www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Nurse-led Interventions Can Help 40% Of Alcoholics To Abstain From Alcohol, UK.
Regular information and advice sessions from alcohol specialist nurses could help 40% of dependent drinkers to give up alcohol altogether according to research presented at the Royal College of Nursing’s 2010 International /Research Conference in Gateshead. Source: Medical News Today, 5/17/10)

With International Convention In San Antonio. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) celebrates 75 years of „one alcoholic talking to another“ as over 40,000 AA members from around the world gather in San Antonio for the 2010 International Convention, July 1-4. (Source: Medical News Today, 5/17/10)

HIV disease tends to progress at a faster rate in infected individuals who consume two or more alcoholic drinks a day, according to an important new paper in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online.
The article, entitled „Alcohol Use Accelerates HIV Disease Progression,“ clearly demonstrates that frequent alcohol use, defined as two or more drinks daily, is associated with declining CD4+ cell counts (which indicate a weakened immune system) in individuals with HIV disease who either are or are not receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). (Source: Medical News Today, 5/14/10)

..as Marin Institute hosts a San Francisco benefit screening on June 24th at the Fort Mason Cowell Theater (6:00 – 9:00 pm). The movie was written and directed by Peter Bratt, starring Benjamin Bratt.
Buy Tickets Online LinkTickets $50
La Mission was filmed in San Francisco’s Mission District and portrays a proud man’s struggle to accept a changing society, living in a neighborhood battling to end its own cycle of violence and intolerance.
Marin Institute will honor brothers Peter and Benjamin Bratt with our first ever Barky Award for „Inspirational Media Leadership.“ Senator Mark Leno will moderate a question and answer session with Peter and the stars after the film. We invite you to become a sponsor of this event or advertise in the program book.
La Mission features Benjamin Bratt as Che, a reformed inmate and recovering alcoholic. Marin Institute supports La Mission because the movie raises awareness of how alcohol and violence touches the lives of everyone. La Mission sends the right message. Help Marin Institute continue its fight against the Big Alcohol companies.
See complete La Mission event information at http://www.marininstitute.org/site/about-us/events.html

The bill signed into law by President Obama on March 23 includes addiction and mental health services in its basic benefits package and is being broadly praised by treatment, prevention and recovery leaders.
According to an analysis from the Legal Action Center (LAC), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590) requires a basic benefit package for all health plans in the individual market and small-group markets. „All such plans will be required to cover mental health and substance use disorder services,“ according to LAC, which said the measure represents a „ground-breaking expansion of addiction and mental health coverage of prevention, treatment and recovery.“ (Source: Join Together, 4/9/10)

New presentation added, 4/8/10

While previous twin studies have consistently shown the importance of genetic influences on various measures of alcohol consumption, a full diagnostic assessment can be complicated and lengthy. This has led some researchers to ask: To what extent do measures of alcohol consumption accurately index the genetic risk for alcohol dependence (AD)? Findings indicate that four relatively simple measures of alcohol consumption were able to capture all (in women) or a very large proportion (in men) of the genetic risk for AD. (Source: Medical News Today, 4/6/10)

On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, the California Assembly Health Committee will vote one more time on AB 1694 (Beall, San Jose), a bill to collect a reasonable 5 cents per drink fee from Big Alcohol, to fund California’s Alcohol-Related Services Program.
Passage of AB 1694 will provide $700+ million annually to the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. This new revenue will help ease the state’s deficit. The funds will also preserve existing treatment, prevention and recovery programs and create many new jobs in these areas to assure all California residents have access to critical alcohol-related harm mitigation services.
Californians need this because alcohol-related harm costs all of us $38.4 billion annually. Yet Big Alcohol pays virtually nothing to offset this harm.
Please let the new Chair of the Assembly Health Committee and five other key members know TODAY that they need to vote YES on AB 1694. It’s a vote that 85% percent of their constituents support.
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://action.marininstitute.org/link/target/mi/FffqB5RB.aspx

A federally funded treatment and prevention program is being credited with a 32-percent decline in fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) cases among Native Americans in Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported Feb. 19.
The $29-million program, which also included a multimedia education campaign, „did turn the corner,“ said Diane Casto of the state Division of Behavioral Health. „What we know about prevention … you need to get the message out strongly, consistently, over and over again. It gave a good kick-start.“
The rate of children born with FAS among native populations declined from about 20 per 10,000 births in 1996 to 13.5 in 2002, according to state officials. Also, fewer children were born with alcohol spectrum disorders.
By contrast, the FAS rate among non-Native residents in Alaska did not drop. (Source: Join Together, 3/18/10)

Poll: Maryland Residents Support Alcohol Tax Increase to Support Treatment. A poll commissioned by the Maryland chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence found that 72 percent of state residents back a proposed 10-cent-per-drink tax if the revenues were used to pay for addiction treatment, services for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, and healthcare for uninsured residents. (Source: Join Together, 3/5/10)