www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Reports of a rise in counterfeit alcohol production have hit the news following a blast that killed 5 people in Boston, Lincolnshire.
In a BBC report on the Growing problem of illegally distilled alcohol, Trading Standards said that in some parts of the UK up to a quarter of licensed premises had been found to be selling counterfeit alcohol. It also reported that alcohol fraud costs the UK about £1bn a year in lost revenue, including £300m from illegal spirit sales, according to government estimates. Over £13 million of smuggled alcohol was seized last year. … (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 07/15/11)

This paper describes, for the first time, trends in alcohol-related deaths and deaths among people who were alcohol dependent in Ireland, as recorded by the National Drug-Related Deaths Index (NDRDI) for the years 2004−2008. The main findings of the analysis are:
The NDRDI recorded 672 poisoning deaths in which alcohol was implicated in the five-year period. This total comprised almost equal numbers of alcohol-only poisonings and alcohol polysubstance (alcohol plus other substance/s) poisonings. The annual number fluctuated over the period, being highest in 2007 (170 deaths) and lowest in 2006 (111 deaths). Alcohol was the substance most frequently
implicated in all fatal poisonings in Ireland in the five-year period. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/15/11) HRB Trends Series 10

Poverty is often cited as contributing to poor health. Now, in an unusual approach, researchers have calculated how many people poverty kills and presented their findings, along with an argument that social factors can cause death the same way that behavior like smoking cigarettes does.
In an article published online for the June 16 issue of The American Journal of Public Health, scientists calculated the number of deaths attributable to each of six social factors, including low income.
To estimate the number of deaths caused by each factor, the scientists reviewed 47 earlier studies on the subject, combining the data in a meta-analysis. The studies were generally based on large national surveys like the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a continuing study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Source: Harvard World Health News, 07/08/11) nytimes.com, 07/04/11 Comment: Regularly moderate wine drinkers do not belong to this group. Many abstainers do. One more reason why studies with positive health results for moderate drinkers vs. abstainers are not correct.

NATIONAL STUDY REVEALS:
ORIGINS OF AN EPIDEMIC, TEEN SUBSTANCE USE AMERICA’S #1 PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM.
90 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SUFFERING FROM ADDICTION STARTED SMOKING, DRINKING, OR USING OTHER DRUGS BEFORE AGE 18.
ALMOST HALF OF ALL AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SMOKE, DRINK, OR USE OTHER DRUGS.
Nine out of 10 Americans who meet the medical criteria for addiction started smoking, drinking, or using other drugs before age 18, according to a national study released today by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Public Health Problem reveals that adolescence is the critical period for the initiation of substance use and its consequences. The CASA report finds 1 in 4 Americans who began using any addictive substance before age 18 are addicted, compared to 1 in 25 Americans who started using at age 21 or older.
Adolescent Substance Use at Epidemic Levels:
The CASA report underscores the fact that addiction is a disease with adolescent origins. The underdeveloped teen brain makes it likelier that teens will take risks, including using addictive substances that interfere with brain development, impair judgment and heighten their risk of addiction. (Source: CASA press release, 06/29/11)

An experimental drug to treat alcohol dependence has shown promising results in three clinical trials in Denmark. The company is now submitting the drug for approval in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The drug, nalmefene, was tested for its effectiveness in reducing a person’s craving for alcohol. Unlike current drug treatments for alcoholism, nalmefene can be taken with alcohol. Nalmefene blocks a craving mechanism that is regulated by the brain’s opioid receptors, according to the article. Other currently available drugs that treat alcoholism discourage drinking by causing unpleasant side effects when a person drinks even a little bit of alcohol. … (Source: Join Together, 06/16/11)

A regulation partly overruled by the Council of State would have helped prevent the recent deaths of several Russian tour guides from consuming unlicensed alcohol, the president of Turkey’s alcohol regulatory agency has said.
The decision of the Council of State was only an interim judgment and did not reflect the final verdict, said the Tobacco and Alcohol Market Regulatory Agency, or TAPDK, chief.
“We deeply care about the arrangements in our regulation to prevent [such] deaths,” said TAPDK President Mehmet Küçük. He added that the recent deaths resulting from the consumption of unlicensed alcohol had demonstrated the importance of alcohol being sold by licensed vendors in predetermined locations. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/07/11) hurriyetdailynews.com, 06/06/11

International News from Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Malaysia, India etc. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 05/30/11)

LICE RAP is a new dynamic trans-disciplinary EU project which aims is to help policy makers „re-think and re-shape“ current and future approaches to the huge human and economic costs of addictions and lifestyles in Europe. This project is supported by the Catalan Ministry of Health and coordinated from the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona by Dr. Antoni Gual, head of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona Addictions Unit. This Unit holds a broad range of expertise in the management of addictions and undertakes a number of research projects devoted to strengthening scientific and social knowledge on this topic, such as the European projects AMPHORA and ODHIN. This time, the initiative goes far beyond alcohol, and will investigate addiction in its broadest sense, including all types of substance problems and even internet gaming and gambling.

Over the next five years the ‚Addictions and Lifestyles in Contemporary Europe Reframing Addictions Project‘ (ALICE RAP) will weave the work of over 100 scientists from 67 institutions in 25 countries into a integrated evidence base for informed policy action. The research programme includes a wide range of different quantitative and qualitative scientific disciplines stretching across the humanities and social sciences and the biological and medical sciences. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 5/23/11) eurekalert.org, 5/23/11

Almost six million people die from tobacco use and 2.5 million from harmful use of alcohol each year worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports.
The WHO report on non-communicable diseases—including diabetes, cancer and respiratory and heart diseases—says that a large percentage of these conditions could be prevented by reducing tobacco and alcohol use, eating a healthier diet and exercising more. …
Alcohol-related deaths account for 3.8 percent of all deaths worldwide, according to the report. More than half of these deaths occur from non-communicable diseases including cancer, heart disease and liver cirrhosis. …
To reduce harmful alcohol use, WHO recommends a number of measures including increasing excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, regulating availability of alcoholic beverages (including minimum legal purchase age), restricting exposure to marketing of alcoholic beverages through marketing regulations or comprehensive advertising bans, and treatment of alcohol use disorders and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful drinking. (Source: Join Together, 04/27/11)

The Swedish government Tuesday launched a new comprehensive strategy to deal with alcohol, drugs, doping and tobacco problems together, Xinhua informs.
„The overall objective is to make Swedish society free from illicit drugs and doping with fewer medical and social damage caused by alcohol and tobacco,“ Maria Larsson, Swedish Minister for Children and Elderly, said in a statement.
The goal is to address the overall problem caused by the use and abuse of alcohol, drugs, doping and tobacco.
Statistics show that 15 percent of the total disease burden in Sweden is due to the harmful effects that may be linked to the use and abuse of alcohol, drugs, doping and tobacco.
The strategy is proposed for 2011-2015 and was passed in the parliament at the end of March this year.
The government will invest 260 million kronor (about 40 million U.S. dollars) per year to support effort such as parents whose children take drugs or children who are abused at home. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 04/25/11) focus-fen.net, 04/20/11