Smoking tobacco has long been seen as the greatest addiction, seducing generations of users around the world. Over centuries, cannabis, opium, heroin and crack cocaine also been inhaled to allow the drugs to quickly absorb into the human body for the desired effect. However, detrimental consequences of smoking have been well documented over the past 50 years. The World Health Organization provides information on Health Topics, including smoking:

• 100 million deaths were caused by tobacco in the 20th century. If current trends continue, there will be up to one billion deaths in the 21st century.

• Unchecked, tobacco-related deaths will increase to more than eight million a year by 2030, and 80% of those deaths will occur in the developing world.

  
  

  

  
  

The worldwide documentation of smoking related deaths is overwhelming and has forced governments to confront the problem with aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Successive campaigns are now responsible for turning an accepted recreation into a social stigma designed to shame and scare smokers from lighting up. The tactics employed are confrontational, exploring and dramatising every negative effect of smoking to frighten both current and potential users.

Yet in the battle to frighten, many campaigns have received criticism over the graphic depiction of smoking addiction. Sky News reported on “Too Scary Anti-smoking Poster Banned” because the image frightened children. After receiving over 700 complains the UK based Advertising Standards Authority deemed the images caused “fear and distress” in children:

The image ran in unison with the television advertisement:

Despite the enforced ban and being named as the UK’s most controversial advert in 2007, the Get Unhooked Campaign was deemed highly effective. Medical News reported in 2008:

“Our results show that the Unhooked ad is more effective for smokers who are prepared to give up smoking in the very near future and need that final push. They identified with the message about being constrained by their addiction and wanting to be set free.” -Dr Veer, a lecturer in the School of Management

Closer to home, Australia has been executing controversial anti-smoking campaigns for over two decades. Most recently an ad filmed in Sydney caught world-wide attention for using a crying 3 year old boy to evoke feelings of responsibility in parents that smoke:

The NY Daily News reported on the critics that claimed the ad was using children inappropriately, yet Jenna Mandel-Ricci, director of special projects for the city Department of Health insists: “In order to motivate someone to quit, you have to provoke a strong emotional response… If we run ads that people don’t remember or that don’t affect people, then people won’t call for help.”

While it can be said that any publicity an advertising campaign receives is positive publicity, writer Maria Andreu disagrees in her Parental Guidance column: “The question is this: why do we have compassion for people afflicted with all kinds of addictions, but have no problem with mercilessly guilting smokers with increasingly disgusting and cruel ads?”

My answer to Andreu would be not because ‘guilting smokers’ works, but because it is one of many tactics employed to inform people on the consequences of their behaviour. I do not believe that any one method will rid the world, or individuals of the addictions that they face, however, education always increases options. Be it that one chooses the lesser of two evils, or that one chooses to walk away from temptation before the temptation overwhelms, advertisements, campaigns, controversy and reports are a vital part of society. For, through knowledge there is awareness, and through understanding comes the power to take control of behaviours that once seemed instinctual.

Wash away the lipstick, take off the designer clothes, move the setting from overhanging chandeliers to the suburban backyard, and it’s all the same- drug users go up, drug users go down. Except without the glamour to disguise the action, the reality of drug use and abuse is grim.

Methamphetamine, also called meth, crystal, crystal meth or ice is a potent synthetic stimulant with catastrophic personal and social consequences. What makes Ice particularly concerning is the rate at which users become addicted to the substance, and the ease in which ice can be produced. Most of the necessary chemicals are available to purchase over the counter at pharmacies, with production occurring on a both a large scale and much smaller domestic operations.

As ice is stronger than most amphetamines, the physical dependency develops faster. The body adapts to the regular presence of the drug, so as with all addictions, more is required to get the same effect. Last year 60 Minutes reported on the rising problem:

The program calls Ice “The most destructive drug yet… with more Australians hooked on ice than heroin… known as the party drug… but also as the devils drug as it can tern seemingly normal people into psychopaths.” Hospital facilities are now being forced to accommodate to the increase of patients on ice, and police drug squads are continuing their battle against drug producers, from “back years chemists to large scale organised crime.” And as Melissa, an Ice Addict in recovery, states: “It leads only to three places, which is death, institutions and jails.”

Melissa’s warning captures the stark reality of one of the most extreme addictions, that which alters the physical biology of the human body- drugs. While behavioural addictions, such as gambling or shopping, can result in equal loss of power and control, the chemical nature of drugs such as ice have lasting effects. Even if and when an individual recognises they have a problem, the body is less capable of healing physical damage than repairing and refining behavioural compulsions.

