Thanjavur: It will be startling to note that the age where someone gets their first taste of alcohol has reduced drastically over the past 12 years in India from 21 to 18 and is now at 13. This is no doubt a matter of concern. Coordinators of ‘Alcoholic Anonymous’, a support group to help people to come out of their drinking problem, said that AA is now holding public awareness meetings in schools also besides colleges because of of this startling report.
AA has even been suggested by courts as co-therapy or follow up counseling. AA is an International fellowship of men and women who have once had a drinking problem. It is a non-professional, self-supporting, non denominational, apolitical and available almost everywhere. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem.
As per statistics of union health ministry, Telangana stands at top among southern states when it comes to consumption of alcohol. 53.9 per cent of men and 8.8 per cent of women across Telangana consume alcohol. Consumption is higher in rural areas than in towns and cities.
Consumption of alcohol is also high in Tamil Nadu. In rural areas 47.4 per cent of men consume alcohol and in urban areas 46 per cent of men consume alcohol. With respect to women consumption is less with 0,5 per cent in urban areas and 0.3 per cent in rural areas. (In agitations against Tasmac, women are in the forefront in Tamil Nadu). Consumption of alcohol is the lowest in Kerala among southern states. 40.8 per cent of men consume alcohol in urban areas in Kerala and 32.8 per cent in rural areas according to ministry's statistics.
