widely by region, with the highest rates being in the north central states. binge drinking is more common in men than it is in women. the annual "monitoring the future" survey found that, in 2007, 10% of 8th graders, 22% of 10th graders, and 26% of 12th graders report having had five or more drinks at least once in the past two weeks. the same survey also found that alcohol was considered somewhat easier to obtain than cigarettes for 8th and 10th graders, even though the minimum age to purchase alcohol is 21 in all 50 states, while for cigarettes it is 18. the following table represents the percentage of those age 12–20 who illegally binge drink in the united states. asian black hispanic american indian white 7.9% 10.4% 17.2% 20.3% 21.4% american indians and first nations further information: american indian alcoholism binge drinking is a common pattern among native americans in both canada and the united states. anastasia m. shkilnyk, who conducted an observational study of the asubpeeschoseewagong first nation of northwestern ontario in the late 1970s when they were demoralized by ontario minamata disease, has observed that heavy native american drinkers may not be physiologically dependent on alcohol, but abuse it by engaging in binge drinking, a practice associated with child neglect, violence, and impoverishment. after binges during which entire families and their friends drink until they are unconscious and their funds are exhausted, they go about their business without drinking. oceania australia in 2004–2005, statistics from the national health survey show that among the general population over 18, 88% of males and 60% of females engaged in binge drinking at least once in the past year, with 12% and 4%, respectively, doing so at least once a week. among 18 to 24-year-olds, 49% of males and 21% of females did so at least once a week. at the time, the definition for "binge drinking" corresponded to 7 or more standard australian drinks per occasion for males and 5 or more for females, roughly equivalent to (but slightly less than) the 5/4 (standard american) drinks definition. in march 2008, the australian government earmarked a$53 million towards a campaign against binge drinking, citing two studies done in the past eight years which showed that binge drinking in australia was at what prime minister kevin rudd called "epidemic levels". on june 15, the australian medical association released new guidelines defining binge drinking as four standard australian drinks a night. the last survey of drinking habits by the australian bureau of statistics found there was an increase in drinking outside the home. in 1999, 34 percent of spending on alcoholic drinks took place on licensed premises. by 2004 this figure had risen to 38 percent. this figure is expected to fall in 2008 in australia because of stricter licensing laws, smoking bans in pubs and the extra premium people have to pay for buying alcohol in a bar. new zealand concerns over binge drinking by teenagers has led to a review of liquor advertising being announced by the new zealand government in january 2006. the review considered regulation of sport sponsorship by liquor companies, which at present is commonplace. previously the drinking age in new zealand was 20, then dropped to 18 in 1999. in direct conjunction with the age-lowering, the police were found to strictly enforce the on-license (bar, restaurant) code for underage-drinking, less so for the off-license (liquor stores, supermarkets). as a result, young people ages 15–17 found it significantly harder to get into (or be served at) bars and restaurants than it was before with a poorly enforced (though higher) drinking age of 20. this asymmetric enforcement led to a period of many of new zealand's youth getting strangers to purchase high alcohol content beverages for them (e.g. cheap vodka or rum) at liquor stores. a propensity to consume an entire bottle of spirits developed and led to an instant increase in the number of youths under 18 being admitted to a&e hospitals. the price of alcohol at supermarkets and liquor stores had also gone down, and the number of outlets had mushroomed as well. alcohol remains cheap, and sweet, spirit-based ready to drink beverages (similar to alcopops) remain popular among young people. drinking game "edward fortyhands", where bottles of beer are taped to participants' hands an example of this binge drinking mentality, often seen amongst university students, is the popularity of drinking games such as edward wineyhands and scrumpy hands, similar to the american drinking game edward fortyhands. a recent study showed that 37% of undergraduates binged at least once in the past week. the new zealand health service classifies binge drinking as anytime a person consumes five or more standard drinks in a sitting.