NSW: Million-dollar anti-binge drinking campaign launched in NSW
19 Jan 2009 12:31 PM
SYDNEY, Jan 19 AAP - A new $1 million anti-binge drinking campaign aims to stop youths from engaging in risky alcohol-fuelled behaviour, the NSW government says.
The "What Are You Doing To Yourself?" campaign is aimed at 16-20 year olds.
An advertisement - to feature on buses, on postcards in cafes and in pub bathrooms - depicts young people in social environments and reflects on how getting drunk can change personalities and behaviour.
One image shows a young woman driving a car while her eyes are covered by the hands of a drunken version of herself.
NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca said the campaign aimed to prompt a cultural change in young people's attitude to risky drinking.
He said NSW Health figures showed the biggest increase in alcohol-related emergency department admissions since 2000 was among 18-24 year olds, up 130 per cent.
"The campaign's key message is that we all have to take personal responsibility for our behaviour when we're socialising," he said.
The campaign launch comes amid concern about a new beverage aimed at younger drinkers that is designed to bypass the federal government's alcopop laws.
Looking like a vodka mixer, the Smirnoff Platinum drink contains six per cent alcohol, and is actually a mutant beer, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The fact it is beer means it is not subject to the alcopop law changes, which saw the tax on pre-mix spirits increase by about 70 per cent.
Mr Della Bosca said the drink came under federal jurisdiction, but states and the Commonwealth needed to work cooperatively on the issue.
"We really need to have a public debate around the regulation of alcohol advertising," he said.
