Here was an actor at the top of his game – intelligent, sublimely talented and universally revered - succumbing to the dirtiest of all the street drugs, heroin.

The anti-heroin message is so deeply embedded in our minds, we struggle to comprehend how anyone, let alone a movie star, could allow themselves to stumble into its evil embrace.

And yet we continue to underestimate the dangers of our greatest killer drug – alcohol.

Booze is quite simply the most dangerous drug confronting the nation, its abuse costing Australians close to $40 billion a year.

Of that, $3 billion is squandered in sickies due to hangovers. 

Wagga Business Chamber president Tim Rose is bang-on when he says laws must help unravel the legal tangle many businesses face when it comes to employees and alcohol.

The health implications of alcohol abuse are profound, its effects responsible for countless deaths on our roads, in our streets and in our homes. Yet perversely, its acceptance is so entrenched it’s become a major part of our national identity.

Getting wasted is an Aussie obsession – when a baby is born we “wet its head”; most wedding receptions are glorified B&S balls; and who doesn’t toast to a lost mate at a funeral wake?

Our thirst for drinking has created a culture where teens who do not get drunk and party hard on a regular basis are treated like pariahs by their peers. Binge drinking has become normalised and legitimised by adults, so why should we expect young adults to think any different? There is a double standard inherent in Australia and you’d have to be blind drunk to think our children haven’t noticed.

Despite government awareness campaigns, society has largely turned a blind eye to teen drinking, particularly among those 16 years and under. The challenge for us as a community and a nation is to slowly distance ourselves from this perception that heavy drinking is part of our culture. 

Of course, it won’t be easy, but the first step is to admit there is a problem.