TEENAGE DRINKING ALERT

A UKP50,000 initiative to tackle teenage drinkers was launched in
Northern Ireland this week. This special report looks at the growing
problem of under-age drinkers.

ULSTER'S teenagers are drinking stronger alcoholic drinks than ever
before, health watchdogs warned today.

Many under-age drinkers are being enticed by the high-profile
marketing and sweet taste of the increasing range of alcopops on the
market. But there are also hundreds of youngsters who skip the
alcopops stage and go straight to stronger drinks such as cider and
lager - with twice as much alcoholic content.

Health Promotion Agency Alcohol and Drugs Programme manager, Rob
Phipps, said: "Alcopops may introduce a young palate to alcohol - this
does concern us, but there are stronger alcoholic drinks that young
people are getting already, and getting drunk on - this also concerns
us greatly.

"Our main concern about alcopops is that they make alcohol seem more
attractive to young people.

"However, we must not let the debate on alcopops take our eyes off the
main issue, and that is that young people are already accessing
alcohol and drinking in a way that is harmful to their health."
Spokesman for brewers Bass, Stuart Cain, described the alcopops
controversy as a "dead issue".

He said: "It has been proved that alcopops have not increased
under-age drinking.

"To demonise particular aspects of the alcohol industry is careless,
because it clouds the wider issue of under-age drinking." Mr Cain said
Bass, along with the UK's top brewers, was actively involved in
discouraging under-age drinking, saying it was recognised as a "big
social issue".

He identified improved education as a way to combat the problem. Only
12 months ago the alcopop furor raged, with some stores refusing to
sell the drinks. The Co-Op and Iceland banned the sale of alcopops
from 2,000 of their stores nationwide last June.

Police in Ballymena recently warned they were going to clamp down on
under-age drinking.

The warning came after a plain-clothes officer reportedly spotted 30
under-age drinkers in one premises in a 30-minute period.

Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan said children as young as 14 were
attending over-18 discos.

He said: "People are almost prepared to accept under-age drinking as
being preferable to drug abuse.

"But the truth is it creates just as many problems, if not
more."

Checked-by: "Rich O'Grady"