Alcohol is still the drug that causes most concern to Western Australian health professionals, prompting a new government website showing the financial and health benefits of reducing consumption.
In 2013, there were 545 alcohol-related deaths in the state, and it's estimated that one person was hospitalised every 27 minutes for an alcohol-attributable condition in 2014.
Mental Health Minister Andrea Mitchell said the $300,000 campaign included adverts showing the effects of alcohol and an online tool to help people calculate the financial and health benefits of reducing their alcohol intake.
"More than one in five people are drinking above the recommendation of more than two standard drinks per day," Ms Mitchell said on Thursday.
"That is of concern to us."
On average, West Australians each drink 12 litres of pure alcohol per year, equal to 129 bottles of wine.
The University of Western Australia neurology professor Graeme Hankey said women who drank more than two standard drinks a day, and men who had more than three standard drinks a day, were at twice the risk of having a stroke.
He said there were 1000 fatal strokes in WA each year, with at least five per cent attributable to alcohol, and that every drink per day appeared to increase the risk of stroke by 15 per cent.
"People do not really understand that this is a toxin, alcohol, and it's cumulative effect on the body," Dr Hankey said.
ALCOHOL IN WA:
* 545 alcohol-related deaths in 2013
* One person hospitalised for an alcohol-related condition every 27 minutes in 2014
* $155m in hospital costs related to alcohol in 2014
* Residents drink an average of 12 litres of pure alcohol per year, equal to 129 bottles of wine
* 1000 fatal strokes each year, five per cent attributable to alcohol
* 12-17 year-olds who drank in the past week had an average of 6.2 standard drinks.
* Source: WA Department of Health
