Binge Drinking: A Cultural Practice

Binge drinking: A cultural practice that must become endangered in Australia

Because of its level of social acceptance throughout the nation, it is easy to forget that alcohol is a drug, "the most widely used recreational drug in Australia" (Reach out.com, 2009). One government website devoted to alcohol awareness noted that Australians "have a culture of socially accepting the drinking of alcohol, with many Australians drinking after work, at barbeques, on the weekend, and at sporting events" (Reach out.com, 2009). This can make it difficult to draw the line between normal social drinking and dangerous binge drinking. Although alcoholism has a specific medical definition, the definitions of social or situational binge drinking tend to be vaguer, both in the medical and in the lay community. However, most medical experts define binge drinking as "drinking heavily over a short period of time, or drinking continuously over a number of days or weeks," (Reach out.com, 2009). This behavior can be the result of alcoholism, peer-encouraged drinking habits, or social pressures and acceptance of heavy amounts of drinking.

The Australian government, in its press release upon "Alcohol" (2009) has noted: "Due to the different ways that alcohol can affect people, there is no amount of alcohol that can be said to be safe for everyone. People choosing to drink must realize that there will always be some risk to their health and social well-being." People may not know their limits, and feel that because their friend of a different gender, body mass, and tolerance level is 'fine,' their level of consumption is 'fine' as well. This is part of the cultural mindset of binge drinking, that if 'everyone is doing it, it must be okay.' However, many health researchers believe there is substantial anecdotal and statistical evidence to support a correlation between occasional, situational binge drinking and later alcohol abuse, as the alcohol rate continues to climb: "3,000 people in Australia dying annually as a result of some form of alcohol related disease, another 10,000 people receiving on-going treatment and another 1,000 in hospitals and other treatment areas on a daily basis (The medical news, 2008).

Although alcohol affects every individual differently on a physical level, the common cultural attitude and experience of alcohol undeniably affects consumption, regardless of the individual's personal history. In Australia, social acceptability has had negative effects, often because drinking is not seen as a moderate indulgence, but as something that is enjoyable only if indulged in excess. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called binge drinking in Australia an epidemic: "A recent survey carried out by the group found 1 in 10 Australians had been frightened by a drunk" during a public event, and "the estimated toll of alcohol abuse has doubled in the past eight years to $15 billion along with a hike in demands upon the police to deal with alcohol-fuelled problems which is believed to account for as much as 80 per cent of police work" (The medical news, 2008).

There is also a consistent drain upon the economic productivity of the nation and its healthcare system due to binge drinking: 7.5 million working days are lost each year because of alcohol in Australia and over 85 per cent of people who present at hospital emergency departments needing immediate treatment have some form of alcohol related cause (The medical news, 2008). But 'Big alcohol' in Australia has been accused of using many of the similar PR techniques as American tobacco companies to protect its interests and this contributes to the culture of binge drinking. While the "alcohol industry does not want to be seen in the same light as big tobacco, they are using the identical strategies of heavy advertising, heavy promotion, heavy sponsorship, opposing tax increases and soft education programs that don't work" (The medical news, 2009).