A social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people
Prof Moodie said is was important to challenge the alcohol industry’s claims that Australia does not have an alcohol problem. “I would like to see sensible restrictions on alcohol advertising, promotions and sponsorship,” he said. - Alexandra Miller via Australia's daily alcohol toll: 15 deaths and 430 hospitalisations.
When entering a school to present our Safe Partying seminars, I am usually greeted by a teacher on a ‘break’ (a questionable term) from lesson with a cup of coffee in hand. For most, I know this is not the first cup of coffee, with many more pours throughout the day for that extra burst [...]
A controversial way to inhale alcohol has been released in a new home version. The vapshot machine boasts it can turn any alcohol into a vapour, which is then inhaled with a straw. 'It hits you instantly and kick starts your buzz!' the firm boasts of its $700 Vapshot mini machine. However, health experts have [...]
“They know more about drugs than I do …” Paul Dillon Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia (DARTA) One of the most common fears for anyone who works with young people is they believe the adolescents they have contact with know more about illicit drugs than they do. The catch-cry is usually something like [...]
The AMA Vice President, Dr Stephen Parnis, this week launched the second annual report of the Alcohol Advertising Review Board at Parliament House in Canberra. The reported provides further evidence that self-regulation of alcohol advertising is ineffective and many alcohol companies are ignoring concerns about young people’s exposure to ads through sport, TV and online. [...]
In conversations with many teachers and parents, the opinion is divided about whether to focus on the positive behavior or negative choices youth make surrounding drugs. There are those who believe most young people will try drugs at some stage, so we should shock students by telling true stories of disaster parties & those who [...]
Over the last fortnight it’s been interesting to read the reporting about the release of a couple of key pieces of alcohol data in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its Apparent Consumption of Alcohol, Australia, 2012-13 report, which shows Australians are drinking less alcohol overall than any time in the previous 15 years. [...]
Pressure is mounting for Australian governments to raise the legal drinking age to 21 to protect the health of young people whose brains are still vulnerable to the toxicity of alcohol at 18, leading health experts say. Four professors of mental health and public health have joined a growing list of influential Australians to call [...]
Our boozy Australian culture may soon be extinct if the results of a recent survey are anything to go by. Published in the scientific journal Addiction, the survey led by Dr Michael Livingston of Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre compiled the responses of more than 2500 Australians aged 14 to 17. It found [...]
Mental illness and substance abuse are the leading causes of non-fatal illness in the world, according to the latest part of major research into the global burden of disease. And the issues are second only to musculoskeletal diseases as causes of disability in Australia, according to the study led by University of Queensland Professor Harvey [...]
