Young people under the age of 25 consider shock tactics to be more effective than health warnings in getting across the message about sensible drinking.

This is one of the findings in a survey of about 1,100 people which was carried out across the United Kingdom, during February and March this year.

It also found that one in ten people said they could not enjoy themselves at social events unless they had a drink.

The MORI survey entitled Alcohol and Society was carried out for the London-based Portman Group, which is the sister organisation of the Northern Ireland Drinks Industry Group (NIDIG).

This organisation was established in 1994 to promote sensible drinking and help prevent alcohol misuse. It represents the main producers and distributors of alcoholic drinks in the province.

Developing strategy

Tony Fleck from the NIDIG said it had been working closely with the Department of Health to develop a Strategy on Reducing Alcohol Harm.

"We will be sharing these recent findings, and others to come, with them and the Health Promotion Agency," he said.

"The strategy acknowledges that most people drink sensibly and has avoided the trap of penalising those who enjoy an occasional social drink.

"What you have to do is to ensure that all of us concerned with tackling alcohol misuse, target our messages more effectively."

The survey found:

39% of people preferred shock tactics to health warnings as a way of driving home the message about sensible drinking.

Ten times as many people thought such tactics were better at delivering warnings about the short term consequences of drinking, such as hangovers.

Alcohol misuse by the minority continued to distort the way drinking patterns were perceived. For example, nearly two-thirds (63%) saw binge drinking as a major problem.

77% understood the government's advice that sensible drinking does not damage health.

But 69% of young people felt they often received conflicting information about alcohol.

Alcohol is seen as significantly less dangerous for health than either class A drugs, cannabis or tobacco.

Further sections of the survey will be published over the next six months, covering public attitudes and perceptions on such topics as crime and disorder, health and sensible drinking and the drinks industry.