You are no better than the one that drinks and lays around in the bush. It must be considered as a health problem in its own right, as a cause of other health problems and as a consequence of the social, political, economic and cultural deprivation impacting on Aboriginal people. It is important to acknowledge that drug use, including alcohol, is a significant problem in the wider Australian community and the target of the National Drug Offensive. It is inappropriate to label alcohol as a uniform Aboriginal problem, as there is a wide range of drinking behaviours both within and between communities. The widely held assumption that all Aboriginal people are large consumers of alcohol, was frequently reported to the Commission.
Alcohol impacts upon the health of the drinker in many ways.
If the drinker is able to maintain a balanced diet then some of the consequences will be less marked than in someone who is unable to maintain an adequate diet. The social disruption which is often associated with alcohol consumption not only impacts upon the health of the consumer, but also on the health of those in the community of which the consumer is a part. Despite the lack of evidence, and the almost universal discrediting of the notion, there are still those who promote the simplistic and victim blaming theory that there is a genetic basis to Aboriginal alcohol consumption. Alcohol must be seen as a symptom of dispossession, alienation and discrimination resulting in a loss of self esteem, and not the cause of that loss.