Definition of binge drinking in dispute

According to new National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines the limit for the safe drinking of alcohol is four standard drinks.

The guidelines which aim to encourage responsible alcohol consumption are meant to inform the public about the risks they take when choosing to consume alcohol, but how seriously they will be taken is a moot point.

They appear to have become confused with binge drinking which most people understand to be drinking with the intention of getting intoxicated.

The Australian Drug Foundation says the amount drunk to reach such a state is dependent on a myriad of factors including gender, weight, height and age, as well as what is being drunk.

The new guidelines which have been developed by experts in alcohol and addiction studies should however make it clearer what constitutes "risky drinking" and the immediate risks of violence, sexual assault and car accidents, apart from the long-term health effects.

The research based guidelines say that choosing to drink more than two alcoholic drinks in one sitting increases the risk of harm to 1 in 100 and the risk increases exponentially with each subsequent drink.

The message suggested is that after more than two drinks, precautions to protect yourself against any immediate harm should be taken.

It is hoped the guidelines will raise awareness about the issues surrounding safe drinking and encourage people to consider their alcohol consumption as 3,400 Australians die from alcohol-related disease and injury every year.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) says binge drinking has been defined as four standard drinks a night and this could make people think twice about having the third one.

However, the Hotel Association is not in accord and says binge drinking is the gross over-indulgence of alcohol and not 'having four drinks' and it says it is unrealistic to set a benchmark of four standard drinks a night as the limit for binge drinking.

Meanwhile Federal Government plans to tax pre-mixed alcoholic drinks have been criticised by an expert as not enough to curb teenage drinking.

Professor Joan Abbott-Chapman, from the University of Tasmania says research suggests increasing community activities for young people and education programs for parents should also be considered as within a dense crowd environment there are a lot of risks and it is not just a matter of more police but about people being responsible and policing themselves.