Gallons of vodka drunk – “Mass consumption can be life-threatening”

“There is a fire on the roof, it is really a very delicate matter,” says Rainer Schmidbauer, head of the Institute for Addiction Prevention, about the case of a woman from Gmund (14). As reported, the girl is said to have drunk about a liter of vodka – according to the Youth Protection Act she is not allowed to have that – and then went swimming in the Traunsee completely drunk. She was unconscious and was rescued just in time by two friends (15) and a passer-by.

153 young people in hospital
“This is a huge burden on the body and can be life-threatening. This amount is not the norm for young people,” says Schmidbauer. However, it is not an isolated case: in 2022, 153 Upper Austrians aged 16 to 17 were hospitalized due to “acute alcohol abuse”.

“Condition is stable”
A survey among 9th graders showed that only half had not drunk alcohol in the past month. The 14-year-old was also taken to hospital in Vöcklabruck. “She is doing well, her condition is stable,” said spokesman Wolfgang Baihuber. The girl received psychological care and was allowed to go home on Wednesday afternoon.

Are you sick? Are you pregnant? What’s wrong with you? In Austria, a cold beer or a good glass of wine is simply a must – and probably also ensures that such alcoholic escapades of young people are not an isolated case.

Young people see their parents, family members or friends as role models, but underestimate the effects on their own bodies. Because as is so often the case here too: the dose makes the poison. There is nothing wrong with a beer after work, but if you drink several every day, it quickly becomes questionable.