Illnesses and marginalisation seen as worst substance abuse problems

Alcohol causes significantly more harm than illegal drugs

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Finns are consuming ever larger amounts of alcoholic beverages, and alcohol-related illnesses are on the increase. According to the results of the "Intoxicant Barometer" survey published on Thursday, illness and marginalisation are the worst problems linked with alcohol.
      Representatives of cities with more than 100,000 residents are especially concerned about the marginalisation, illness, and mortality rates of their areas.
     
After the demon drink, representatives of local authorities responding to the survey saw the mixing of alcohol and pharmaceutical drugs as a major problem. Smoking, pharmaceutical drug abuse, and illegal drugs were seen as significantly smaller problems.
      "The cut in the alcohol tax, which as implemented a few years ago, is reflected now in both sharply increased consumption rates, and more serious harm than before", is how Ritva Varamäki, head of development at the Finnish Centre for Health Promotion summarised the main findings of the fresh survey.
      The municipal workers in substance abuse issues, and representatives of organisations involved in the activities, predicted that the problems would increase in the future.
      Costs incurred from the use of intoxicants were expected to grow in the fields of child welfare, care for abusers, and other health care issues. Especially large municipalities are concerned about the increase in costs.
     
Asked how to deal with the problems linked with increased alcohol use, a majority of respondents saw felt that detoxification and rehabilitation services to be sufficient, and that work aimed at preventing abuse needed more investment.
      Shortcomings included inadequate day centre facilities, residential services, and mini-interventions.
      In a mini-intervention, a doctor presents a patient with a 10-point questionnaire on their alcohol consumption when they suspect that excess consumption could be leading to health problems.
      Mika Pyykkö, executive director at the Finnish Centre for Health Promotion laments that doctors are often too reticent to take up the issue of alcohol consumption with a patient, even though the problem might be quite obvious.
      Pyykkö feels that keeping young people from dropping out of school is a good preventative measure. "Municipalities could waive fees of sports clubs so that the children of poor families could afford to take part in sports."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Parliamentary parties ready for alcohol tax hike (14.2.2007)
  6,000 alcohol-related deaths in Finland in 2005 (31.8.2007)
  Alcohol-related problems on increase during summer holiday season (14.8.2007)
  EDITORIAL: Alcohol taxation should be increased urgently (1.8.2007)

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