Second hand harm

Most of us are aware of the dangers of second hand smoking, but what about the dangers of second hand drinking? 

Alcohol doesn’t just affect those drinking it. The harm caused by someone else’s drinking is one of the biggest issues we face. It is continuing to have a detrimental effect on family and friends, children and young people, frontline staff, businesses and communities across the North East.

Family and friends
If you are drinking too much alcohol, the likelihood is that it is having an effect on your loved ones, be it a parent, child or partner. Have you ever spent less time with family and friends after waking up with a hangover? Or has it affected the quality of the time spent with them? This is just a small example of how alcohol can impact on family life. It can also be a lot worse. Ill health, erratic behaviour, accidents, hospital visits, trips to the police station can all be the result of alcohol – and it’s usually other people picking up the pieces.

Did you know?

• More than seven in ten North Easterners associate alcohol consumption with family breakdown.

• Relationships between family members, employment and health issues can also be adversely affected by alcohol misuse.

• More than 100 children, including children as young as five, contact ChildLine every week with worries about their parent's drinking or drug use.

Children and young people
Children and alcohol do not mix. Research shows that parents are a major influence when it comes to the drinking habits of children and young people.

Did you know?

• Home is largely where young people learn to drink and there has been a worrying increase in drinking in the home, with 40% of North East adults doing most of their drinking at home.

• More than a quarter of parents in the North East have been drunk in front of their children.

• A Life Education survey found that almost a third of children think that for adults who drink wine, five or more glasses a night is normal drinking behavior.

For young people who do drink alcohol, the implications could be life changing. It can impair brain development and affect their education. They become more vulnerable and are more likely to make poor decisions and take risks. Research shows that a third of drinkers in the region have experienced a risky situation as a result of drinking too much. 

Frontline services
Stretched resources, verbal and physical abuse, increased crime rates, long hours, reduced budgets – these are just some of the potential after-effects of alcohol misuse.

Did you know?

• The North East has the highest rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England with 2,406 per 100,000 population.

• In 2009/10 the North East Ambulance Service recorded 10,063 ambulance journeys where alcohol was a factor, almost twice as many cases as all other drug overdoses combined.

• More than a third of offenders being supervised by the National Offender Management Service in the North East are believed to be alcohol dependent.

Visit our section on frontline services for more information on the issues they face.

Communities
Our communities are affected by alcohol – and not just financially. Alcohol is linked with increased violence, rowdy behaviour, noise...and that’s just the start.

Did you know?

• 50% of all violent crime is alcohol-related.

• More than nine in ten North Easterners associate alcohol consumption with anti-social behaviour, crime and violence and domestic abuse.

• Around half of all violent incidents take place at the weekend (when binge drinking is most prevalent), with 66% of stranger violence and wounding offences taking place between midnight and 6am.

You can read more facts and figures about alcohol and its impact on second hand harm here.