www.alkoholpolitik.ch

A Panorama feature this week explored the issue of „Britain’s hidden alcoholics“ and is available on BBC iplayer until 4th March 2012.

The programme is an account from Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s former spokesman, on ‚the British middle class’s troubled relationship with alcohol and his own long and complicated history with drink.‘ A supporting article is available to read here.

Alastair Campbell meets some of the increasing number of Britain’s middle-class professionals for whom one glass of wine after work is never enough, and asks if we all need to reassess our relationship with drink.

Alastair, Tony Blair’s former closest advisor, knows from bitter experience the true cost of excessive boozing: his alcoholism contributed to his nervous breakdown. …
(Source: alcoholpolicy.net, 02/21/12)

When considering the world’s worst killers, alcohol likely doesn’t come to mind. Yet alcohol kills more than 2.5 million people annually, more than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.

For middle-income people, who constitute half the world’s population, alcohol is the top health risk factor, greater than obesity, inactivity and even tobacco.

The World Health Organization has meticulously documented the extent of alcohol abuse in recent years and has published solid recommendations on how to reduce alcohol-related deaths, but this doesn’t go far enough, according to Devi Sridhar, a health-policy expert at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

In a commentary appearing today (Feb. 15) in the journal Nature, Sridhar argues that the WHO should regulate alcohol at the global level, enforcing such regulations as a minimum drinking age, zero-tolerance drunken driving, and bans on unlimited drink specials. Abiding by the regulations would be mandatory for the WHO’s 194 member states.

Far from prohibition, the WHO regulations would force nations to strengthen weak drinking laws and better enforce laws already in place, Sridhar says. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 02/20/12)lifescience.com, 02/16/12

In a recent answer to a questions regarding minimum pricing by a Scottish MEP George Lyon, the European Commission has shed some light on the ongoing debates.

In response to the following question:

Can the Commission detail the existing treaty provisions and case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in relation to the ability of a Member State to introduce minimum pricing for alcoholic drinks?

The Commission stated that Council Directive 92/83/EEC of 19 October 1992 [1] does not prohibit Member States from setting minimum retail prices for alcoholic beverages.

The Commission further explained that a national measure of minimum pricing and its effects needs to be compatible with the Treaty (TFEU), including the rules on the free movement of goods (Articles 34-36) and on competition (Articles 101-102). …
(Source: Eurocare, 12/13/12)

Der Schweizer Ski-Verband beendet die Zusammenarbeit mit Stefan Abplanalp per Ende Saison. Der Berner Oberländer, der in der sechsten Saison die Schweizer Abfahrerinnen betreute, wurde per sofort freigestellt. Dieser wehrt sich gegen die Vorwürfe der Unprofessionalität.

Die jüngsten Vorfälle während der Weltcuprennen von letzter Woche in Sotschi hätten zu diesem bedauerlichen und unausweichlichen Schritt geführt. Abplanalp habe sich zum wiederholten Mal unprofessionell verhalten, hielt Swiss-Ski in einem Communiqué fest. In Sotschi war es an einer Einladung offenbar zu einem Trinkgelage gekommen, bei dem diverse Serviceleute involviert waren und bei dem sich auch ein ehemaliger russischer Trainer verletzte, als er von einem Glas getroffen wurde. …
(Quelle: Tages-Anzeiger, 20.2.12)
Kommentar: So lange sich Sportverbände von Alkohol-Produzenten sponsern lassen, wird die Sensibilität unter den Verantwortlichen und Aktiven weiterhin ungenügend bleiben. (Auch wenn Swiss-Ski nicht dazugehören sollte.)

15.2.2012

Redaktion
Tages-Anzeiger
Leserforum
Zürich

Per e-mail

Leserbrief zu „Whitney Houston starb vermutlich an einem Medikamenten-Cocktail“ und „Highway zu Hölle“ am 14.2.12

Und wieder ist ein Mensch, eine wunderbare Künstlerin, in ihrem stressigen Lebenskampf dem Alkohol und den andern Drogen erlegen. Trauer und Ohnmacht erfüllt einen, wenn man z.B. noch den Film „Bodyguard“ gesehen hat, den SF 2 in Abänderung des Programms am Sonntagabend gesendet hat.

In seinem Artikel „Highway zur Hölle“ fragt Jean-Martin Büttner, „warum sind es nicht viel mehr?“
Natürlich sind es viel mehr, als wir aus den Medien erfahren. All die Tausende Unglücklichen, die mit ihrem Leben nicht fertig werden und im Alkohol und in andern Drogen ihre Tröster sehen. Oft dabei ihre Familien mit ins Unglück stürzen. Andererseits ihnen durch ihren vorzeitigen Tod einen unbelasteteren Neustart ermöglichen.

