Following the recent Drinkaware survey that found that 74% of people think drinking to excess is just part of Irish culture, the charity has announced that reducing alcohol misuse is one of its three key areas to tackle. The two others being to tackle underage drinking and support alcohol education.
The research, which surveyed 1000 adults, shone a spotlight on the level of alcohol consumption in Ireland today. It discovered that 73% of hazardous drinkers are male, with almost half aged under 34 years. This group was said to be aware of the negative impacts of their current drinking behaviour and showed an openness to modifying their habits. However, 46% of respondents strongly disagreed that they should cut down on their drinking. In addition, under 25-year-olds reported an average of 28 binge drinking sessions in the past year, which is the highest of all demographics.
Commenting on the research, Drinkaware CEO, Sheena Horgan, said: “There exists a national cultural complacency around excessive alcohol consumption that is complicit in normalising harmful drinking”.
SCRAM alcohol testing
A novel method of real-time alcohol-detection has been shown to have a significant impact on changing behaviours in vulnerable and higher-risk alcohol-dependent adults. The SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring® (SCRAM CAM®) alcohol testing bracelet is worn on the ankle and tests for the presence of alcohol in perspiration every 30 minutes. Unlike hair strand analysis, which can build up a historic profile of excessive alcohol consumption over a period of 3 or 6 months, SCRAM CAM® is the first of its kind to detect the drinking of alcohol in real-time. As such, this detection technique is widely used by local authorities, courts and child-protection agencies.
The results are automatically gathered and uploaded without the need for an individual’s participation. As such, the frequency and pattern of alcohol consumption can be easily shown. The data speak for themselves: on any given day, 99.4% of all participants are completely sober and compliant while being monitored with SCRAM CAM®.
Known as sobriety tagging in the USA, continuous monitoring could be a game changer when it comes to tackling excessive drinking. For information on any of AlphaBiolabs’ alcohol-testing solutions, please call 0140 29466 or email us at info@alphabiolabs.ie
Order an Alcohol Test
AlphaBiolabs is an accredited laboratory offering a range of alcohol testing services.
