The Community Alcohol Action Network (CAAN) website has been set up to encourage changes in the drinking culture of Australians.

It has many features including a regular e-newsletter “GrogWatch” that covers the latest research and trends in alcohol consumption and its effects when not consumed in moderation. The website also features informative articles under the heading “Alcohol: the Facts”

CAAN’s aims are to:
• Raise the awareness of alcohol as an issues of public health and safety
• Tackle social and environmental cues that encourage an unsafe drinking culture, and
• Mobilise the community to take action against aggressive marketing, promotion, products and supply.

CAAN works to reduce cultural pressures that encourage Australians to drink unsafely.
These pressures include:
• the alcohol industries’ marketing strategies
• popular culture’s celebration of binge drinking, and
• social expectations that lead to complacency regarding alcohol problems.

CAAN’s strategy includes alerting the media, the public, and policy makers to:
• aggressive marketing and promotion of alcohol
• failure of the codes that regulate alcohol advertising
• encouragement of unsafe drinking via popular media
• violation of licensing regulations (e.g. free drinks, drinking competitions)
• development of dangerous products (e.g. ‘super strength’ pre-mixed drinks), and
• the need for greater controls over availability. 
 

The Facts: Alcohol and its effects

  • Ethyl alcohol is the intoxicating ingredient in all alcoholic drinks and occurs in different amounts in different types of drinks. For example, spirits contain approximately 40% alcohol, while full-strength beer contains only 4-6%
  • The liver breaks down 91% of alcohol, while a small amount leaves the body in sweat, breath and urine
  • Alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream from the stomach and affects virtually all cells and systems in the body
  • The rate of alcohol absorption in the body varies depending on several factors, including body size, gender, body fat and amount of food in the stomach
  • Alcohol is a depressant drug – not because it makes you sad, but because it slows the activity of the central nervous system
  • Excessive alcohol consumption can be fatal if it slows the central nervous system down to the point where breathing stops, and
  • Alcohol has some health benefits for middle-aged and older people but can impair the development of children and adolescents.

Short-term/acute effects of alcohol include the following*:
 relaxation
 elevated mood
 decreased inhibition and judgment
 decreased reaction time, alertness and co-ordination
 impaired vision and perception
 emotional lability
 aggression
 slurred speech
 sleep disturbances
 memory impairment
  
Long-term / chronic effects of alcohol include the following:
 brain damage
 cancer
 hepatitis
 liver cirrhosis
 pancreatitis
 heart disease
 mental illness – alcohol dependence, depression, anxiety, social problems etc.

* The short-term and long-term effects of alcohol vary depending on the quantity of alcohol consumed and the frequency of consumption.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

SOURCE: Community Alcohol Action Network website.