www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Key points of the fact sheet are:
* Effective alcohol marketing regulations are an essential control measure in a comprehensive alcohol policy that aims to decrease alcohol-related harm and to protect young people.
* Effective alcohol marketing regulations are recommended to restrict the volume of alcohol marketing practices to protect harmful exposure to alcohol advertising among young people.
* When alcohol marketing practices are allowed, also content restrictions are recommended to allow alcohol advertisements that contain solely product information.
* Volume and content restrictions are only effective when a strong regulatory system supports the enforcement of the regulation.
* Alcohol marketing regulations in France and Norway can be seen as best practices in Europe: here strong volume or content restrictions go together with a strong supportive regulation system.
* Legislation is significantly more effective than self-regulation systems in ensuring the combination between strong restrictions and an effective supporting system.
De Bruijn and Van den Broeck (2011) have developed a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of existing alcohol marketing regulations and have used this to analyse which European countries have the best and worst regulations. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/20/11) eucam.info, 06/17/11

Monitoring Alcohol Marketing in Africa – MAMPA Project is a new report released by the Africa Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO). The study on alcohol marketing was commissioned by the WHO Regional Office for Africa in 2010. The background was an intention to support governments decide on what measures to take regarding alcohol advertising. In order to inform such decisions insight into the impact of advertising, specifically in terms of volume, frequency, and content of alcohol advertising and promotion is essential. …
Among the recommendations of the report is for governments to recognize that a comprehensive ban on advertising, promotion and sponsorship would reduce alcohol-related harm, and that selfregulation is an ineffective mechanism to reduce alcohol related harm, effective legislation is necessary to strictly regulate alcohol marketing activities. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/20/11) WHO-Report, 06/20/11

In the United States, the blood-alcohol limit may be 0.08 percent, but no amount of alcohol seems to be safe for driving, according to a University of California, San Diego sociologist. A study led by David Phillips and published in the journal Addiction finds that blood-alcohol levels well below the U.S. legal limit are associated with incapacitating injury and death.
Phillips, with coauthor Kimberly M. Brewer, also of UC San Diego, examined official data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This dataset includes information on all persons in the U.S. who were involved in fatal car accidents – 1,495,667 people in the years 1994 to 2008. The researchers used FARS because it is nationally comprehensive, covering all U.S. counties, all days of the week and all times of day, and, perhaps most important, reports on blood-alcohol content in increments of 0.01.
All the accidents included in FARS are, by definition, severe. But the authors looked at different levels of accident severity by examining the ratio of severe injuries to minor ones.
„Accidents are 36.6 percent more severe even when alcohol was barely detectable in a driver’s blood,“ Phillips said. Even with a BAC of 0.01, Phillips and Brewer write, there are 4.33 serious injuries for every non-serious injury versus 3.17 for sober drivers.
… We hope that our study might influence not only U.S. legislators, but also foreign legislators, in providing empirical evidence for lowering the legal BAC even more,“ Phillips said. „Doing so is very likely to reduce incapacitating injuries and to save lives.“ (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/20/11) eurekalert.org, 06/20/11

Correcting Mortality Data from Kaunas (Lithuania).
To assess the proportion of deaths assigned to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) which in fact were caused by the toxic effects of alcohol, and how this may affect the official statistics of mortality from IHD in Lithuania. …
A significant number of alcohol-attributable deaths in Lithuania were misclassified as coronary deaths, accounting for almost one-tenth of officially registered deaths from IHD in ages 25–64. A high prevalence of positive post-mortem blood or urine alcohol tests suggests that the proportion of alcohol-related deaths among out-of-hospital IHD deaths may be actually even higher. A similar situation may be present in some other countries where high levels of alcohol consumption and binge drinking patterns are observed. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/18/11)

