Cheap and easy access to alcohol has negative social and health impacts. In Ireland, alcohol became 50% more affordable between 1996 and 2008 due to a 161% increase in off-licences selling alcohol while pub licences decreased by 19%. Underage drinking accounts for 11% of total alcohol consumed in the US, resulting in over 5,000 deaths and 190,000 emergency room visits annually for those under 21. Prevention efforts should encourage healthy activities instead of alcohol and limit its availability to youth.

1. Cheap & easy access to alcohol
Cheap & easy access to alcohol
By: Hamed Al-Khalili

2. • Negative impact of cheap and easy access to
alcohol:
1- Social problems
2- health problems
• How alcohol become cheap and easy to access

3. • How cheap is alcohol in Ireland
1- Alcohol in Ireland became 50% more affordable between 1996 and
2008
• How alcohol become easy to access
1- Between 1998 and 2010 there was a 161% increase in the number of
full off-licences, while pub licences decreased by 19 per cent over the
same period

4. 1- Underage drinking
* People ages 12-20 drink 11% of all alcohol consumed
in the US. 1

5. SOURCE: Johnston, L.D.; O’Malley, P.M.; Bachman, J.G.; and Schulenberg, J.E.
Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2009: Volume
I: Secondary School Students (NIH Publication No. 10–7584). Bethesda, MD:
National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2010.

6.  1,900 deaths from motor vehicle accidents
 1,600 from homicides
 1,200 from alcohol poisoning, falls, burns, and
drowning
 300 from suicides
Injuries:
In 2008 alone, about 190,000 people under age 21 visited an
emergency room for alcohol-related injuries. 2

7. • Alcohol affects the developing teenager brain
• Mental health

8. • How to prevent underage drinking
• Talking about the dangers of drinking.
• Not making alcohol available.
• Encouraging kids to participate in healthy and fun
activities that do not involve alcohol.

10. Bibliography:
Alcohol: Underage Drinking. (2008). PsycEXTRA Dataset. http://doi.org/10.1037/e537742010-001
Cameron, A. (2010). Alcohol and Health. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 45(6), 595–595.
http://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agq049
Easton, B. (2014). Alcohol Consumption: The Social Economic Impacts. Reference Module in
Biomedical Sciences. http://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-801238-3.03189-5
Mäkelä, P. (2014). Commentary on Ally et al . (2014): Increasing the price of cheap alcohol would
contribute to decreasing health inequalities. Addiction, 109(12), 2003–2004.
http://doi.org/10.1111/add.12733
1Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/underage-drinking.htm
2Available at:
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/UnderageDrinking/UnderageFact.htm