Major events which allow underage patrons can come with challenges. It is important to have measures in place to protect the safety of all patrons and staff.  

Liquor Control Victoria Inspectors were recently at an outdoor music festival with approval to have underage patrons. Inspectors observed several processes which contributed to a well-run and safe event for patrons and staff, such as: 

• Underage patrons without a parent, legal guardian or responsible adult were refused entry. 
• Prior to entry, in dedicated areas, underage patrons received pink wristbands for easy identification, other patrons received green. 
• Each underage attendee had their emergency contact details written on their wristband. Prior to festival entry, staff called this number to confirm it.  
• A condition of entry for underage patrons was that they must remain accompanied by parent, legal guardian or responsible adult for duration of the event. 

Clear expectations and policies for underage patrons were communicated prior to the festival on the event website. Key information included:  

• a dedicated underage information pack with definition of ‘responsible adult’  
• recommendation of no patrons under the age of 15 
• warnings about loud music, high intensity crowd movements, potential for bands using profanities and patrons consuming alcohol. 

Communication prior to the event, and measures implemented on arrival at the festival site ensured organisers were fully compliant with their legal obligations. Most importantly, the safety of all patrons was a priority. (For more information Liquor Control Victoria)

‘Street Drugs – The New Addiction Industry’ is a long awaited and vital resource for those who cannot see through the thinly veiled ‘War FOR Drugs’ hiding in plain sight. Elaine Walters OAM is a veteran in the arena of drug education and a relentless advocate for best practice Demand Reduction and drug use exiting recovery. The truths reasserted in this work are an imperative for those who care about the well-being, safety, dignity and potential of our communities and their emerging families. And to remember the words of Aldous Huxley quoted in the book… “Facts do no cease to exist because they are ignored or eclipsed by a thrilling falsehood.” 

New Offering:
Mental Health issues in the emerging generation is a growing and deeply concerning issue.
Many factors and elements contribute to this growing public and personal health crisis, including emotional deficits, omissions and various traumas of abuse and neglect. However, one factor that has both a disturbing, and all too often irreversible impact on mental health and wellbeing, is the alcohol and other drug factor (AOD).
As some ‘grown ups’ clamour for greater liberalization of drug laws and the egregious example to the emerging generation that brings, students often continue to look to these models as a cue, not merely from a poor behavioural choices aspect, but all too often the model of self-medication being passively and actively foisted on the developing child.
All humans were designed for Reward and Exploration, but this pattern is so easily hijacked by Rebellion and Experimentation counterfeits, that often are unwittingly reinforced by inaccurate cultural memes, like… ‘all kids are gunna rebel, can’t do a thing about it!’
The United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) continues to promote prevention and demand reduction for not only children (up to 18 years of age) but those still in developing brain stage – 12 to 30 years of age) The World Health Organisations (W.H.O) Comprehensive Mental Health Plan 2013-2030also seeks to give young people the best chance to develop sound mental health frameworks, of which substance use has no place.

As part of the Dalgarno Institutes educational offerings (alongside our Humpty Dumpty Dilemma Resiliency Project) we have developed a number of key workshop/seminars on AOD and Mental Healthfor your teachers and students. Including…

• Mental Health in a Bottle???
  
• Which substance will help my ‘mental health’, Hmmm, let’s try…?
  

These workshops can be used at any time, but best deployed during,

• RUOK Week (September)
  
• Mental Health Awareness Month (October)

Alcohol and other drug overdoses are a significant public health problem and a common cause of death among young adults. This study assessed whether alcohol use at age 15–16 years is a risk factor for alcohol or drug overdose, or poisoning requiring medical attention, by the age of 32–33 in a population-based Finnish cohort study

• First alcohol intoxication at age ˜12, and high alcohol tolerance were associated with an increased risk of intentional overdose.
  

Comments: This cohort study suggests that specific alcohol use patterns in adolescence are associated with increased risk of alcohol and other drug-related overdose later in life. Overdose prevention efforts could include early identification and intervention during adolescence/young adulthood for people with early onset of alcohol consumption, frequent alcohol intoxication, and high alcohol tolerance.

(Source: Boston University AOD Current Evidence May 2023)

Also see www.greaterrisk.com and 21bethere.org.au

Study: No More Than 6 Teaspoons of Added Sugar per Day

JAMA. Published online April 19, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.6285

Moderate-quality evidence has tied high intake of sugars, particularly those containing fructose, with a range of poor outcomes, such as obesity in children, coronary heart disease, and depression, according to an umbrella review of 73 meta-analyses that included 8601 studies, a majority of which were observational.

Low-quality evidence linked each additional serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage per week with a 4% higher risk of gout. Each extra cup per day of a sugar-sweetened drink was associated with a 17% and a 4% higher risk of coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality, respectively.

“[W]e recommend reducing the consumption of free sugars or added sugars to below 25 g/day,” the researchers wrote in The BMJ. That translates to about 6 teaspoons daily. The authors also advised limiting sugar-sweetened beverages to less than 1 a week.

For complete research