per day, a new study suggests.

The analysis—part of the wider Global Burden of Disease study—was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and published in published in The Lancet medical journalmedical journal on Thursday.

It found that for young adults between the ages of 15 and 39, there were zero health benefits—only risks—associated with drinking alcohol.

Researchers said that for people aged between 15 and 39, the recommended amount of alcohol that could be consumed before risking their health was “a little more than one-tenth of a standard drink.”

They defined a standard drink as 3.4 fluid ounces of red wine or 12 fluid ounces of beer.

By this definition, the study’s findings suggested that alcohol stops being “safe” to consume for under-40s after around two teaspoons of red wine or two and a half tablespoons of beer.

The Global Burden of Disease study is massive in scope. It has been ongoing since 1990 and uses data from 204 countries and territories, and is described in the Lancet as "the most comprehensive effort to date to understand the changing health challenges around the world.

The study echoes findings from some earlier studies that have suggested there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.

Last year, an Oxford University study of more than 25,000 people found that there was “no safe dose of alcohol” when it came to brain health.

“Our message is simple: Young people should not drink…” Dr. Emmanuela Gakidou

View Complete Article

Also see 

• Poor Representatives in Alcohol Cohorts: The Nail in the Coffin of the ‘Heart Health Benefits’ of Moderate Drinking? click here
• No Amount of Alcohol Use is ‘Safe’ click here