Post by Bozur on Apr 10, 2005 3:20:43 GMT -5
Teens turn to the hard stuff
The average age at which people have their first drink in Greece is down to 12.7 years of age. More and more young people are turning to hard drinks such as whisky, vodka and mixed thingytails.
It’s part of nearly every occasion, both happy and sad, and flows freely at every social gathering, but there is a point at which alcohol stops helping someone to relax and starts to cause trouble.
More than 200,000 people in Greece have not been able to draw the line and are alcoholics, and surveys show that the average age of alcohol dependency is becoming lower.
The average age at which people have their first drink in Greece is down to 12.7 years of age; the first time they get drunk is at the average age of 13.7 years.
According to a nationwide survey by the University Research Institute for Mental Health (EPIPSY), presented in the annual report by the National Center for Documentation and Information on Drugs and Narcotics for 2004, 34.3 percent of teenaged schoolchildren say they have been drunk at least three times in their lives.
Another 16.1 percent say they got drunk three times in the past year and 5.1 percent three times in the past month. The percentage of schoolchildren who say they have had a drink more than 40 times in the last 30 days is low (4.2 percent), but has doubled over the past five years.
– There is also concern over the fact that more and more young people are turning to hard drinks. Of schoolchildren who say they drink alcohol at least three times a month, 44 percent prefer drinks such as whisky, vodka and mixed thingytails.
– One in three teenagers has five drinks in a session at least twice a month, 10 percent higher than that shown in a 1999 survey.
– Over 80 percent of teenagers seem to realize the risks of over-drinking; 92.9 percent believe that alcohol consumption leads to road accidents, 88.1 percent that it can harm family life, and 85.6 percent that it can cause health problems.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=53731
The average age at which people have their first drink in Greece is down to 12.7 years of age. More and more young people are turning to hard drinks such as whisky, vodka and mixed thingytails.
It’s part of nearly every occasion, both happy and sad, and flows freely at every social gathering, but there is a point at which alcohol stops helping someone to relax and starts to cause trouble.
More than 200,000 people in Greece have not been able to draw the line and are alcoholics, and surveys show that the average age of alcohol dependency is becoming lower.
The average age at which people have their first drink in Greece is down to 12.7 years of age; the first time they get drunk is at the average age of 13.7 years.
According to a nationwide survey by the University Research Institute for Mental Health (EPIPSY), presented in the annual report by the National Center for Documentation and Information on Drugs and Narcotics for 2004, 34.3 percent of teenaged schoolchildren say they have been drunk at least three times in their lives.
Another 16.1 percent say they got drunk three times in the past year and 5.1 percent three times in the past month. The percentage of schoolchildren who say they have had a drink more than 40 times in the last 30 days is low (4.2 percent), but has doubled over the past five years.
– There is also concern over the fact that more and more young people are turning to hard drinks. Of schoolchildren who say they drink alcohol at least three times a month, 44 percent prefer drinks such as whisky, vodka and mixed thingytails.
– One in three teenagers has five drinks in a session at least twice a month, 10 percent higher than that shown in a 1999 survey.
– Over 80 percent of teenagers seem to realize the risks of over-drinking; 92.9 percent believe that alcohol consumption leads to road accidents, 88.1 percent that it can harm family life, and 85.6 percent that it can cause health problems.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=53731