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THERE WERE MORE THAN
65,000 pubs and
clubs in the UK, Karen Hughes of Liverpool
John Moores University told delegates. ‘A
well-managed nightlife economy can bring a
wide range of benefits, but is also a key
location for a wide range of harms. The UK is
known for its heavy drinking culture.’
Researchers investigating alcohol use on a
night out in the north west of England found
that, on average, females were consuming 16
units of alcohol and males were consuming
25. ‘An average bottle of wine is nine units,’
she said. Nationally, one in five violent
assaults occurred in or around pubs and clubs,
and there was a very large disparity between
the cost of alcohol in shops and its cost in
licensed premises – ‘it’s three or four times
cheaper than in pubs and clubs,’ she said.
The UK government had recently banned
irresponsible promotions in pubs and clubs
but not in supermarkets, she said, and there
was a phenomenon of ‘pre-loading’ in many
places, where people would drink before
going out. In Liverpool, half of nightlife users
did this, consuming an average of seven units
before leaving home and then drinking
heavily once out. ‘The vast majority of late
night drinkers are drunk,’ she said.
In terms of preventing drink-related
violence, the way bars were managed and
designed was critical, she stressed.
Environmental factors associated with higher
drunkenness
included
aggressive
or
inefficient staff,
overcrowding,
poor
ventilation, lack of seating and loud noise. Her
colleague Lisa Jones had worked on a study as
part of the Focus on Alcohol Safe
Environments (FASE), which examined
training programmes for servers and mana-
gers, interventions in drinking environments,
policing and enforcement, reducing underage
access to alcohol and multi component
community-based programmes.
The study had found little input for the
first two areas and mixed evidence for
policing and enforcement, although targeted
action in high-risk areas had some effect. ‘The
findings show that multi component
community-based programmes can reduce
harm in drinking environments, but
behavioural, environmental and cultural
factors can all mitigate this,’ she said. ‘One
thing is certain, however – to be effective,
action needs to be sustainable.’
4 –
Daily Update
– DAY FOUR – Thursday 29 April 2010
Sustained action needed to tackle alcohol disorder
Getting merry...
Delegates enjoyed a taste of Liverpool nightlife yesterday evening, watching bands made up of some recognisable faces
from the world of harm reduction