www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Supporters Say It Could Raise Millions For Health Programs
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A plan to increase the state alcohol tax by 10 cents a drink may be gaining momentum in Annapolis. Maryland has recently increased the gas tax, the tobacco tax and the sales tax, but the tax on alcohol hasn’t been changed in 38 years, thanks mostly to the state’s powerful alcohol lobby.
According to those who support increasing the alcohol tax this year, 10 cents gets more than one would think.
The Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute provided a House committee with a new study revealing that in the past three years, the state has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in programs that benefit the developmentally disabled in addiction services, medical assistance and other community health care projects. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 03/03/11) wbaltv.com, 03/03/11 our Online Comment: When a tax rise on alcohol is in discussion we forget always that there is also the possibility of reducing the social costs and alcohol-related harm, depending on the amount of taxation. If the new tax brings a reduction in consumption this not only brings more income for the state but could compensate the additional expenses of moderate consumers. And this is the majority. A new tax should be fixed with an article regarding compensation of inflation.

Alcohol must be made less accessible and more expensive to minimize public health damage, according to Norwegian MP and former Minister of Health Dagfinn Høybråten, speaking at the Second Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum in Tromsø on February 22nd. The Nordic countries set the agenda in the global fight against alcoholism, he claims.
Alcohol is the second biggest life style related killer in the developed world and we need to change that, Mr. Høybråten said.
– Higher prices and less access to alcohol has been proven to minimize alcohol consumption. Campaigns and education cannot do it alone. Upwards of 600.000 Europeans die annually from alcohol related causes. And nine million children are affected by alcoholism. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/28/11) norden.org, 02/23/11

There’s a big snag with Ontario’s plan to make the province a hotbed for all-inclusive Caribbean-style vacations: booze prices, tour operators and resort owners say.
They’re pleased Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government, in a tough fight to win the Oct. 6 election, wants to loosen liquor laws allowing alcohol to be included in package deals with rooms and meals. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 03/01/11) thestar.com, 02/24/11 Comment: That’s not acting responsibly. The damage is exported.

…evidence from the Expenditure and Food Survey.
Ludbrook A., Health Economics Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, 2010.
Poor drinkers in the UK consume a relatively high proportion of their alcohol in the form of very cheap products, but wealthier drinkers also drink these; a moderately high minimum price would spread the impact. Findings informed a Home Office assessment of the likely impact of a rise in the price of alcohol in Britain. … (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 02/28/11) findings.org.uk, 02/09/11

In a recent victory in Nebraska, the Lancaster County District Court ruled in favor of the public health by declaring alcopops to be distilled spirits rather than beer for taxation purposes. As spirits, alcopops will be subject to a higher tax rate, which is shown to reduce consumption of these dangerous drinks while also raising much-needed funds for alcohol treatment programs. (Source: Marin Institute, 02/16/11) see also Join Together, 02/24/11

Food and alcohol firms are obliged to maximise profit. To include them in health policy planning is a recipe for disaster.
by Anna Gilmore and Jeff Collin
Alarm bells rang in the public health community when Andrew Lansley announced last summer that leading food and alcohol companies were being invited to join a „partnership“ with government to help address the obesity and alcohol epidemics. As further details of the Public Health Responsibility Deal for alcohol emerge, much through investigative work by the Guardian, the bells ring ever louder.
The Public Health Responsibility Deal, part of the government’s „big society“ idea, is just one of several such deals. For alcohol and obesity, it brings together large numbers of food and alcohol company representatives with far fewer government and public health representatives in a series of „networks“ charged with encouraging and enabling consumers to adopt better diets and drink sensibly. However, full details of their function or how they relate to broader public health policies have yet to emerge. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/22/11) guardian.co.uk, 21 February 2011 our Comment: This is a very competent article. But most of the readers are not informed enough to understand and accept it. Education is needed. Not in order to reduce alcohol harm but to understand the problem and which control measures are necessary to reduce consumption and alcohol related harm. We are all passiv-drinkers. We suffer from reduced quality of life and we pay without beeing asked to, our whole life for immense alcohol related social costs. This is a big loss of freedom.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Several hundred concerned citizens and people with developmental disabilities marched Friday on the state Capitol in support of raising the alcohol tax to help fund services they need.
The dime-a-drink legislation would raise an estimated $215 million. Maryland alcohol taxes are among the lowest in the nation, and the legislation has wide support. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 02/12/11) wbaltv.com, 02/12/11 our Online-Comment: Those critical to a tax rise on alcohol should remember that they are paying a life long without beeing asked the awful amount of alcohol related social costs each year with taxes and insurance premiums. If alcohol taxes could reduce alcohol consumption the total burden of alcohol related harm would decrease too. Therefor higher alcohol taxes are a good investment, especially for moderate consumers.

…AIDS Second
Today the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that alcohol is to blame for just about 4% of, or 2.5 million deaths worldwide annually. Alcohol attributable injuries are of a growing concern to the public health community, with alcohol-related injuries such as road traffic accidents, burns, poisonings, falls and drownings making up more than a third of the disease burden attributable to alcohol consumption. AIDS was a close second with 2.1 milion deaths in 2009.
Yet alcohol control policies are weak and remain a low priority for most governments despite drinking’s heavy toll on society from road accidents, violence, disease, child neglect and job absenteeism. … (Source: Medical News Today, 02/11/11) WHO: Global status report on alcohol and health analyses our Online-Comment: For those persons who don’t like them, figures from other sources are always incorrect. But nobody can deny that governments do not care enough about them. And that is the main sorrow of the WHO. The alcohol industry could not hinder that in May 2010 the WHO General Assembly accepted a resolution on a global alcohol strategy. Now it puts pressure on the national governments that they don’t implement the proposals in their legislation. The civil societies come off a loser.

Alcohol consumption has risen in Canada while controls have been eroded, a situation that may increase an already high burden of harms that include acute and chronic disease, trauma and social problems.
Giesbrecht and colleagues present evidence for a comprehensive response that includes restructured alcohol prices, controlled availability, curtailed marketing, lowered legal limits on blood alcohol concentration, improved access to services for high-risk drinkers and public education. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/07/11)

A population health perspective. Editorial in
Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Vol. 27, 2010 ( 5 ), Helsinki, published by the Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues (NVC). The journal is supported by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), (Finland), the National Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, (SIRUS), (Norway), the Swedish National Institute of Public Health and the Danish National Board of Health. The Swedish alcohol monopoly supports the journal with subscriptions. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 02/03/11) nordicwelfare.org Comment: Very important review on todays situation in alcohol politics.