Fifth Of Scots Drink Dangerous Amounts Each Week

More than a million people drink too much alcohol at least one night a week in Scotland, a new report has revealed.

At least a fifth of the population drinks a dangerous amount of alcohol, a leading group of clinicians found.

The study is a follow-up to a report in England, which found that people in affluent areas were actually more likely to drink to excess than their poorer counterparts.

Alcohol campaigners in Edinburgh today said they were surprised that the one million figure was so low.

Dr Bruce Ritson, chairman of campaign group Health Action on Alcohol Problems, which carried out the survey, said: “There seems to be quite a widespread belief that most of us drink responsibly and sensibly and, while that is often true, there are a lot of people who are exceeding the recommended amounts in one week in Scotland. That is why we think it is important to adopt a policy approach of prevention, rather than just focusing on the heaviest or addicted drinkers.”

The recommended amount of alcohol intake is no more than three to four units a day for men and two to three units for women. But past surveys have found that these limitations are often exceeded on a regular basis, and the latest findings add weight to the argument that Scots drink far too much.

Alcohol-related liver disease cases have doubled in Scotland in the past decade, and in some regions have even gone up as much as four-fold.

Dr Ritson added that binge drinking wasn’t as much of a problem as steady, consistent drinking on a regular basis.

He said: “The consequences across the population amount to probably a bigger health problem than those that drink heavily.”

Tom Wood, a spokesman for Edinburgh-based Action Team on Drugs and Alcohol, said: “For the last while, we’ve concentrated understandably on binge drinking because that stands stand out.

“But this research has shown that you can have a drink problem in a more hidden way.

“You associate drink problems with drunkenness but this clearly isn’t always just the case.”

He continued: “I think it is getting worse. Alcohol has never been cheaper and as plentiful as it is today and we, as a society, have never had more money.

“Especially in and around Edinburgh, it’s very prosperous, and makes it easy to get alcohol.” Glenn Liddall, a manager for the Capital’s Simpson House – an organisation which supports those with drug and alcohol problems – added: “I’m actually surprised it’s that low.

“Anecdotally we have examples of children requiring our support because their parents are abusing alcohol.

“It’s the biggest challenge for our generation. Our referrals have gone up year on year on year.”

Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: “Sadly excessive drinking has become normal rather than abnormal behaviour.

“We are increasingly persuaded drinking alcohol should be part of every leisure activity, but many people are inadvertently drinking much more than they realise, not only because they don’t understand how to keep track of their intake, but also because many beers and wines have become much stronger in recent years.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The bottom line is something has got to be done to stem the rising tide of liver disease, and that includes everyone becoming more aware of what they are drinking.”