While the above diagram neatly and nicely demonstrates the Adverse Negative Effects of Methamphetamine, the Multnomah Country Sheriff’s Office in America are responsible for releasing the dramatic images of chronic Ice users:

“The “Faces of Meth” project began in the Corrections Division Classification Unit, Deputy Bret King, put together mug shots of persons booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. Deputy King worked with his co-workers in the Classification Unit to identify people who had been in custody more than once. He then worked to verify criminal records and files to determine and assure a history of methamphetamine related use.”

The pictures available are dramatic and clearly illustrate the devastating physical effects of the drug, let alone the psychological and behavioural ramifications. The image “One Women- 120 months of Methamphetamine Use” exemplifies the horrific consequences of Ice addiction:

Yet the plethora of problems associated with Ice usage do not only affect the individual, but create a social burden that is felt most significantly by hospital and law enforcement services. The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported in 2005 of the ‘New Wave of Addiction’: “An estimated 12,000 young Sydneysiders are believed to be dependent on the latest wave of amphetamines, known to users as “crystal” or “ice”, making these the second-most-used illicit drugs after cannabis.”

Four years later the problem has continued to rise, the SMH On Sunday reporting on the ‘Radical plan for ice war’: “NSW Police will host a three-day international conference in Sydney from Wednesday to address the growing problem of illegal drug manufacturing... It is estimated that a third of the pseudoephedrine used to make ice is bought or stolen from pharmacies.”

While law enforcement continues to battle the production of the drug, The Australian Government this year released an ad warning of the dangers of ice, appealing to educate potential users of the dangers of Ice addiction:

Clearly the intention is to highlight the impact of the addiction: “Ice destroys lives, it tears families apart… It’s frightening that addiction can happen in such a short time… don’t let ice destroy you.” Such campaigns may not address the fundamental personal issues for people that seek relief in drugs. However, the increasing prevalence of such an addictive substance is information worth sharing, if not only to dissuade potential experimenters. For as long as individuals feel the need to fill themselves up with exterior worth and satisfaction, the answer in addiction prevention may not be removing the cause, merely educating on the effects, in the hope that individuals choose the least harmful means of entertaining some escapism.

 

The Australian Drug Aware Program defines drugs as “any substance (with the exception of food and water) which, when taken into the body, alters the body’s function either physically and/or psychologically”. When we think of drugs, images of both illegal substances and prescription medication are likely to arise. Users are categorised as either bad or good, consuming substances through indulgence or necessity. However, neither illegal or legal drug use is immune to addiction. We are taught to avoid ‘bad [illegal] drugs’ and accept ‘good [legal] drugs’, yet no motive or legal position can prevent the tragedy of excess consumption.

I am interested in how the media portrays drug use and the contradictions that exist in reporting drug addiction. It appears the media are less concerned with if a drug is legal or illegal, but merely the fame-factor of the user. Attractive celebrities are cast as beautiful, smiling, fun-loving, unaffected risk-takers. Average civilians are depicted as desperate, poor, lonely, powerless burdens on society.

Three attractive young women/celebrities are pictured on US Weekly, immaculately groomed and juxtaposed with the heading “DRUG PROBLEM”. Where is the problem one may ask, when the images are aspirational? Similarly Supermodel Kate Moss couldn’t be any happier, reclined and smiling on the cover of The Sun. It appears the criteria for casting judgement is not on the drug use itself, but on the appearance of the drug users.

Who could think that there was any problem taking drugs when the media puts famous faces and drug use under the same sexy banner, as show in Top 20 Celebrity Drug Confessions. Beautiful people are pictured next to quotes about drug use, Bill Hicks offering his insights:

“See I think drugs have done some good things for us, I really do, and if you don’t believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favour: go home tonight and take all your albums, all your tapes, and all your cds and burn ‘em. ’cause you know the musicians who made all that great music that’s enhanced your lives throughout the years…. rrrrrrrrreal f**kin high on drugs.” 

