Alcohol - advice and support
Summary
Blaby District Council’s Community Safety Partnership has put together a 3 year community safety plan that outlines
the partnerships priorities. One of the main priorities is around drugs and alcohol and reducing the harm they cause in our
community.
To reduce the harm that drugs and alcohol cause in our community
Objectives:
- Reduce alcohol related violent crime by 15% by 2011
- Contribute to countywide increase in drug users in effective treatment (NI40)
- Reduce the % of people who perceive people being drunk in their local area to be a problem by 5% by 2011 (APACS)
- Reduce the % of people who perceive drug dealing and the use to drugs to be a problem in their local area by 5% by 2011 (APACS)
How we will do this:
- Ongoing identification of priority locations, offenders and vulnerable victims
- Deliver education and awareness programme to young people and adults regarding drugs & alcohol
- Undertake intelligence led enforcement activities regarding drugs and alcohol
- Increase the number of young people and adults accessing drug & alcohol treatment services
- Work to prevent underage sales of alcohol/tackle issue of alcohol and ASB among young people.(Links with ASB priority)
- To produce a local Alcohol Harm Reduction Plan that supports the Leicestershire Alcohol Strategy and the National Strategy Safe. Sensible. Social.
Further information
Effects and Risks
There are serious risks associated with drinking alcohol, particularly for young people. Misusing alcohol can be dangerous and some of the risks are detailed below:
- Women can become more drunk than men on the same amount of alcohol, and can develop alcohol-related health problems earlier.
- Always be careful when accepting drinks from other people, as it is possible to “spike” drinks with other substances. This can include being given drinks containing a larger quantity of alcohol than you were expecting.
- Alcohol is a depressant. It seriously impairs your ability to drive safely, and dramatically increases the risk of collisions. In practice there is no ‘safe’ limit: Don’t ever drink and drive!
- Long term over-use can lead to addiction (alcoholism) and serious liver, heart and stomach problems.
- More than 25,000 deaths a year in the UK are alcohol-related.
- Mixing alcohol with other drugs can be extremely dangerous.
The Law
The law around alcohol is very detailed, the list below is a brief summary of the law:
- It is illegal to sell alcohol to under-18s, unless they are 16 or 17 and having a meal in a restaurant.
- Police have the legal power to confiscate alcohol from anyone they know or reasonably believe to be under 18 who is drinking in a public place
- Byelaws sometimes prohibit the consumption of alcohol in designated places
- The following can all be offences under the law:
- Driving or riding vehicles and animals, including motor vehicles, horses and bicycles, whilst under the influence of alcohol
- Anti-social and irresponsible behaviour, including being drunk and disorderly, and placing the health and safety of others at risk whilst under the influence of alcohol.
- It’s illegal to buy alcohol on behalf of a child/young person who is under the age of 18. (Proxy Purchasing).
Related pages on this website
External websites
- NHS Direct (external link)
- Down your Drink (external link)
- The Tackling Alcohol Proxy Purchasing Project (external link)
Contact us
| Officer / Team | Community Safety Team |
|---|---|
| Postal address | Blaby District Council Council Offices Desford Road Narborough Leicester LE19 2EP |
| E-mail address | community.safety@blaby.gov.uk |
| Telephone | 0116 272 7785 |
| Fax | 0116 272 7602 |
If you need this information in other languages or formats (large print, Braille or audio), please let us know when you contact us.
This page was last updated on 11th September 2009
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