www.alkoholpolitik.ch

News from Sweden, Finland, USA, Australia, UK, Germany, Taiwan, India and some studies. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11)

Sales of alcohol to underage drinkers are going down, but one in four underage teenagers is still able to buy alcohol at shops and restaurants.
In test purchases in 23 cantons, 5.8 per cent fewer underage buyers were able to buy alcohol in 2010 than in 2009, according to figures released on Monday by the Swiss Alcohol Board.
In the past decade, illegal alcohol sales to underage test buyers has dropped from 83.5 per cent to 26.8 per cent. In seven of the 23 cantons doing the tests, the rate has even fallen below 20 per cent. Between 2000 and 2010, 15,000 tests were carried out. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11) swissinfo.ch, 5/23/11

This surveillance report, prepared by the Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System (AEDS), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), presents data on underage drinking for 1991–2009.
This is the fourth of a series of reports to be published every two years on underage drinking and related attitudes and risk behaviors. Data for this series are compiled from three separate nationally representative surveys: the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
The following are highlights of trends from 1991 through 2009. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11)

Hispanics are the largest and most rapidly growing ethnic group in the United States, making up about 16 percent of the population, or more than 50 million people. Research shows that drinking patterns among Hispanics are different from those of non-Hispanic Whites and other ethnic or racial groups. Understanding these differences can help prevention, intervention, and treatment programs better serve the Hispanic community. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11) pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/, 5/23/11

The popular, formerly caffeinated, fruity alcoholic beverage, Four Loko, has been blamed for the spike in alcohol-related hospitalizations, especially throughout college campuses.
Initially, caffeine was deemed the culprit and the Food and Drug Administration ordered all traces of caffeine to be removed from Four Loko and all other similar beverages. However, according to an upcoming evaluation in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, caffeine might not be the primary cause of the spike in hospitalizations. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11) psychologicalscience.org, 5/23/11

LICE RAP is a new dynamic trans-disciplinary EU project which aims is to help policy makers „re-think and re-shape“ current and future approaches to the huge human and economic costs of addictions and lifestyles in Europe. This project is supported by the Catalan Ministry of Health and coordinated from the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona by Dr. Antoni Gual, head of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona Addictions Unit. This Unit holds a broad range of expertise in the management of addictions and undertakes a number of research projects devoted to strengthening scientific and social knowledge on this topic, such as the European projects AMPHORA and ODHIN. This time, the initiative goes far beyond alcohol, and will investigate addiction in its broadest sense, including all types of substance problems and even internet gaming and gambling.

Over the next five years the ‚Addictions and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe Reframing Addictions Project‘ (ALICE RAP) will weave the work of over 100 scientists from 67 institutions in 25 countries into a integrated evidence base for informed policy action. The research programme includes a wide range of different quantitative and qualitative scientific disciplines stretching across the humanities and social sciences and the biological and medical sciences. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11) eurekalert.org, 5/23/11

Background:  Alcohol abuse has detrimental effects on cerebral function, metabolism, and volume. Some of these effects were found to be at least partially reversible with continued abstinence. Furthermore, it has been reported that there are different effects of alcohol on brain volumes for women compared with men, but the results concerning the interaction between alcohol dependence and gender are inconsistent. …
Results:  Global cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume was increased and WM and GM volume decreased equally in male and female patients. A gender by diagnosis interaction was found neither for global nor for regional volumes or VBM data. VBM whole brain analysis yielded a significant GM volume loss in the patient group in the cingulate gyrus and the insula in both hemispheres. Region of interest analysis for the initial and 3 months follow-up scans yielded significant gains in regional volumes, particularly the cingulate gyrus and the insula in the group of abstinent patients, whereas no volume change at all is found in the patients who had relapsed.
Conclusions:  Our study confirms widespread cerebral volume loss in recently detoxified alcoholics. The effects of alcohol dependence seem to have equally adverse effects on brain morphometry in males and females. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11) onlinelibrary.wiley.com, 5/20/11

„Lebenslänglich“ für zu viel Alkohol am Steuer, Von Peter Achten, Peking
Betrunken, zu schnell, Rotlicht überfahren, Unfall, zwei Tote, Fahrerflucht – der 31 Jahre alte Chen Jia muss lebenslang hinter Gitter.
Das Urteil „lebenslänglich“ hat ein Pekinger Gericht gefällt. Derzeit ist eine landesweite Kampagne gegen Alkohol am Steuer im Gange und wird in sämtlichen Medien breit publiziert. Zwar hatte sich Chen nach vier Tagen selbst der Polizei gestellt und der betroffenen Familie das vom Gericht gesprochenen Schmerzensgeld von 1,9 Millionen Yuan (umgerechnet rund 600’000 Franken) bereits zukommen lassen, was gut chinesisch wegen Einsicht und Reue normalerweise zu einem etwas milderen Urteil geführt hätte. Nicht in diesem Fall. Chen ist reich, und viele Reiche glauben, sich mit Geld alles erlauben zu können. Deshalb wohl das harsche, gnadenlose Urteil. (Quelle: Journal21.ch, 22.5.11)

Bier, Wein und Schnaps enthalten Histamin – deshalb sollten Heuschnupfengeplagte auf Alkohol verzichten. Denn Histamin kann die Symptome verschlimmern, sagt Harald Morr, Präsident der Deutschen Lungenstiftung. „Histamin agiert im menschlichen Körper als einer mehrerer Signalstoffe, die während einer allergischen Reaktion ausgeschüttet werden und die typischen allergischen Symptome verursachen.“ … (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 23.5.11) welt.de, 22.5.11

WEISSENFELS/MZ. „Wir setzen uns nicht ins Wartehäuschen, wenn die dort sitzen“, sagt Regina Janetzke. „Die“ – das sind fünf bis zehn Leute, die jeden Tag – oft schon am Vormittag – an den Busbahnhof kommen, Alkohol trinken, bei den Büschen im Freien urinieren, Flaschen stehen lassen, gelegentlich pöbeln und manchmal gewalttätig werden.
Zuletzt geschehen im Februar, als eine Verkäuferin im Supermarkt gewürgt wurde. Auch ein Busfahrer wurde schon angegriffen, ein anderes Mal hat ein Betrunkener die Seitenscheiben eines Busses eingeschmissen. … (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 23.5.11) mz-web.de, 22.5.11