ALCHOHOL swilling teenagers are being targeted by a Suffolk brewery as part of a new responsible drinking campaign.Adnams have teamed up with drug and alcohol service NORCAS to make sure youngsters, tempted to drink on street corners, know the dangers of drinking too much.

ALCHOHOL swilling teenagers are being targeted by a Suffolk brewery as part of a new responsible drinking campaign.

Adnams have teamed up with drug and alcohol service NORCAS to make sure youngsters, tempted to drink on street corners, know the dangers of drinking too much.

Special, brightly coloured cards, with information on the back are aimed at 12 to 17 year olds in the Suffolk Coastal area to highlight some of the facts and potential hazards of drinking.

Dubbed alco-cards, there are several different ones with different names for being drunk, including legless, trashed and pickled.

On the back there is information including alcohol and the law, how to stay safe if you have been drinking, the effects alcohol can have on the body and the effects of mixing alcohol and other drugs.

There are also warnings about the dangers of being drunk leading to underage and unprotected sex.

Caroline Marriott is youth team manager for NORCAS.

She said that her team of detached youth workers go around the streets talking to groups of youngsters who are hanging around.

She said: "This is of paramount importance – it gives easy access to information about the risks they are taking.

"You get some young people who are very clued up and then some young people who may know very little.

"But even with young people who have a large amount of information about drugs and alcohol there may be a vital piece of information that they are missing.

"Young people don't tend to think about long term effects about things."

As well as giving them the cards and chatting to them about alcohol, they also have the chance to win a t-shirt by taking part in an a quiz about alcohol.

Ms Marriott said: "We are really excited about this partnership and it gives a really strong message about being responsible."

The youth team workers will be out and about in Suffolk Coastal throughout August and September distributing the information.

Simon Loftus, chairman of Adnams said: "We believe that when used sensibly, alcohol has many positive benefits and good beer and wine can be an enjoyable part of life.

"However, we recognise that the abuse of alcohol can have a hugely damaging effect on individuals concerned and on society as a whole.

"Clearly there are additional risk factors for young people that are experimenting with alcohol."

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