The number of patients between the ages of 16 and 25 being treated in Victoria for alcohol-related brain injuries rose 16 percent in the last ten years. Many attribute this rise to the high concentration of bars and clubs in the city center.

"Staff at Arbias, which provides support to people with alcohol or substance-related brain damage, are treating about 600 young people annually in Melbourne, up from about 120 a decade ago."

There are currently more than 1,000 establishments in Melbourne's city center that are licensed to serve alcohol. Many of them are open well past 1am. These and other statistics are causing many in Australia to call for the legal drinking age to be raised to twenty-one. Read more at TheAge.com.au.

Parents struggling with troubled teens and drugs can find help at ByParents-ForParents.com. Read The Signs of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Teenagers to learn more to learn more about underage and binge drinking.

Labels: binge_drinking, brain_damage, underage drinking