www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The financial crisis in Europe is affecting young people’s overall emotional well-being and capacity to learn. A report from Glasgow City Council highlights how pupils’ emotional stability underpins their ability to learn. In Estonia a notable rise in abuse of alcohol among youth is reported. However, EU countries report that social spending is bearing the heaviest austerity burden: e.g. the German “savings package” requires 37% of the savings to be taken from social spending.

At the same time the President of the European Commission Mr. Barroso finds the time to attend a gala of the alcohol lobbyist Brewers of Europe, to join their special interests by recognizing the “important contribution to European economy. And the value added of the sector to the economy is estimated at €50 Billion.”

The costs of the social harm caused by alcohol every year in the EU, however, are more than twice of that sum: €125 Billion.
“Mr. Barroso displays exactly the kind of thinking that got us into the crisis in the first place. Short-term profit thinking instead of long-term vision rooted in sustainable policies”, says Andrea Lavesson, President of Active – sobriety, friendship and peace.

The EU is the heaviest alcohol consuming region in the world. Only the economic consequences, let alone the social and democratic harm, are enormous: productivity losses because of alcohol (absenteeism, unemployment and premature death) amount to €59 Billion per year.
In the face of these facts, it remains a riddle how the President of the European Commission can say things like: “And indeed the Commission looks to your industry as a key partner in pushing forward our growth agenda towards a more smart, inclusive and sustainable Europe, our Europe 2020 agenda.” … (Source: JOINT PRESS RELEASE by Active and The European Youth Forum (YFJ), 25.11.11)

Merkel sagt „Nein“ zum Joint
Während Alkohol und Zigaretten „begrenzt und vernünftig“ konsumiert werden sollten, sollten Haschisch und Marihuana gar nicht konsumiert werden, so Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. Denn laut der CDU-Chefin würden bei Haschisch und Marihuana bereits geringe Mengen ausreichen, um eine Sucht zu erzeugen.
Eine beschränkte und kontrollierte Freigabe lehnte die CDU-Chefin am Mittwoch ab. Cannabis müsse anders als Alkohol und Zigaretten als Droge eingestuft bleiben, denn auch der Konsum geringer Mengen könne eine sehr hohe Abhängigkeit hervorrufen, sagte sie in einem am Mittwoch veröffentlichten Interview auf dem YouTube-Kanal der Bundesregierung. (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 23.11.11) focus.de, 24.11.11
unser Online-Kommentar:

Dafür und dawider
Man kann wirklich geteilter Meinung sein, ob es sinnvoll ist, zu den bisher legalen Drogen noch eine weitere zu legalisieren. Tatsache ist doch, dass schon der Umgang mit der legalen Droge Alkohol völlig ausser Kontrolle geraten ist. Die Regierung verschliesst sich den Empfehlungen der WHO, die sie selber mitunterzeichnet hat und verhindert eine wirksame Verminderung des Alkoholproblems. Wie lange würde es wohl dauern, bis sie auch mit den Haschproduzenten verbandelt wäre und unfähig, den Missbrauch zu stoppen? Es ginge ja dann auch um Arbeitsplätze und Steuereinnahmen. Und um Parteispenden, Sponsoringverträge bei Sport und Kultur, usw. Wie beim Alkohol würde es auch heissen: Den Profit der Industrie, die Schäden dem Volk!

High level meeting, Brussels, 17 November 2011. The 9th meeting of the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action
(CNAPA) took place on 17 November 2011. For the first time Member States were represented at senior level, in addition to regular CNAPA members. Attendance was very high. The meeting was chaired by Despina Spanou, Principal Advisor with DG Health and Consumers and Chair of the European Alcohol and Health Forum (EAHF). … (Source: EU-DG for Health and Consumers, 11/21/11)

Die Eidgenössische Alkoholverwaltung hat im Frühjahr 2011 Alkohol-Testkäufe im Internet durchführen lassen. 34 von 82 Bestellungen alkoholhaltiger Getränke konnten dabei problemlos von der minderjährigen Test-Kundschaft in Empfang genommen werden.
Das entspricht einem Anteil von 41,5 Prozent «erfolgreicher» Bestellungen, wie die Eidgenössische Alkoholverwaltung (EAV) in der jüngsten Ausgabe ihres Magazins «Alkohol und Politik» schreibt. Die übrigen 48 Versuche (58,5 Prozent) blieben erfolglos. … (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 19.11.11) tagesschau.sf.tv, 19.11.11