Sie sind Teil des Preises, den unsere Gesellschaft bereit ist zu zahlen, damit die Alkoholindustrie und die Werbebranche weitgehend unbehelligt ihre Mär vom Genuss ohne Reue verbreiten kann und die Mehrheit der Bevölkerung diesen Genuss auch gedankenlos sucht und pflegt. Und nicht merkt, dass sie dafür eine Mitverantwortung an viel Leid und riesigen Sozialkosten trägt. Whitney Houston hat mit ihrem Leben dafür bezahlt.

Freundliche Grüsse

Hermann T. Meyer
(ungekürzt am 20.2.12 veröffentlicht)

Sturzbetrunkene Jugendliche, Festnahmen, hunderte Liter Alkohol – und das beim Kinderkarnevalsumzug. Den traditionellen Umzug der Kinder in Verberg haben am Samstag mehr als 1000 Jugendliche für eine hochprozentige Sause genutzt.

Die Bilanz der Polizei: 24 Jugendliche mussten von Sanitätern versorgt werden. Acht kamen ins Krankenhaus. Bis zu 2,8 Promille wurden bei 16- bis 18-Jährigen gemessen. Die Sicherheitskräfte vernichteten 200 Liter Alkohol.

35 Platzverweise sprach die Polizei aus. Zwei Jugendliche wurden wegen Diebstahls festgenommen. Fünf Jugendliche handelten sich Anzeigen ein, weil sie in der Öffentlichkeit uriniert hatten. …
(Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 18.02.12) rp-online.de, 18.02.12

Alcohol policy hit the headlines again this week with David Cameron talking tough on the „alcohol scandal“ costing the NHS close to £3 billion per year. Visiting a hospital in north-east England, the Prime Minister spoke of the unacceptable impact of public drunkenness on the NHS and police services across the country.

Cameron called for „innovative“ approaches including „drunk tanks“ to divert the intoxicated from busy A&Es, and for further enforcement from police to tackle alcohol-fuelled disorder. However the Police Federation criticised the calls saying they are already struggling to resource existing workloads.

The Prime Minister has attracted support from health groups for highlighting the issue of cheap alcohol as part of the problem. Cameron has previously sparked speculation that the Government will seek to introduce minimum pricing in the forthcoming national alcohol strategy.

However in truth the strategy is unlikely to set out direct pricing measures beyond the below cost ban due later this year, which is not expected to affect prices under a ‚Duty + VAT‘ definition of cost. But the Government is likely to continue to pursue taxation measures as already outlined and advised by the IFS, but strongly opposed by the on-trade.

Speaking on the issue, Cameron said:
„We are going to look at the issue of pricing. I am quite convinced that there’s deep discounting through supermarkets and sometimes convenience stores of alcohol that is causing part of the problem, but we’re looking at this carefully to try and find the right answer.

The issue has attracted widespread media attention. Channel 4 news explored the alcohol policy issue, highlighting conflicts between alcohol industry voices opposing minimum pricing instead in favour of education – an approach often rejected by health groups as ineffective. A Guardian comment also explored alcohol policy tensions, highlighting the controversial Responsibility Deal and Scotland’s determination to secure minimum pricing and test EU law on the issue. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/16/12) alcoholpolicy.net, 02/16/12

Hospitalization for underage drinking costs an estimated $755 million in the United States each year, according to a new study by the Mayo Clinic.

Approximately 40,000 youth ages 15 to 20 were hospitalized in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, according to Science Daily.

The study found that among U.S. teens, about 18 of every 10,000 teenage males and 12 of every 10,000 teenage females were hospitalized after drinking alcohol in the year studied. The average age of those hospitalized was 18, and 61 percent were male. Hospitalizations due to alcohol were highest in the Northeast and Midwest.

Nearly one-fourth of the hospitalizations included an injury stemming from causes including traffic accidents, assaults or fights. An estimated $505 million of the cost of hospitalization involved treatment of injuries. …
(Source: Join Together, 02/16/12)

A new government report finds 7.5 million children in the United States—10.5 percent—live with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 6.1 million of these children live with two parents, one or both of whom have experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

The other 1.4 million children live in a single-parent home, with a parent who has had an alcohol use disorder in the same time period, Reuters reports. Of these children, 1.1 million lived in households headed by a female.
The report was released in conjunction with Children of Alcoholics Week, February 12-18, 2012.
(Source: Join Together, 02/16/12)
Comment: This is one of the biggest alcohol related tragedies.

Nationalrat Chronologisches Programm / Frühjahrssession 2012
– Präventionsgesetz
Behandlungsreife Geschäfte / Frühjahrssession und Sondersession Mai 2012
– Pa.Iv. Lüscher. Liberalisierung der Öffnungszeiten von Tankstellenshops

Ständerat Chronologisches Programm / Frühjahrssession 2012
– Via sicura. Mehr Sicherheit im Strassenverkehr