Off the wire
• China dominates Sniper World Cup  • Albania, Italy eye cooperation in agriculture  • Myanmar's new ceasefire talks likely to be held in Thailand  • China treasury bond futures open flat Wednesday  • China Hushen 300 index futures open mixed Wednesday  • Israeli war jets fire back in retaliation to rocket fire from Gaza  • 2nd LD Writethru: China, U.S. to focus on length, quality of negative lists in investment treaty talks  • Australian police establish presence in Turkey, Jordan  • China stocks open higher Wednesday  • China renew rivalry with US in volleyball World Cup  
You are here: 　 Home

Australia's Victorian state accused of ignoring alcohol problem

Xinhua, June 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Australian state of Victoria has been accused of turning a blind eye to alcoholism by diverting vital research funds into combating the state's methamphetamine problem.

The Center for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR) slammed the Victorian government on Wednesday, after it was revealed the center had lost its annual 132,000-U.S. dollar grant, or more than 10 percent of its funding base.

In March, the Victorian government announced a 37-million-U.S. dollar "Ice Action Plan" that would help local communities fight the impact that methamphetamine, or ice, was having in the state.

But CAPR spokesman Michael Thorn told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that, despite growing problems associated with ice, alcohol was still the state's most dangerous substance.

"The drug problem in Melbourne isn't ice, it's alcohol," he said. Endi