Australian police are beginning their biggest coordinated¹ operation to curb² alcohol-related violence on Friday.

澳大利亚警方正在对与饮酒有关的暴力事件展开最大规模的整顿行动。

Although Australia has a drinking culture, people in the UK drink more

Operation Unite, deploying³ thousands of extra officers, will be the most widespread and concerted blitz闪电战 in Australia and will last for two nights.

It is an attempt to send the message that excessive过分的，过度的 alcohol consumption and bad behaviour will not be tolerated容忍，忍受.

Alcohol-related violence, including sexual assaults and fights, has nearly doubled in the past decade and a half.

Drinking age calls

A wave of intoxication喝醉，中毒 has spread, especially over the young, due in large part to liberal慷慨的，宽大的 licensing⁵ laws and a deep-seated culture of drinking.

This weekend police will flood into towns and cities in an unprecedented⁶空前的 show of force.

Undercover officers will join their uniformed colleagues along with dog squads小队，小组 and mounted骑马的 units.

Each week the abuse of alcohol kills on average more than 60 Australians, while 1,500 end up in hospital.

Alan Morrison from the New South Wales Ambulance Service says what he calls an epidemic流行病，传染病 of self-destruction must be addressed.

"There certainly is a cultural acceptance of drinking in Australia and I'm not sure I understand why that is the case.

"I see the effects of it all the time and I think most people don't come into contact with the kind of things paramedics护理人员 or police or emergency departments see to understand that our casual偶然的，随便的 approach to drinking in our society is actually destroying lives and destroying people", he said.

Health workers have called on the government to raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 19.

Neurological神经病学的 experts have warned that binge drinking酗酒，豪饮 could be inflicting⁹给予，遭受 untold¹⁰ damage on the brains of young Australians.

Although this country has always had a boozy嗜酒的，酩酊的 reputation, it ranks about 20th in the global alcohol consumption league table.

People in Britain, for example, drink about 25% more than their Australian counterparts.