In 2008 the Lithuanian Parliament accepted an amendment to the Alcohol Control Law that would install a comprehensive ban on alcohol advertising in the year 2012. Now with only 6 months left the pressure to withdraw the ban is steadily rising. The alcohol industry has stepped up its lobbying activities and politicians are backing out.
The Lithuanian National Tobacco and Alcohol Control Coalition reports that Sven Langeneckert, Vice President of the Carlsberg Group traveled to Lithuania to convince the prime minister why the total ban must be stopped. Lietuvos Rytas, a Lithuanian newspaper
even quoted the Carlsberg Vice President as saying that the company would leave the country if the ban would come into force. Such a withdrawal could possibly have a severe impact on the Lithuanian economy as Carlsberg owns the countries’ leading brewery
Svyturys-Utenos Alus. The quote was later denied by Carlsberg, stating that ‘Mr Langeneckert’s words were misinterpreted’, and that the group would not withdraw from Lithuania’. (Source: Eucam, 06/17/11) Comment: In other countries the parliament not even dares to accept such a law.

This study differs from other research: it develops evidence of how different domains of influence work together, understanding their relative importance in tackling different patterns of drinking among different groups.
The study involved a survey of 5,700 teenagers aged 13–14 (Year 9) and 15–16 (Year 11) in schools in England and data was statistically modelled to highlight the strongest influences on and predictors of young people’s drinking. (Source: Alcohol Reports: 06/17/11)

People who own guns are twice as likely to binge drink and to drink and drive, compared with those who don’t own firearms, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis found that heavy alcohol use was most common among firearm owners who also engaged in behaviors such as carrying a firearm for protection against other people, and keeping a firearm at home that was both loaded and not locked away. The study included the results of a telephone survey of more than 15,000 people in eight states.
In the journal Injury Prevention, the researchers conclude that firearm ownership and specific firearm-related behaviors are associated with alcohol-related risk behaviors. … (Source: Join Together, 06/16/11)

Budapest, Hungary, June 16, 2011- The European Union is the heaviest drinking region in the world. Therefore, in Europe we suffer from the highest alcohol related problems. It is estimated that 58 million adults in the EU drink at risky levels, and 23 million are alcohol addicted. Alcohol constitutes the primary risk factor for accidents, injuries and violence. Approximately half of the deaths attributable to alcohol are from injuries.
This issue is being addressed at the 3rd European injury prevention conference, organised by EuroSafe in cooperation with the Hungarian Presidency of the European Council. Today stakeholders in the prevention of accidents and injuries from Europe and other continents meet in Budapest to exchange, debate and discuss the latest results in injury research, policies and practices. … (Source: Eurocare, Active Press Release, 06/16/11)

Number 1 / 2011 (Alcohol Reports, 06/13/11)
Alcohol policy is becoming a truly global issue (PDF)
The rise of the total abstinence model. Recommendations regarding alcohol use during pregnancy in Finland and Denmark (PDF)
The effects of missing data when surveying alcohol habits (PDF)
Alcohol-related mishaps on weekends in Reykjavík (PDF)
A window to alcohol problems and politics in Africa. Kettil Bruun Society Meeting in Uganda (PDF)

Number 2 / 2011 (Alcohol Reports, 06/13/11)
In control and out of control. The discourse on intoxication among young Finnish women in the 1980s and 2000s (PDF)
Risky drinking of alcohol in Sweden: A randomized population survey comparing web- and paper-based self-reports (PDF)
The Drinking Habit Survey revival (PDF)

The Coalition to Ban Alcohol Ads from Public Property organized a lively grassroots rally in Los Angeles City Hall Plaza this morning to send a message to the L.A. Board of Public Works that promoting alcohol on city-owned bus benches was a really bad idea. The Board heard the concerns and agreed by asking for a full ban on all alcohol ads in the new contract. The contractor, Martin Outdoor Media, LLC quickly agreed. There will be no alcohol ads on 6,000 L.A. city-owned bus benches. This will reduce youth exposure to messages that are feeding an epidemic of underage alcohol consumption and harm. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 06/13/11) prnewswire.com, 06/10/11