www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Alcohol use is the third greatest contributor to the global burden of disease, estimated to cause 3.8% of all deaths. Among people aged 15 to 44 years, alcohol is estimated to result in 4.6% of all disability-adjusted life years lost and a disproportionate number of fatal injuries. 2 Heavy drinking is classified as the consumption of more than 210 g of alcohol per week for men and more than 140 g per week for women, owing to differences in clearance and body size. As a metabolic poison, heavy alcohol use is
associated with cardiovascular disease, oral cancers and liver cirrhosis. As an intoxicant, it causes dependency, injuries and trauma as well as substantial social harms. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/18/11) cmaj.ca, CMAJ 2011. DOI:10.1503/cmaj.110029 our Online-Comment: In May 2010 the General Assembly of the World Health Organization held in Geneva accepted with all votes of the 193 member states a Resolution on a global Alcohol Strategy. In it the evidence-based measures are listed which reduce the general consumption of alcohol in a given society. No need to wait any longer.

Second Monitoring Progress Report, 15 December 2010

Marketing efforts that encourage mixing caffeinated „energy“ drinks with alcohol often try to sway young people to believe that caffeine will offset the sedating effects of alcohol and increase alertness and stamina.
But a new study led by researchers from the Boston University School of Public Health and the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University has found that the addition of caffeine to alcohol — mixing Red Bull with vodka, for example — has no effect on enhancing performance on a driving test or improving sustained attention or reaction times. (Source: Medical News Today, 01/15/11)

Only two in five adults (42%) recognise how many alcohol units are in common drinks, according to research by Drinkaware. The survey also found that less than a third of adults (29% of women and 32% of men) can correctly state the recommended daily unit guidelines for their respective gender. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/15/11) alcoholpolicy.net, 01/13/11

The technology developed in the past decade to sniff out terrorist bombs eventually could be used to combat another scourge: drunk drivers.
Researchers funded by auto manufacturers and federal safety regulators are working on sensory devices – to be installed as standard equipment on all new vehicles – that would keep a vehicle from starting if the driver has had too much to drink.
„We’re five to seven years away from being able to integrate this into cars,“ said Robert Strassburger, vice president for safety for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group for the world’s major auto companies.
The new technology would not require that the driver blow into a tube, like the interlock devices some states require after drunken-driving convictions. Instead, either a passive set of sensors permanently installed in the vehicles or touch-sensitive contact points on a key fob or starter button would immediately register the level of alcohol in the bloodstream. (Source: Harvard World Health News, 01/14/11) washingtonpost.com, 01/08/11

An increase in the state alcohol tax is on the to-do list of the Maryland General Assembly, and some recent polls show much of the public wouldn’t be against it.
A coalition of health care advocates is lobbying to increase the tax at the wholesale level. The trickle-down effect would mean consumers pay 10 cents more per drink, but it would generate more than $200 million a year. A statewide poll found that 66 percent of voters support an increase, 42 percent strongly favor the money be spent on health priorities, and 39 percent favor using the revenues to offset the deficit. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 01/15/11) wbaltv.com, 01/14/11

The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) legal advisor, Nurhani Salwa, says local councils are free to formulate their own guidelines based on existing Syariah provisions to ban Muslim workers from working in entertainment centres that serve alcohol. She told this to Komunitikini, commenting on the MPSJ alcohol-ban controversy.
She says that their authority to do this is based on Section 18 (2) of the Syariah Crimes Enactment of Selangor 1995, which states that Muslims are prohibited from manufacturing, selling, offering to sell, displaying to sell or purchasing any alcoholic drinks. … (Source: Google Alcohol News, 01/14/11) komuniti.mlaysiakini.com, 01/14/11

There is an essay in this month’s The Atlantic called “The Hazards of Duke: A now infamous PowerPoint presentation exposes a lot about men, women, sex, and alcohol—and about how universities are letting their female students down” by Caitlin Flanagan, likely of interest to feminist philosophers.
There a few themes in the article but one of them is the increased rates of drinking among college aged women. I haven’t heard much about this before and I’m interested to know what blog readers make of the article. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 01/14/11) feministphilosophers.wordpress.com, 01/13/11 with our Online-Comment

Maryland lawmakers are readying for a fight to raise the state’s alcohol tax.
Members of the Senate health committee asked the state’s health secretary on Thursday for studies on Maryland’s drinking habits and how consumption in other states has been affected by changes in the alcohol tax. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 01/14/11) the Washington Examiner, 01/13/11

… reduced wellbeing and health status for those with heavy drinkers in their lives.
The impact of alcohol on those other than the drinker is an under- researched area with important policy implications.
This study is a first step in investigating relationships between exposure to heavy drinkers in respondent’s lives with measures of health status and wellbeing.
A cross-sectional general population survey was carried out among 3068 New Zealand residents aged 12 to 80 years (response rate – 64%) using an in house Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing system. …
There is a relationship between exposure to heavy drinkers and reduced personal wellbeing and poorer health status in this cross-sectional general population sample. Exposure to heavy drinkers may have negative impacts for others. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 01/14/11)