As a volunteer visiting the excellent addiction facilities at Cuan Mhuire, it’s clear that the age at which people present with advanced alcoholism is getting younger. The gender gap is also closing. Is there anything an individual can do about that? Yes there is.

The supervised approach?

I used to believe that supervised introduction to alcohol was a smart approach, now I know I was wrong. Some Junior Cert parties will have supervised access to alcohol with “responsible” adults present. Are those adults any better than the drugs dealer offering a user the first fix for free, as an investment in their future profits?

Kids sometimes want boundaries – half of kids do not even want to drink until they are eighteen but they can bow to peer pressure. If adults are tacitly supporting that pressure, the kid has less chance of saying no.