Drug use is not only associated with escapism, but heightened creativity. Many musicians who have since been through rehab offer reflections on the extent of their previous addictions and the affect it had on their lives:

“I was doing about 10 grams of cocaine a day, maybe taking six or eight ecstasy [pills] and drinking three bottles of vodka – all in a day, every day… I would get up and chop a line, about half a gram of coke, and snort it before I got out of bed… I really don’t know how I lived through it.” -Jimmy Barnes

“I mean, I thought that you had to get loaded to make songs. I just thought drugs and alcohol are probably the major inspiration of making music, which I truly believed that because I’d never made a record without using it. And I thought it was that was making me creative.” -Ozzy Osbourne

Both notable performers, Jimmy and Ozzy, claim to have changed for the good. Yet for every celebrity that uses, abuses and lives to tell the tale, there are countless cases that abuse and embarrass, or abuse and die. 11 Celebrity Drug Related Deaths That Shocked The World show a small section of notable celebrities that have died because of their drug additions:

“Celebrities are usually placed on a pedestal by their fans. They believe they have the perfect lives and don’t face the same hardships as everyone else. Unfortunately this is not true; they have self image problems like everyone else, they struggle with depression like everyone else, and they are even bigger target for drug abuse. Their money and fame makes it easier for them to obtain legal and illegal drugs.” 

This statement really addresses the issue at the core of drug use, the feeling of emptiness inside that drives individuals to seek comfort externally. The greater a celebrities profile becomes, the more they feel the distance between their public persona and their individual vulnerabilities. Or, in some cases, they are just having too much fun to feel anything other than the abandon of the moment.

Among the noted are the recent deaths of Michael Jackson, Health Ledger and Anna Nicole Smith, River Pheonix and Kurt Cobain. As with many that die young, their legacy continues regardless of the circumstances surrounding their death. As Jan Peterson says in When Celebrities Die Too Young:

“Because these beautiful celebrities died young, their fans will never see them age or gain weight. They become frozen in time, with their image and persona forever fixed. The vanished sex kitten remains sensuous and alluring, just as the handsome, leading man becomes an eternal heart-throb. Immortality!”

Yet for the most part, immorality through an early death is not aspirational goal. While many [younger] people may feel invincible, their actions hold significant consequences when drugs are involved. The Defamer last year wrote that “The United Nations Turns Its Attention From Silly Issues Like War And Famine To Focus On ‘Glamorized’ Celebrity Drug Use.” While the article is somewhat cynical of how ‘something as vile as drug use could be remotely attractive and tempting to the youth of today’, the media floods with contradictions. Here are some such images of actress Linsey Lohan:

The media creates narratives for celebrities and the paparazzi provide the illustrations. The rise, fall, rehab and remission of addiction is documented and published to a salivating audience that hungers for more. However, little attention is given to understanding why these celebrities are acting out, as the preoccupation continues to centre around what they were wearing at the time and how much they consumed. Sites such as Wasted Celebrity feed this fascination with a wealth of voyeuristic opportunities. While the viewing may be entertaining, the result is the same- humans that escape into a drug-induced fantasy loose the ability to control their reality, and in the end, their mortality.

The Telegraph last month reported on Barak Obama’s adress to school students. Amid the call to work hard Obama cautioned users of new media, “be careful what you post on Facebook. Whatever you do, it will be pulled up later in your life.”

Obama’s warning was explored further by The Australian in ‘Inferiority of any life lived online.’ The article outlined how the addictive dopamine response to online content is luring people, increasingly young people, to the online world and away from ‘learning how the real world works’. One of the ‘unanticipated side effects of the internet revolution’ is the rise of internet pornography addiction.

Net Nanny is a program that enables users to set up a protective filter ‘wall’ around their computer. On the site, Mark Kastleman reports about ‘The Brain Science Behind Internet Porn Addiction’, describing his journey from being addicted to internet porn at 13 years of age. Kastleman explains:

“Pornography is powerful because it takes advantage of and taps into intense emotional, biological and chemical connections throughout the brain and the entire body. We are born with many of these connections “pre-wired” or “pre-set” to switch on at certain times in our development. Pornography seeks to twist the truth and “mimic” or “counterfeit” this built-in attraction. Its goal is to ignite, excite and exploit these natural built-in urges and desires. During sexual process, the brain begins narrowing its focus as it releases a tidal wave of endorphins and other neurochemicals like dopamine, norepinephrine, oxytocin and serotonin. These “natural drugs” produce a tremendous rush or high.”

