www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Starting July 1, you’ll have to carry a portable blood-alcohol test kit with you if you want to drive in France. You’ll be fined 11 euros — about $15 — if you can’t produce one when the gendarmes ask.
Who knew such a thing even existed?

Turns out they’re about the size of a cigarette, available in the U.S. and are much cheaper when purchased in bulk. Expect to pay as much as $7 at a retail counter but as little as $2 when you buy a bunch. We found them at Walmart and suggest you read the instructions before your first drink, just to be safe.

The chemically coated crystals inside these single-use devices react to concentrations of alcohol in the user’s breath, turning colors above a certain threshold. Most manufacturers sell the devices tuned for “zero tolerance” situations (such as school, they note), 0.05 percent (the legal blood-alcohol level in France), or 0.08 percent, the limit in the U.S. (See “Calculate your limit: Avoid a DUI disaster.”)
Friends in Europe suggest carrying two: One to use and one to show the police. …

(Source: Alcohol Reports, News, 02/27/12) foxbusiness.com, 02/24/12

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the world’s largest promoter of violent cage fighting events and Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI), makers of the Bud Light family of beers, are delivering harmful content to millions of youth. The underage viewers are treated to people beating one another to a bloody pulp, brought to them by Bud Light…or is it Blood Light?
Protect Youth, Pull the Plug on Bud Light Ads at UFC Fights

In its 2011 announcement of Bud Light’s UFC sponsorship renewal, ABI boasts that it “will continue to immerse the beer into all areas of the world’s premier mixed martial artsorganization.” This includes a thinly veiled effort to target underage youth with graphic violence and sexually explicit ads. According to UFC president Dana White, „…Our target audience is anywhere from age 17 to 35.“ …
(Source: Alcohol Justice, 02/27/12)

Up to 210,000 people in England and Wales will be killed prematurely by alcohol over the next 20 years, with a third of those preventable deaths due to liver disease alone, health experts warned Monday.

Other alcohol-related deaths will be due to accidents, violence and suicide, or from chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease and cancer, the experts warned in a projection study in the Lancet medical journal.

Yet Ian Gilmore, former president of the Royal College of Physicians and one of the lead authors of the work, said it was „entirely within the power of the UK government“ to take steps to tackle Britain’s drink problem and „prevent the worst-case scenario of avoidable deaths.“

The experts pointed to measures taken in the former Soviet Union in the 1980s, which they said saw alcohol consumption fall by a third in two years with a resulting 12 percent drop in the rate of alcohol-related deaths.

The warning comes after British Prime Minister David Cameron promised last week to crack down on excessive drinking, calling it a „scandal“ that costs the taxpayer-funded National Health System an estimated 2.7 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) a year. …
(Source: Harvard World Health News, 02/23/12) reuters.com, 02/19/12

If people see news coverage of alcohol’s role in violent crime and fatal injuries, they may give more support to alcohol-control laws, according to a study in the March issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. It’s estimated that drinking is involved in almost one third of deaths from accidents and violent crime. But the news reports on those deaths often make no mention of alcohol.

„People have some awareness of the social cost that alcohol can have,“ said the study’s lead author, Michael D. Slater, Ph.D., of Ohio State University in Columbus. „But only a small fraction of news stories on violent crime and non–motor vehicle accidents acknowledge the contributing role of alcohol.“ As a result, many people may not realize how often drinking contributes to accidents off the roadways, as well as to violence, Slater noted.

And that lack of awareness might dampen the public’s support for alcohol-control laws, such as the strict enforcement of underage-drinking laws or prohibitions on serving alcohol to intoxicated customers. …
(Source: Google alcohol news, 02/22/12) innovations-report.de, 02/22/12
Comment: It seems often as if it is the internal policy of medias not to show the role of alcohol. Uninformed people will not ask for stronger alcohol regulations. The alcohol industry is happy. We pay for the immense social costs and have the lack of quality of life.

Press release from Active – Sobriety, Friendship and Peace:

Today is Valentine’s Day and it is also one day of the week for Children of alcoholics (CoA). The awareness week for CoA serves to raise attention for the situation and feelings of the affected, and it serves to make sure the fate of millions of young Europeans is not forgotten and doesn’t remain invisible.

There are 9 Million children and young people in the EU alone who grow up with at least one parent being
alcohol addicted. These children suffer neglect, feelings of shame and self-blame for their parents’ alcohol addiction. They suffer from continuous conflicts in their home and many have to witness and endure violence.

“The problem is big and despite some good and useful steps into the right direction, more can and must be done to prevent destroyed childhoods,” says Andrea Lavesson, President of Active – sobriety, friendship and peace. “Valentine’s Day offers the best opportunity to extent our hearts to embrace the pain and suffering of 9 million innocent children and young people.”

Europe is the heaviest alcohol consuming region in the world, where alcohol is a causal factor in 16% of child abuse and neglect cases. Studies show that CoA are much more exposed to other health risks, to negative influences on their intellectual capacity and their mental health. Research also shows that one third of CoA will become alcohol addicted themselves.

“Children and young people with alcohol addicted parents often live in both emotional and material poverty,”
says Andrea Lavesson from Active.
(Source: Eurocare Newsletter, 02/20/12)

“It is a moral, economic and social imperative to prevent harm, invest into the present of children and young people, into their hopes and dreams. We need a new EU alcohol strategy, evidence-based alcohol policies in the countries; municipalities need to invest in support structures for CoA; schools need effective alcohol policies; teachers need know-how in how to identify children and youth; journalists need to help breaking the taboo that still exists around this issue. And as society we need to make sure that children of alcohol addicted parents feel that they too can have a better life one day.”

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)

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

Abstract: Aims To review research literature and available information on the extent and impacts of marketing, current policy response and the interests engaged in the policy debate in order to inform recommendations for policy change on alcohol marketing.

Methods; Relevant literature, including systematic reviews and publicly available information (websites and participant observation) is reviewed and synthesized.

Results: Alcohol marketing has expanded markedly in the past 50 years and, while there remains uncertainty about the impact across the population, there is now clear evidence of its impact on the consumption of young people. Few countries have effective policy in place restricting alcohol marketing, and there is a lack of an international response to alcohol marketing which crosses national boundaries. The protection of alcohol marketing has been a major focus for vested interest groups and this has affected governmental response at national and international levels. There has been a lack of non-governmental organization engagement. The policy response to tobacco marketing provides a clear contrast to that of alcohol marketing policy and provides a model for alcohol marketing policy.

Conclusion: The global exposure of young people to alcohol marketing requires an urgent policy response. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control provides an appropriate model for global governance to control alcohol marketing. There are extant examples of national level legislation achieving comprehensive bans with France’s Loi Evin providing a feasible model. Resources from philanthropic organizations to allow non-governmental organization engagement are urgently required, as is engagement by the governmental sector independent of commercial influence. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/13/12) onlinelibrary.wiley.com, 02/08/12

Alcohol and Youth in Africa, Asia and Europe
Also in this issue:

Alcohol Policy Youth Network / Nigerian Alcohol Prevention Youth Initiative / The IFMSA and the European Alcohol and Health Forum / Jyothirgamaya: Spreading the light of awareness by Ms Deepa Nair / “Alcohol-free Boat Races: the role of youth networks and social campaigns to change social attitudes on alcohol” / Alcohol and the young brain: girls at especial risk? / Teenage alcohol consumption associated with computer use / Alcohol and Unsafe Sex / Cigarette and alcohol use at historic low among US teens / Transatlantic Cooperation to combat underage drinking