Food for thought

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Copied from an ABC email news release.

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The Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (AER) says the level of alcohol abuse in Australia is unacceptable, and it is causing more harm than tobacco smoking.

A study commissioned by the AER asked 1,000 people about their experiences with alcohol over the Chrismas-New Year period. Head of the foundation, Daryl Smeaton, says in that time 2.2 million Australians over the age of 14 experienced physical or verbal abuse from someone who had been drinking.

"It's involved in so much family violence and sexual assault and child abuse," he said. "It is the major contributor to harms from personal assaults, it still contributes to 30 per cent of the deaths from motor vehicle accidents."

The foundation says licensed venues need their trading hours restricted to end alcohol abuse and wants all levels of government to take action.

Mr Smeaton says the Federal Government has already identified alcohol as one of the main causes of chronic disease.

"They need to go further, they need to acknowledge that alcohol is the number one health and social problem in Australia," he said.

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