And hence, users go back for more. Dr. Phil calls it “not OK behavior. It is a perverse and ridiculous intrusion into your relationship. It is an insult, it is disloyal and it is cheating.” Yet Oliver James from the Guardian reports that three quarters of men have intentionally viewed internet pornography, and just under half of women. “Among the young, by age 18 (on average first doing so between 14 and 17), 93% of boys had done so and 62% of girls.” Clearly the prevalence of porn on the internet is undeniable. However, what constitutes an addict and not just a casual consumer? 

Drug rehabilitation programs claim “there is no such thing as recreational drug taking, you are a drug taker or you are not.” But can the same be said for the consumption of pornographic material? When does some consumption become too much and how is this measured? James claims that 3-7% of internet pornography users are estimated to have ‘full-blown’ addiction. More statistics are creatively illustrated on this YouTuve video:

Or, for those who prefer the text version:

• 12% of all websites are pornographic

• 25% of all search engine requests are pornographic

• 35% of all internet downloads are pornographic in nature

• Every second 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography

• Every second $89.00 is spend on internet porn

• Every day 266 new pornsites appear on the internet

• SEX is the most searched word on the internet

• US revenue from Internet Porn in 2006 was $2.84 Billion

• 72% of internet porn users are men… 28% are women

• 70% of Internet porn traffic occurs during the 9-5 work day

• There are an estimated 372 Million porn web pages…

• 3% produced by the UK, 4% produced by Germany, 89% produced by the US

• Most Trafficked Adult Website: www.AdultFriendFinder.com

• Countries thst have ban pornography: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Kenya, India, Cuba, China

• Most visited Websites (daily) #1 MSN.com: 220 million visits, #4 YouTube.com: 196 million visits, #49 AdultFriendFinder.com: 7.2million visits, #145 NY Times.com: 4.1 million visits

www.goodmagazine.com

www.kellemarie.com

Foot-Notes:

MSNBC.com, TopTenReviews.com, Alexa.com

Hooked on Porn website substantiates many of these figures as well as offering an insight of the human traits of pornography addicts through case studies:

“Millions of American men get their kicks from occasional visits to Internet porn sites. At least 2 million of them can’t stop. For those men, going to Internet porn sites is an obsession, jeopardizing jobs, families and relationships. Over several months, Patriot Ledger reports interviewed sex therapists and psychiatrists. They listened to sex addicts, reviewed academic research, statistical Internet data and message boards dedicated to pornography addiction. What they found was a world of secrets and shame.”

The profiles of addicts document the destruction internet pornography can have on individuals and their families. The quiz enables readers to access if they have a problem. But if 14 questions aren’t enough to give you an answer, the internet is alive with analysis, questioning why and how pornography is so addictive.

Inevitably, it comes down to the core issues of seeking an escape from reality. One click away is a world in which fantasies can be explored and physical release can be experienced. Yet life away from the computer screen remains the same, as do real issues and problems if not addressed. Overall, it is awareness that casts light over the shadow of internet pornography. Awareness of feelings and actions and there repetitiveness bring insight. Where there are patterns there are lessons to be learnt and admissions to be made in order to gain control over a habit that, left to its own devices, is certain to grow.

Wayne’s vice is World Of Warcraft, an interactive online game boasting over 16 million users world wide and described as “the crack cocaine of the gaming world”. He shares the feelings of escape that he felt when playing, and the addictive ‘rewards’ that delivered him instant joy and hunger for more game time. Yet Wayne maintained he was “not addicted, perhaps obsessed”. Despite the ensuing discussion from the guests and experts, further investigation reveals that Internet addiction is one of the newest and fastest growing addictions in our modern world. Due to the steep increase of addicts, past treatment programs are struggling to adopt traditional abstinence virtues in a society in which technology is vital.

A Current Affair reports on “World Of Warcraft Addict,” young Cameron who spends up to 16 hours playing the game that his mother claims is “tearing the family apart”. The impact of the game on Cameron is evident, who is shown utterly absorbed in the computer screen in a dark corner of his room. Having quit school he admits the game has taken him away from his life. ACA Camera’s capture the mother and son at the early stages of recognising the extent of addiction. It doesn’t take much online research to realise that Cameron nor Wayne are alone in their predicaments.

Wikihow hosts a page with steps instructing how to break the addiction to World of Warcraft (WoW). For those doubting the impact of the game, wowdetox displays over 2000 user comments detailing the impact of the game on individuals. User #44046 comments:

“Wow is a vicious cycle of joy and anguish, love and hate. I loved WoW when I started it and was easily entranced by the sheer vastness of the world. I felt as if there was so much to do in so litte time. The first day I spent 7 hours just roaming the landscape and another 3 hours reading about the game. After 3 years WoW became more than a hobby. Your sense of satisfaction in the real world was based of how well you did. The people that you played with were like your own little group of friends in high school. WoW began to replace everything in my life. I quit once and then came back a year later where I was so enticed in catching back into the swing of things that it even replaced my meals. I felt no hunger, felt no pain, and did not care about family. I had to be reminded to eat at times and if I had’nt I probably would have spent the day without noticing that I was hungry. I would play WoW then right as I went to sleep I felt horrible about myself. It’s true I was pathetic. I quit by myself though. Just talked to my guildm gave my account up, and left. End the cycle and stop. The time you have already spent in your character is wasted. Think about the future and move on. That’s all I can really say.”  

But for those who cannot walk away by themselves, what other options are there? In 2007 the Belgium government subsidised The European Institute for World of Warcraft Addiction Treatment, with treatment including counselling, psychotherapy, cognitive and behavioural therapy. The Sydney Morning Herald reported only a few weeks ago that “World of Warcraft is so addictive that a psychiatrist is planning to send a team of counsellors into the game to treat players before they lose touch with the real world.” The article also reports that, similar to the Belgium treatment program, the US has opened a retreat in Washington costing $US14,500 for a 45-day stay.

There is no doubt that the increase in internet traffic has inevitably raised increased problems. While the experts interviewed on Insight agree that not every online gaming player is at risk of developing an addiction to it, those susceptible are at greater risk when seduced by games such as World of Warcraft. Dr Andrew Campbell of the University of Sydney, an Insight Contributor, said of the game:

“It’s one of those games that has all of the reward conditions in place. It’s got compelling graphics, great music. A rewards system of getting items, gold, prestige. You’re interacting with other people all the time. It’s socially reinforcing and it’s compelling and it’s usually something that you could say chews up your time when you least expect it.”

The attributes he lists are not strange things to aspire to, what makes them problematic is that they exist in a fantasy format. While it is natural to seek human interaction and intimacy, when one feels void of such fulfilment, the lure of technological based bonds can appeal as a substitute to ‘fill the hole within’. Ironically the more gamers search online for satisfaction, the further they are separated from their own realities and as such, substitute ‘real’ opportunities (in relationships, career and life) for the rewards of a game that does not exist beyond the reality of a screen.   

“Somewhere between a third and more than a half of all the profits (of pokie machines) come from problem gamblers,” Anti-poker machine campaigner, and CEO of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello told The Australian last year. “That is literally morally obscene. If the alcohol industry lived off alcoholics from a third to 50 per cent of its profits, we’d say this was a major predatory behaviour.” Costello accused the industry of “preying on the weak and mentally ill and of buying off society’s concern about the negative effects of gambling with grants to community groups”. Indeed the taboo surrounding the ‘big players’ of the gambling industry is immense and was catapulted back into the spotlight earlier this year.

In April the emergence of Woolworths as a major pokie machine owner outraged Australia. The ABC reported Independent Senator Nick Xenophon claiming Woolworths owns about 11,000 poker machines and hundreds of gambling venues across Australia. Xenophon’s website highlights the disparity between the brands family image and gambling ownership. He calls on customers and shareholders to download a petition to make Woolworth’s “pokie-free.”

Yet for all the criticism and public debate, gamblers still exist, addicts still mount, and casino’s still make money and put money into making more. At the beginning of August gambling giant Tabcorp announced plans to spend an additional $100 million redeveloping Star City casino, bringing the total estimated cost to $575 million.

But what measures are put in place to ensure ethical trading? The Australian reported last month that the NSW government will send out ‘spies’ to casinos to ensure that ID checks are being enforced. Yet Charles Livingstone wrote in Crikey last week, why “We need to wind back the pub’s pokie addiction, too”. He sites “gambling revenue” as an addiction in itself, one that governments and pubs don’t want to let go of, despite the social ramifications. Instead Livingstone suggests harm minimisation, one suggestion is where players will be required to use a smart card to track their expenditure, and to set limits of time and money to be spent.

This emphasis on the individuals power, even when dis-empowered through addiction, even finds itself on the Star City webpage under the “Responsible Gambling” link. The community service announcement provides information for ‘healthy and enjoyable gambling’, and provides links to the Star City Responsible Gambling Code and Self Exclusion Program where problem gamblers are encouraged to ask the Casino Operator or Casino Control Authority to exclude them from the casino.

Jack Fuller asks in “How science of irrationality can reshape the world” how much are we normally in control of our choices? And how much should we be? His article supports problem gamblers in Australia who can choose to blacklist themselves from casinos. Claiming that self control isn’t always a rational thing, it is clear how cleverly devised and run systems can indeed help gamblers to help themselves.

Gambling in essence is playing a game with a risk of financial loss or chance of success. In theory the more fun and engaging the game, the more money is spent, collected, and lost. Consequently one can understand the commercial value attached to such enterprise, and the potentially devastating effect on individuals who struggle with self-control. Yet the politics of legislating gambling continues to be fraught with conflict between opposing sides; civil libertarians, politicians, stakeholders and activists.

On one side Catherine Deveney writes in “Gambling Revenue is a tax society can do without” that, “Gambling is theft and deception. It’s manipulative, corrosive and it diminishes us all.” She argues that humans are weak and need to be protected from themselves: “poker machines should be piled up and detonated.” Her passion is demonstrative of the public concern that arises when gambling facilities are considered or approved within the community.

Only last month reports published in The Herald showed how poker machine numbers in Newcastle have risen to a total of 3650 machines. This increase comes despite the State Government promise to restrain licensing in “high risk areas” and rank local areas according to poker machine numbers, gambling expenditure and socio-economic data. While Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon commented that a challenging economic climate poses no barrier to problem gamblers, Australian Hotels Association Hunter spokesman Bruce Woods merely suggested it was supply and demand. Personally I can’t help but feel the simplicity overlooks the complexity of human nature, and ever-present corporate greed.

A pokies consultant writing for Crikey claims that venues and pokie machines themselves are “inherently manipulative: they seek to undermine a player’s ability to make rational choice about playing or stopping.” While I struggled to find any conclusive studies published, I remember hearing that the melodies pokie machines play are based on nursery rhyme tunes, designed to lull users into a safe place. Indeed, they are a sensory experience. From the flashing lights, to the excited rhythmic beeps of ‘music’ and clang of coins as they fall loudly into the metal catchment to herald “another winner”.

It is not difficult to understand how these machines present an alternate reality, as this 24 second snippet shows the potentially hypnotising sound and visual effects. The result is reminiscent of a circus or carnival atmosphere, with the added novelty of gold coin spurting towards the viewer like a fountain of wealth.

Wandering into the Star City Casino on a rainy Monday afternoon you don’t imagine too may people will be there to greet you, but they are. Perhaps seeking shelter from the storms, or more likely to escape the beginning of the week, the vast central space is filled with people. Like magnets they crowd around tables, intently playing and watching or nervously clutching and counting their coins.

“Cash Grab” and “Search for a Gold Sovereign” promotions flash with bright lights to lure spectators into temptation. The décor is soaked with colour and the spectacle promises that excitement awaits in the magical always-open casino bubble. For anyone fuelled with hope, dreams and promise of investing a little for a lot of return, Star City provides a comfortable, insulated environment designed to help you spend away from reality. With no reminders of the outside world in this artificial environment, or even windows to suggest the time of day, it is easy to move away from the responsibilities of life into this adults playground.

Yet at closer inspection the faces of the punters aren’t filled with glee. Moreover anxiety seems all around- waiting impatiently in cues, staring into pokie machines, contemplating where to unleash their funds next. A web of camera’s is visible above, as suspicious-faced security move below. Avoiding their glare, as my own eyes scan the room for observations, I move to the bathroom to take a picture, aware of the ‘no camera’ policy.

“So any suggestions of what to do?” I ask a security guard. “Well ya just missed the Pink Poker Tournament yesterday (Poker for Ladies), but usually people just have a spin on the (pokie) machines… the return’s alright, if you stay on for long enough…” Unfortunately for today I think my attention may have already lapsed.

I wonder how effective these measures are, for the invitation to drink is as constant as ever with advertisers competing for the crowds. Recently published research in Medical News Today suggests the average American adolescent is exposed to well over 200 alcohol advertisements on television each year. A quick scout around the current Australian media climate would suggest a similar trend. Add a dash of peer pressure, a sprinkle of accessibility, an old fashioned thirst for a tasty liquid and it’s clear why we drink. Temptation is all around.

However, so too are lobby groups and organisations determined to raise public awareness. It seems the anti-alcohol groups are just as committed to providing enough reasons, if not more, for you not to drink. Education on the effects of liquor is being mounted from all directions.

Television presenter Andi Lew’s pregnancy announcement on the weekend coincided with news that she is to be an ambassador for Drink Wise, an education body funded by the federal Government and the liquor industry. No doubt Lew’s profile will enable her message to be heard by more, “We are pushing the message that women should not be drinking at all while they are pregnant.” The angle is only one promoted by Drink Wise, and indeed lobby groups around the world. Appealing to a woman’s vanity, the highly successful “If you drink like a man you might end up looking like one” campaign was launched in England last year.

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But does it work? To what extent do we remember the ads, education, advice that we see and hear when reaching for a glass, and the bottle? The best advertisers can hope for is that it ‘plants a seed of familiarity’ in your mind. If you are exposed to a message enough you may not deliberately register it, yet faced with a decision (even such as picking between brands in a supermarket) your mind will recall information that enables a decision making process to occur.

Former political press secretary and Public Relations expert Noel Turnbull comments in ‘Alcohol shock-ads missing the mark’, “We’re not going to solve social problems purely and simply by regulating them out of existence… We have to actually build social capital”. By this Turnbull means social change, which is of course a long and committed process of promoting awareness. When the scales of decision making are being weighed up, it will be advertising agencies on either side.

When did you first try alcohol?

Probably I had little sips with my parents as a child, but the first time I got drunk would have been when I was 12 and at my cousins house for a party. The kids were all hidden and then got found out.

How do you recall your first experience with alcohol?

With mixed emotions, happy while I was drinking until my parents found out that is.

At the peak of your consumption of alcohol how much would you consume and how often?

Every day, ah, on average five or more drinks… anything from wine which was easily accessible and spirits as they were easy to mix mainly. I was around 17 or 18 years old.

What experience made you realise you had a problem with alcohol?

With drinking I guess it depends why you drink, and for me I guess it was just to let go. And so for a long time I didn’t think it was a problem because I was relaxing and letting go. But when I got older, I think I just kept making excuses over the years. And then when I turned 18 I realised I’m allowed to and I’m having fun, but by that stage it was in the back on my mind that I was drinking too much.

Did anyone around you ever tell you you have a problem? 

Well my mother but also my boyfriend at the time, majorly when I was around 16 or 17. They thought I had a problem because I consistently drank and I consumed too much, but it was also how I got when I was drunk. There was one night and I had a major assignment due on the Friday and we went out Thursday night for a concert. I got so drunk and I got home at 1am and the assignment was due at 9am. Looking back at it, I was out of control and liked being out of control, but he was a control freak and probably didn’t like it that I was out of control. 

Did you have awareness of how serious your behaviour was?

Yeah, I mean even people joking around at school were like “time for detox.” I think I had awareness but I didn’t realise it was that bad. I knew I was worse than others but it didn’t worry me too much. I think it became my identity in a way and I think I liked that. 

When did you realise that you wanted to do something to change your behaviour?

You know what? Probably only this year, start of this year in February, no earlier definitely.

What inspired you to make these changes?

I think my realisation that health was important and not wanting “it” to rule my life anymore, because I know it had in the past.

What have you changed about your behaviour?

I think it is more my mind-frame, that I realise it is unhealthy and that I should put aside the image or the fun, in inverted commas. And my health, probably for the first time in my life my health has become important to me and I know that it is proven that excessive drinking is not good. And I will say that doing self-development has changed my behaviour too. 

How have you maintained these changes?

Well, there are always slip ups… I have had times when you go back to the excess, but I think a lot of addiction is habit and it’s like you get on a little roll, you have one drink, two drinks and you get so carried away that you have 20 and you are completely drunk again. I think the most important thing is to have awareness, and obviously that is the opposite of drinking…

What effect, if any, do national alcohol awareness campaigns have on you?

I don’t know, I don’t think it has much effect because I think every one knows. Like, I’m thinking of that ad, “Don’t turn a night out into a nightmare”, I look at it, and I think I can curb my ways but they are still out there. I think a lot of these stories in the news, people where in the wrong place at the wrong time. Taxing alcohol is a much better idea. Yeah people will hate me for saying that but it’s true. The more expensive you make it the less accessible it is.