Australian binge drinking now four drinks

SYDNEY, June 14 (UPI) -- An individual who drinks more than four standard alcoholic drinks in a given day will now be considered a binge drinker in Australia, health officials say.

Health officials said the decision by the National Health and Medical Research Council to issue a new warning of the dangers of binge drinking was problematic given the lowered drinking limits, The Melbourne Sun-Herald reported in its Sunday edition.

"That means that, if a man is sharing a bottle with his wife and takes a slightly larger share, that he's had a binge," said Paul Haber, medical director of Drug Health Services, Addiction Medicine at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Politicians such as former Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott also have opposed the stiffer binge-drinking guidelines, which changed the previous lower limit of four drinks to the upper limit.

"There is a moral panic, which is taking over the land," Abbott said. "There is no doubt that binge drinking is a problem, but it is no worse than in the past."

The Sun-Herald said the new regulations also eliminate any guideline differences between men and women, which traditionally were distanced by at least one alcoholic drink a day.