TWO MILLION DRINK AT 'HARMFUL' LEVELS

ALMOST two million people in Britain are drinking alcohol at "harmful"
levels, according to a report published today.

A further seven million are drinking above the recommended Government
limit, which is three to four units a day for men and two to tree
units a day for women.

The report, 'The State of the Nation', claims one in 20 people are
addicted to alcohol, twice as many as hooked on all other drugs.

Northern and Scottish men are singled out as "hard drinkers" with
almost one in ten drinking at "harmful" levels. compared with one in
17 men in London and the South East.

The report also says there are up to 33,000 alcohol related deaths
each year and about 28,000 hospital admissions due to alcohol
dependence or poisoning.

The document's findings will be discussed at Alcohol Concern's annual
conference in London today where a national strategy on alcohol will
be debated.

The strategy, outlined in a recent Government green paper. 'Our
Healthier Nation', aims to reduce alcohol misuse and boost treatments
for problem drinkers.

Eric Appleby, Alcohol Concern's director, said: "The figures in our
report are the rocky landscape on which the national alcohol strategy
must be built. Currently, the attack on alcohol misuse is being
mounted in a scatter-gun manner with, for example, different
Government departments responsible for various aspects of alcohol policy."

Jean Coussins, the director of the drinks industry's Portman Group.
said. "We actively support the Government in the promotion of the
sensible drinking message."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry