Yellowknife (July 17/06) - The NWT has a serious drinking problem, according to a recent study.

The 2006 Addictions Survey by the department of Health and Social Services reports that in 2004, 36 per cent of NWT residents over the age of 15 said they drank heavily at least once a month.

The survey also suggests that 40 per cent of all drinkers consume five or more drinks each time drinking takes place.

That's six per cent higher than in 2002. Binge drinking is most common among the 15-24 age group, of whom 51.9 per cent report drinking five or more on each occasion.

In the survey, heavy (or binge) drinking was defined as having more than five drinks on one occasion. One-in-five men reported drinking heavily on a weekly basis.

The numbers don't surprise Dave Harder, program director at the Salvation Army.

"Alcohol is a major community problem," he said. "It's an issue that isn't going away."

About 78 per cent of all NWT residents said they had consumed alcohol in the previous year, virtually the same number as in 2002.

Also in the survey, almost 56 per cent of NWT residents over the age of 15 said they had been harmed by someone else's drinking in the preceding year, a rate almost double the national average.

A recent report by the NWT coroner's office said that in 2004, half of all suicides and a quarter of all fatal accidents were booze-related.