CALL FOR INCREASE IN PRICE OF DRINK AND CIGARETTES

The price of cigarettes and alcohol should be increased significantly to
reduce consumption at younger ages, and consideration should be given to
increasing the minimum legal age for sale of alcohol to 21 years, health
experts recommended yesterday.

The proposals from the Southern Health Board came after a new survey by the
board in Cork and Kerry showed that almost half of those under the legal age
of 18 are drinking alcohol.

The survey on smoking, alcohol and drug abuse also found that almost one in
five people had taken illegal drugs at some stage in their life while 7 per
cent had taken drugs in the past year and 4 per cent in the last month.

The survey, carried out by the board's public health medicine specialist, Dr
Tim Jackson, said the main drugs used were cannabis, hallucinogens and
stimulants, but heroin was scarcely detected and there was almost no
injecting drug use.

Although opiate use was minimal, this could change rapidly in the current
climate of widespread drug tolerance, Dr Jackson warned, adding that
one-fifth of respondents believe cannabis should be at least partly
legalised.

The survey showed that drug use was highest among those aged 20-24.

"The drug user in this survey tends to be young, male, from urban areas, is
also a smoker or drinker and has smoked or drunk from an earlier age than
non-drug-users," said Dr Jackson in the report.

"Part-time employment, high frequency of pub and disco attendance and low
frequency of attendance at church are associated with increased drug use.
Recent and current drug use are highest at younger ages and fall to almost
nil over age 35 years."

The survey also found that drug use occurred in all areas and was not
significantly higher in deprived areas, although men in Cork city under the
age of 35 showed almost 40 per cent lifetime use and 20 per cent use in the
past year.

"Drug use showed a strong association with current smoking and alcohol use.
Smokers and drinkers showed drug use of up to three times that of those who
did not smoke or drink," Dr Jackson observed.

The survey also examined attitudes towards drug use and found that cannabis
was seen as the least harmful and most used drug. The survey also found that
alcohol was the dominant drug of misuse in terms of prevalence and problem
use, with almost 8 per cent of men reporting problem/ dependent drinking,
with the figure rising to 13 per cent among the 20-24 age group.

"Such high levels at that young age group have serious implications," Dr
Jackson said, adding that the survey also found 50 per cent of boys and 20
per cent of girls below the legal age were current drinkers.

The survey also found that a quarter of men drank in excess of the
recognised guideline of 21 units per a week, while some 78 per cent of
people - 82 per cent of men and 75 per cent of women - drank alcohol. The
highest level of drinking was among 20- to 24-year-olds.

Almost two-thirds of people had smoked at some stage in their lives, while
38 per cent were currently smoking. Numbers of smokers in women were almost
equal to men, while boys began smoking more than a year earlier than girls
and smoked more cigarettes a day.

The Southern Health Board is earmarking an additional #400,000 to combat
substance abuse, with a special emphasis on improving child self-reliance
and delaying the age of experimentation, particularly with alcohol and
tobacco.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"