www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Mar 31, 2011 01:22 PM CDT by David Rosenbloom

Dear Join Together Friend,

Since today is the last time Join Together Online will be published under my direction, I am going to break one of my own rules. We have never used Join Together publications to toot our own horn. From day one, Join Together has been about you and what you do in America’s communities to prevent and reduce substance use problems. We didn’t waste your time with newsletters that had our pictures and told stories of all the wonderful things we were doing. Join Together’s leadership and technical assistance programs, policy panel reports, advocacy campaigns and online news all spoke for themselves.
Now, on your behalf and mine, I want to recognize and thank the remarkable people who joined together on our staff over the past twenty years to change the way the nation’s communities deal with alcohol, tobacco and drug problems. (Source: Join Together, 03/31/11) Comment: We thank David Rosenbloom and his team for this impressing work they have done and of which we could profit all these years long.

James Nicholls, an alcohol policy and history researcher from Bath Spa University, has contributed the following guest post. It explores recent news and developments in the alcohol field within the context of policy making and journalism. (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 03/28/11)

Next week, Sarah Wollaston MP will put forward a private member’s bill urging the government to adopt a new approach to protect UK children from alcohol advertising.
In an editorial published on bmj.com today, Professor Gerard Hastings and Dr Nick Sheron set out why we urgently need to tackle the excessive drinking of our young people and their massive exposure to alcohol advertising.
The bill will call on the government to adapt French legislation that allows alcohol advertising in media aimed at adults but not children, and ensures that promotional messages are factual and verifiable. (Source: Medical News Today, 03/24/11)

New and comprehensive study on the consumption of alcohol reveals worrying trends on alcohol use around the world. * Listen to this episode – duration 00:05:56 [mp3 3.5Mb] *
* Global status report on alcohol and health 2011 by the UN World Health Organization WHO (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/21/11)

New Zealand’s first ever FebFast ends tomorrow, having raised thousands of dollars for youth charities and given participants a break from drinking alcohol. Nearly a thousand people have given up alcohol for all of February as part of the Drug Foundation’s FebFast fundraiser, and so far more than $75,000 has been raised.
Coordinator Catherine Milburn says people can continue to make donations via the FebFast website (www.febfast.org.nz) throughout March. „There’s still time to show your support.“
A number of well-known New Zealanders have also supported the event, including teams of Labour and National MPs, ZM host Polly Gillespie, chef/food writer Jo Seagar, actor/writer Pinky Agnew, singer Maisey Rika, TV3 journalists Mike McRoberts and Paula Penfold, social media editor Greer McDonald, and The Edge radio hosts Jay-Jay Feeney and Dominic Harvey. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 02/28/11) voxy.co.nz, 02/28/11 our online-comment: Congratulations for that splendid idea. I wished our politicians and media people would have the same courage. Maybe then they could better get involved into work for an effective alcohol policy.

The paper aims to discuss the thorny issues of industry-funded social marketing campaigns. Can the tobacco industry be trusted to educate our children about the dangers of smoking? Is a brewer the best source of health promotion? The paper argues for transparency and critical appraisal. The paper looks at the issues of tobacco and alcohol in more detail, emphasises the need for caution and suggests guidelines for future practice. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/12/11) emeraldinsight.com

by Petra S. Meier. Article first published online: 19 OCT 2010
ABSTRACT Aims: This paper aims to contribute to a rethink of marketing research priorities to address policy makers‘ evidence needs in relation to alcohol marketing.
Method: Discussion paper reviewing evidence gaps identified during an appraisal of policy options to restrict alcohol marketing.
Findings Evidence requirements can be categorized as follows: (i) the size of marketing effects for the whole population and for policy-relevant population subgroups, (ii) the balance between immediate and long-term effects and the time lag, duration and cumulative build-up of effects and (iii) comparative effects of partial versus comprehensive marketing restrictions on consumption and harm. …
Conclusion: It is essential that studies into marketing effect sizes are geared towards informing policy decision-makers, anchored strongly in theory, use measures of effect that are well-justified and recognize fully the complexities of alcohol marketing efforts. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/07/11) onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Marin Institute awarded five young people prizes for their entertaining counter-beer ads at the Free The Bowl World Premiere 2011. The national competition drew 63 entries from 10 different states that all shared the same core message: seductive alcohol ads shown during TV sporting events, and especially during the Super Bowl, are inappropriate for millions of vulnerable young viewers. The first place entry, Ads for Kids, was produced by 17-year old Rami Al-odaini of San Rafael, California. The second place prize went to 14-year old Jaspen Lowen of Wheaton, IL for his video “Token of Lies.“ Three third-place prizes were awarded to Oscar Chan, 20, of San Francisco; Thong Lor, 14, of Westville, Oklahoma; and Lewis Kloster, 16, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. To view all 63 entries, visit FreeTheBowl.com

I read with great interest earlier, this BBC News article about the Coalition Government’s plans to bring in a minimum price for alcohol in England and Wales.
In the Coalition Agreement, it was stated that: „We will ban the sale of alcohol below cost price“. Ministers are now fleshing out their proposals to make this a reality.
It will work by banning shops and bars from selling drinks for less than the tax paid on them. It is hoped that this will send a signal that the Government is clamping down on the sale of extortionately cheap alcohol. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 01/19/11) johnmarkcole.blogspot.com, 01/18/11 our Online Comment: It is fine to have an ideology. Then you don’t need thinking.
There is a lot of talking about personal freedom. What about my freedom when the alcohol industry forces me to pay a life long the huge alcohol related social costs? The World Health Organization has mentioned that we all are Passive Drinkers. We all suffer from the harm of alcohol consumption. Taxes are ridiculous low.
Everybody is free to consume according to its income. Drinking alcohol is not a human right. It is better to fight for jobs with an income which enables everybody to live a decent life, instead of giving cheap alcohol to keep the poor calm and down.
What about my personal freedom, when the media do not give the necessary information I need to discuss this matter and ask for the right measures to be taken by the government, because they are alcohol lobbyists? Did you know that in May 2010 the World Health Organization accepted with all 193 votes of the member states a resolution on a global alcohol strategy? In it the alcohol related harm on society and the evidence based measures for harm reduction are listed. Governments only had to implement those proposals, but instead they try everything which wouldn’t harm the alcohol industry. The industry keeps the profit, society pays the social costs in money and in life, etc.

Content, e.g.: * Alcohol, HIV and Public Health
* Alcohol and tobacco ‘more harmful than cannabis and ecstasy’
* Tax increases ‘superior to minimum prices’
* Facebook updates alcohol guidelines
* Eurocare Presses for Ingredient Labeling on Alcohol
* Convergence in teenage drunkenness in Western countries (Source: GAPA, The Globe)