www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) refers to a range of negative developmental outcomes that result from maternal drinking during pregnancy. Children with FASD can suffer from many problems, including epilepsy, a disorder characterized by spontaneous recurrence of unprovoked seizures that affects 0.6 percent of the general population. A new study has found a much higher prevalence of epilepsy or history of seizures in individuals with FASD. (Source: Medical News Today, 4/7/10)

More Town Hall Meetings Than Ever Being Held Across America To Address The Dangers Of Underage Drinking
In recognition of Alcohol Awareness Month in April, communities throughout the nation are conducting town hall meetings to discuss what can be done to prevent and reduce underage drinking. This year more than 1,700 community-based organizations will conduct town hall meetings across the country up from 1,500 in 2008, the last time this national event took place. (Source: Medical News Today, 4/2/10)

Consuming Kids Summit. Wheelock College, Boston, April 8-10, 2010
The values children learn in the marketplace – excessive consumption, impulsive buying, and unthinking brand loyalty – are antithetical to healthy development, independent thinking, spirituality, community, and democracy. What happens to childhood — and society — when market values trump human values? How can we make a difference? What role can parents, educators, public health professionals, faith communities, and policymakers play in stopping the proliferation of market values, and in nurturing positive values, in a commercialized world? Since 2001 we have been bringing together distinguished scholars, activists, parents, and educators to talk about how marketing undermines children’s health and well-being and what we can do about it. Join CCFC in 2010 for what promises to be our best summit yet! (Source: Marin Institute, 3/30/10) commercialfreechildhood.org, 3/30/10

Seminar on Youth drinking and binge drinking, 25 February 2010 – Summary report and presentations available. Released: 31 March 2010

Federal data show that 27.6 percent of 12- to 20-year-olds in the U.S. drank alcohol during the past month, with underage drinking especially prevalent in New England and the upper Midwest, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Past-month underage-drinking rates were highest in North Dakota (40.6 percent) and Vermont (40.4 percent), and lowest in Utah (13.7 percent).
Researchers found that 8.6 percent of underage drinkers were able to purchase their own alcohol, including 18.8 percent of youths in Louisiana and the District of Columbia. Current underage drinkers in Alaska (3.1 percent) and New Mexico (3.7 percent) were the least likely to report buying their own booze. (Source: Join Together, 3/26/10) Comment: If the 8.6% are correct, than they are much better than in Mid-Europe.

More than a quarter of youth aged 12-20 (27.6 percent) drank alcohol in the past month, according to a survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The study shows that the underage drinking rates were as high as 40 percent in some states such as North Dakota and Vermont.
In a major effort to combat the epidemic of underage drinking, SAMHSA and the Ad Council today launched a new series of national public service advertisements to encourage parents to talk to their children about drinking alcohol at an early age. The campaign and study are being released in conjunction with Alcohol Awareness Month (April) and as part of the Surgeon General’s „Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking.“ The PSAs are being distributed to media outlets throughout the country and will also be available on line at the campaign’s online fulfillment here. (Source: Medical News Today, 3/26/10)

Manchester is set to become the worldwide centre for excellence in hair testing for alcohol and drug abuse with the launch of a new laboratory at the Hexagon Tower science park in Blackley.
The state-of-the-art facility, being opened this week (w/c 22.3.10) by London-based Trimega Laboratories, will test hair samples from around the world to provide accurate historical records of someone’s intake of drink or drugs up to 12 months prior. The technique is already widely used throughout the UK to help Local Authorities and family lawyers diagnose forms of dependency among adults involved in child care orders. The number of these applications has leapt 46%* nationwide in the wake of the Baby P case with hair test requests in the North West and Wales, for example, increasing from an average of 40 to 70 a month in the past year (out of around 800 a month nationwide). (Source: Medical News Today, 3/23/10)

Before Spring Break: Explain The Science Of Why Girls Can’t Drink Alcohol Like Boys.
Spring break is here and many teenage girls may be tempted to take their first drink. The Science Inside Alcohol Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science suggests that parents, teachers and caregivers help girls delay that first drink by telling them what scientific research shows regarding their ability to handle alcohol compared to boys.
There’s reason to worry. The number of teens who use alcohol rose 11% from 2008 to 2009, according to a new report from the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Teens are drinking younger and more often. In the 1960s, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 7% of girls reported having their first drink between the ages of 10 and 14. Now, 31% try alcohol before high school. (Source: Medical News Today, 3/19/10)

A federally funded treatment and prevention program is being credited with a 32-percent decline in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) cases among Native Americans in Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported Feb. 19.
The $29-million program, which also included a multimedia education campaign, „did turn the corner,“ said Diane Casto of the state Division of Behavioral Health. „What we know about prevention … you need to get the message out strongly, consistently, over and over again. It gave a good kick-start.“
The rate of children born with FAS among native populations declined from about 20 per 10,000 births in 1996 to 13.5 in 2002, according to state officials. Also, fewer children were born with alcohol spectrum disorders.
By contrast, the FAS rate among non-Native residents in Alaska did not drop. (Source: Join Together, 3/18/10)

Ads Enticing Them to Drink. Youth Demand State Ban on Alcohol Ads on Their “School Buses”.
Boston, MA (March 15, 2010) — Demonstrators will gather March 16th, 2010, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Boston Common, across from the State House, to show public support for ending alcohol advertising on state property, including the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which serves as the public transit system for Greater Boston.
Brought together by the Supporting an Alcohol-Ad Free Environment – Massachusetts coalition (SAFE-MA), youth and community supporters will protest against the MBTA’s use of T trains—which serve as “school buses” for 9,600 Boston youth—to promote alcohol use. By this action, they hope to gain additional support from The Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight, who will decide March 17th, 2010 whether to advance HB 1113: an act prohibiting alcohol advertising on Commonwealth property, introduced by Representative Martin J. Walsh (D – 13th Suffolk). (Source: Marin Institute, 3/15/10)