In U-Bahnen, Trambahnen und Bussen gilt das Alkoholverbot schon seit 2009. Jetzt sollen Bier, Wein und Co. auch aus den S-Bahnen verbannt werden – mithilfe der Bundespolizei.
Mit dem Verbot ab dem 11. Dezember reagiere die Bahn «auf den mehrfach von Fahrgästen geäußerten Wunsch» und wolle «das subjektive Sicherheitsempfinden» verbessern, sagte der Geschäftsleiter der S-Bahn München, Bernhard Weisser, am Donnerstag. … (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 17.11.11) augsburger-allgemeine.de, 17.11.11

Alkohol- und Tabaktestkäufe durch Jugendliche werden im Kanton Zürich legalisiert. Die vom Kantonsrat Ende Juni beschlossene Änderung des Gesundheitsgesetzes wird auf den 1. Januar 2012 in Kraft gesetzt, wie der Regierungsrat mitteilte. …l (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 17.11.11) tagesschau.sf.tv, 17.11.11

Dear grown-ups, decision-makers in the European Parliament, in the national peoples’ representations, in the national governments and ministries, in the European Commission, We hope this letter finds you well.

We are not well. We are concerned because it looks like our future (is) broke.
In our organizations and for many of the young people and youth organizations we are cooperating with, the picture is clear: young Europeans are concerned, often even scared. We are extremely aware of the tremendous burden that is being put on each and every single young European, who will have to make huge efforts, work relentlessly to master the debt challenges collected and piled up by the grown-ups who have been making decisions in the past and do so today.
Millions of young Europeans – in youth organizations, schools, universities and the public places all over the continent – ask: how are we ever going to be able to pay back these paramount debts that exceed any form of imagination?

With this question came another realization: we, Europe’s youth, need the best possible conditions, tools and qualifications to be able to tackle the debt piled up by yesterday’s and today’s grown-ups. In that sense and in many other ways, it is wrong to cut and try and save money on education, youth facilities, culture. It is especially wrong when other measures go largely unnoticed. Therefore Active and (only) 30 of its members collected during 2 hours in Rome last weekend more than 130 postcards from people whom they met. 130 ideas what €125 Billion could be spent on – instead of paying for alcohol related harm every year. … (Source: Press Release activeeurope.org, 11/16/11)
Comment: This could be an essential part of the Occupy-movement.

Government-led policies on alcohol throughout the UK have been branded a joke by the chief executive of the charity the British Liver Trust.
Andrew Langford spoke as figures showed a 70% rise in liver cancer deaths in England and Wales since 1977.
The UK also has the highest rate of oesophageal cancer in Europe. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 11/14/11) bbc.co.uk, 11/14/11 Comment: Alcohol policy is a joke in many countries, e.g. Switzerland.

A ban on the sale of alcohol below a minimum price will be introduced in England and Wales from 6 April 2012.

Shops and bars will not be able to sell drinks for less than the tax paid on them – a move the government says will cut crime.

It works out as 38p for a can of weak lager and £10.71 for a litre of vodka.

Health campaigners say the price „floor“ is too low to have any impact, but the drinks industry has described it as a „pragmatic solution“.

The move comes as the Scottish government presses ahead with plans to introduce a minimum price per unit of alcohol.

Its first attempt to do so, setting the price at 45p per unit, failed during the last Parliament, but MSPs have now reintroduced the bill and say the measure is needed as part of the „battle with alcohol misuse“. … (Source: bbc.co.uk, 11/08/11)

Prevention of Teen Substance Abuse Must Start with Tackling America’s Underage Drinking Epidemic. Let’s Make it Cool for Teens Not to Drink!

Joseph A. Califano, Jr.A recent survey of 7th through 11th graders in the Connecticut gold coast town of Westport, Connecticut, nails the importance of targeting alcohol use among teens for parents, teachers, pediatricians and public health professionals who seek to prevent teen substance abuse and addiction.

The survey by the Governor’s Prevention Initiative for Youth revealed that 25 percent of the town’s 9th graders, 37 percent of 10th graders, and 60 percent of 11th graders had been drinking alcohol in the previous 30 days. Translated from substance abuse statistical jargon to plain English, this means that these high school freshman, sophomores and juniors are current drinkers, likely drinking regularly. … (Source: CASA, Chairman’s Corner, 11/15/11)

our online-comment:
As long as politicians are not willing to reduce the harmful impact of the alcohol industry on society (TV-marketing is only one sector of many) in order to reduce alcohol consumption in general, youth will miss the good example and will hardly be convinced by educational prevention. Alcohol-lobbies are a sort of corruption. Not only in the Third World.