www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Probably yes but there is a bigger picture.
The Australian Government’s decision to raise taxes on ready-to-drink spirit-based beverages (RTDs; “alcopops”) in 2008 caused great controversy. Interest groups have selectively cited evidence to support their points of view.
The alcohol industry cited Victorian data from the Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drug Survey (ASSADS) as evidence that the tax had failed, but closer examination of the data suggests that fewer students are drinking, and fewer are drinking at risky or high-risk levels. Excise data from the first full year after the tax came into effect showed a more than 30% reduction in RTD sales and a 1.5% reduction in total pure alcohol sold in Australia. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/17/11)

Wine makers „systematically“ understate the strengths of wines, according to a Guardian report. A study found that 57% of the wines analysed were stronger than on the label; average ABV content was found at 13.6% but the average labelled strength was 13.1%. The analysis also revealed that strength of wine across the world has risen by almost one per cent in recent years. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/17/11)

Teenage girls who binge-drink have a higher risk of long-term harm to the brain compared to boys of the same age who also binge drink, researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Stanford University reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Their definition of binge-drinking is consuming at least four (for females) or five (for males) alcoholic drinks at one sitting.
The investigators said that activity levels in several regions of the brain among girls who binge drink were lower than what one would normally find among typical teenagers. …(Source: Medical News Today, 07/17/11)

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

For years, food companies have used advertising, packaging, and brand image to lead people to believe certain products are healthier than they really are. Whether it’s putting a sports star’s face on a Coca-Cola ad, labeling junk food as a “smart choice,” or attaching arbitrary designations such as “all natural” to foods high in fat, sugar, and salt, the food industry knows it must attract health-conscious shoppers. Over the past few years, alcohol companies have begun appropriating many of these misleading advertising techniques. Spirits companies are positioning their vodka as “all natural,” even though the products haven’t changed. Beer companies are sponsoring marathons and running ads showing toned drinkers meeting up at a bar after a work-out. Superstars of grueling, high-endurance sports are being tapped to promote alcoholic beverages. These advertising practices are legally tenuous, morally unsound, and potentially dangerous. Alcohol consumption costs society billions of dollars annually while causing immeasurable human suffering every day. Using health messages to sell products that can cause such widespread harm is not only unethical, it’s illegal, and yet the regulatory system has failed miserably to protect the American public. Because market research shows purchase intent and consumption of a brand increase
when people believe alcoholic products are all-natural or fitness-friendly, intense scrutiny and strict regulation of such misleading claims is essential. This report examines this disturbing trend to promote alcohol as a health and fitness product, analyzes the potential legal implications, and makes policy recommendations. … (Source: Marine Institute, June 2011)

To examine the proportion of self-reported alcohol consumed by different gender and age groups in Brazil over the past year, and to examine whether the “prevention paradox” applies to Brazilian data on alcohol-related problems.
A multistage cluster sample, representative of the Brazilian household population 14 years of age or older (N=3007). The response rate was 66.4%.
The top 2.5% of the drinkers by volume consume 14.9%, the top 5% consume 27.4%, and the top 10% consume 44.2% of all alcohol consumed in Brazil. Men consume 77.8% of the total alcohol, and 18 to 29 year olds consume 40.3%. Individuals below risky drinking guidelines for weekly volumetric intake account for 49-50% of all problem drinkers and 45-47% of all problem types reported. Individuals who do not binge or who binge infrequently (1-3 times/year) account for 50-51% of all problem drinkers and 45-46% of all reported problem types. Most binge drinkers are low volume drinkers. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/13/11)

We examined the association between pre-teen alcohol use initiation and the victimization and perpetration of bullying among middle and high school students in Georgia. …
Pre-teen alcohol use initiation is an important risk factor for both the perpetration and victimization of bullying among boys and girls in Georgia. Increased efforts to delay and reduce early alcohol use through clinical interventions, education and policies may also positively impact other health risk behaviors, including bullying. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/12/11)

Hosted by MEP Elzbieta Lukacijewska (EPP, Poland)
Key note speaker European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Mr John Dalli
Place: European Parliament – Brussels; Date: Wednesday 7th September; Time: 12h30 – 15h00; Room: A3 E2
This event is jointly organized by European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare) and the Polish State Agency for State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol-Related Problems (PARPA) to mark International Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Day.
For more information please contact: aleksandra.kaczmarek@eurocare.org. Click to register

Current alcohol consumption guidelines are inadequate for the prevention of cancer and new international guidelines are needed, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/site/embargo/cmaj110363.pdf.
Guidelines in some countries are not currently based on evidence for long-term harm. Most guidelines are based on studies that assessed the short-term effects of alcohol, such as social and psychological issues and hospital admissions, and were not designed to prevent chronic diseases. As well, in some countries, alcohol producers were either part of working groups defining sensible drinking or instrumental in dissemination of the guidelines. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 07/11/11)