The Wire

Young people in the Northern Territory are dying from alcohol over – consumption at a far higher rate than anywhere else in Australia, according to new research. The rate of alcohol-related deaths per 10,000 young people in the Northern Territory is at least three times the number of other jurisdictions. The National Drug Research Institute’s Tanya Chickarees says one reason grog-related injuries are so high is that Northern Territorians drink the equivalent of 15 litres per capita of pure alcohol per year – compared with about 9 and a half in other states. Ms Chickarees says the hot weather in the Territory may also be a factor, as well as legal differences.