Study shows extent of homeless grog culture

Updated April 16, 2012 16:48:36

There is a renewed call for a minimum price for alcohol in the Northern Territory after a new report revealed some of Darwin's homeless are consuming about 90 standard drinks a week.

The research by the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation has found 50 per cent of the so-called long grassers drink almost every day.

And for men, the median amount consumed each week is nearly 91 standard drinks, with the most popular being cheap port.

Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation's chief executive Ilana Eldridge says the long grassers are almost all Aboriginal people.

"They live wherever they can," she said.

"There are large numbers, we estimate around 2,000 people on any given night sleeping rough in Darwin."

Long grassers are widely perceived as having chronic alcohol abuse problems, but the corporation says their drinking habits have never been documented thoroughly until now.

Its survey of 103 long grassers found that while one in five drink once a week or less, nearly half drink almost every day and in dangerous quantities.

The median consumption for men is nearly 91 drinks a week and 35 for women.

Ms Eldridge says the research found many will drink as much as they can lay their hands on.

"People are drinking to get terribly drunk, they become unconscious, they'll sleep it off and then they'll start looking for alcohol again," she said.

Floor price

Audio: Research finds alcohol policy an 'abject failure' (The World Today)

Respected alcohol reform advocate Dr John Boffa says the staggering figures are more evidence there needs to be a floor price on alcohol.

"This report highlights the complete abject failure in public policy on alcohol in the Darwin region," he said.

Dr Boffa, who is based in Alice Springs, has spent many years campaigning for alcohol reform in the Northern Territory.

He says the Government has removed four-litre and five-litre casks of wine from the market but has left two-litre casks of port available.

"This research has shown that 70 per cent of the long grassers are now drinking cheap, two-litre port," he said.

"It also clearly shows in the quotes from one of those drinkers that when advised by a doctor to shift to beer because that was less harmful, the person said, 'I can't afford to buy beer, so I'm going to keep buying the port'.

"The heaviest drinkers continually find and drink the cheapest product on the market."



Dr John Boffa

Ms Eldridge says previous work by the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation found four in every five Aboriginal people living on the streets in Darwin showed symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

But she says there are not any services to help them deal with traumatic events and she believes people are drinking to self-medicate.

"This Government sees this drinking and this homelessness through the prism of antisocial behaviour rather than seeing if for what it is, which is a deep trauma," she said.

"Given that there are large numbers of people who can't or won't return to their remote communities of origin - for all kinds of fairly compelling reasons - it is beholden on the authorities to genuinely respond to the underlying causes here."

Dr Boffa says the reasons why people abuse alcohol are complex but no matter why they drink, people will cut back if it becomes too expensive.

"Implementing a policy such as a floor price, getting rid of the cheap grog, will mean people get less drunk less often irrespective of why they're drinking," he said.

But Dr Boffa's long-standing call for a floor price on alcohol was ruled out last year by the Territory's Minister for Alcohol Policy, Delia Lawrie.

She says such a policy would penalise the majority and would have no real benefits but to boost alcohol retailers' profits.

Ms Lawrie says new alcohol laws have improved the situation.

"Very visibly, there are fewer people drinking in our streets and parks."

Topics: health, drug-use, alcohol, darwin-0800, nt, australia

First posted April 16, 2012 15:53:30