Backpackers binge drink for Britain
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Friday, January 19, 2007
A new study of young British backpackers who spent over a year in Australia between 2004 and 2005 has revealed that the travellers drank twice as much as at home, with 40% drinking five nights a week or more.
"The image of the hard-drinking, hard-playing UK backpacker appears to be reinforced by the results of this research," study author Paul Dillon from the Anglo-Australian National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre told the Age.
"Backpackers, by their very nature are going to be more likely to be risk takers anyway and they are not just doing it for the week, they are doing it for the whole year,” he added.
Intriguingly, just 2.7% of the backpackers took ecstasy with most reportedly ‘totally gob smacked’ at drugs prices in Australia (one E sells for Aus$35, over ten times the average price in the UK, the Age reported). The statistic could also mean backpackers are beginning to take notice of travel alerts on websites such as Gapyear.com, who recently published an extensive drugs guide which take an increasingly realistic approach to talking about drugs.
“Right now there are one-time backpackers rotting in prisons far from home,” the massively popular portal points out, adding ‘don’t get caught’ style tips such as “if you buy drugs, make sure you're not being set up for a bribe.”
“In some countries where corruption is rife, conmen sell drugs to backpackers only to 'shop' them to the cops minutes later,” they add. “If you're the victim of this scam, you'll be expected to pay an enormous bribe to the police officer in question and to the conman in order to avoid prison.”
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