www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Fueled largely by an increase in distilled spirits advertising on cable television, the growth rate in youths‘ exposure to televised alcohol ads is outpacing that for adults, according to a Dec. 13 news release from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The report by the center indicated that exposure of youths 12 to 20 to alcohol ads on U.S. television increased 71 percent from 2001 to 2009.
The average TV-watching youth saw 366 alcohol ads in 2009.
„One a day is great for vitamins but not for young people being exposed to alcohol advertising,“ said CAMY director David H. Jernigan, Ph.D.
The center said that the latest numbers were an indication of the failure of voluntary marketing standards in the alcohol industry, under which companies place ads in programming with a youth audience no higher than 30 percent. The report found that 13 percent of youths‘ exposure to alcohol ads last year occurred during programming with more than a 30 percent youth audience. (Source: Join Together, 12/20/10)

Polk County, Fla.’s County Commission will ask state legislators to allow it to seek a 1 percent tax on retail alcohol sales to pay for substance abuse treatment and related services.
News Chief reported Dec. 16 that the Polk County Commission is modeling its effort after an initiative in Miami-Dade County, where commissioners won legislative approval to pursue a local option food and beverage tax to finance services for the homeless, including drug and alcohol treatment. Polk County would like an alcohol tax to fund substance use treatment services for all residents in need. (Source: Join Together, 12/20/10)

Alcohol abuse among Native Americans has lead to many woes for these tribal nations. Many tribes have banned alcohol on their reservations, but there is much controversy over what is best for these people.
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, on the border between South Dakota and Nebraska, has been wrestling with their alcohol ban for decades. This reservation was created in 1889, but the prohibition of alcohol sales to American Indians dates back to 1832. Even though it has been an alcohol free reservation since its origin, the tribe has a huge alcohol problem. Four out of every five families in this county have an alcoholic member, and the alcoholism has severe effects here. Unemployment is at 80%, it is the second poorest county in the nation, and life expectancy is the second lowest in the whole Northern Hemisphere. 90% of adult trials on this reservation are directly related to alcohol. Police are swamped with enforcing the alcohol ban and dealing with the mess of those that break the law. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 12/19/10) bloghealthwolrd.blogspot.com, 12/17/10

…By Explaining The Danger Of Alcohol Poisoning
Most of us know a friend, co-worker or relative who passed out at a holiday party. Never assume they are not in danger, especially if it is a teenager, according to the Science Inside Alcohol Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Many teens don’t know their capacity for alcohol, specialists say, and that can put them at risk for alcohol poisoning. Nearly one million high school students nationwide binge drink, which means consuming four to five drinks in a two-hour period, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Binge drinking can lead to alcohol poisoning. (Source: Medical News Today, 12/19/10)

11/10/2011 9:00 am – 12/10/2011 5:00 pm http://www.parpa.pl
The State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol Related Problems is organising an expert conference which will continue on the themes touched upon at the Swedish Presidency Expert Conference. It will be an opportunity to discuss the future of the Alcohol Strategy among policy makers at European, national and municipality levels as well as scientist, public health experts and representatives of the civil society.
The main themes of the conference will include: – alcohol and cancer – alcohol and heart disease – alcohol and liver – alcohol and violence – economic aspect of alcohol related harm
Conference will focus on evidence based policy recommendations and recent research findings. (Source: Eurocare)

With News from the EU-Commission, -Parliament, European Countries, from the WHO, the World, Research and Publication, the Alcohol Industry, etc.
http://eurocare.sydesy.com/press/newsletter/winter_edition_2010

– Thailand will never give trade benefits higher priority than public health, declared Thai Prime Minister Abhisit at this year’s National Alcohol Conference in Bangkok.
More than 800 national and international representatives from civil society, academics, health professionals, government representatives and many other groups, representing millions of people, is a strong force. But is it strong enough to keep alcohol out of the Free Trade Agreements negotiations and strengthen the protection of public health?
This was one of the issues raised during the 6th National Alcohol Conference, NAC, in Thailand, held the 22 – 23 November in Bangkok. This year’s conference was jointly hosted by Center for Alcohol Studies, CAS and Integrated Management of Alcohol Intervention Program, IMAP and the theme for conference was “Alcohol in the Globalized World”. (Source: ADD, 12/13/10)

Youth Rights in alcohol culture – all right? Active proudly presents ALL RIGHTS booklet
Today is Human Rights Day and on this day the European community looks to the situation in China and Liu Xiaobo. While this is important, not least for the children and young people there, it is essential to assure at the same time not to loose sight of the European situation.
“In Europe we’ve developed the bad habit to always think of development countries and dictatorships when we talk about Human Rights violations. While that’s convenient, the truth is that there happen Human Rights, even Children’s Rights violations on our continent. They happen in open street. They happen in children’s rooms. Every day. We cannot afford to waste time to combat them”, says Andrea Lavesson, President of Active – sobriety, friendship and peace.
To live up to the needs and demands of millions of young Europeans, Active today launches its most recent publication: a booklet zooming in on the rights violations caused by alcohol harm and alcohol culture in Europe.
Find the booklet for download: http://www.activeeurope.org/attachedFiles/documents/allrigths_booklet.pdf.
An Active working group, consisting of 12 young Europeans, analyzed every article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Not less than 15 breaches of the UDHR attributable to alcohol harm and the European alcohol culture were found. The severity of breaches is even magnified by decision-makers on all levels who ignore to primarily consider the Best Interest of children whenever deciding on policies.
Studies show that alcohol harm inflicted upon others can be found everywhere and affects children and young people disproportionately. For example, alcohol is a causal factor in 16% of child abuse and neglect. In Germany, between 2000 and 2008 the number of alcohol intoxicated youth ending up in emergency rooms increased by 170%. Alcohol is responsible for 7, 4% of disability and premature death in the EU. (Source: Press Release Active, 12/10/10)

The Supreme Court refused to hear a case brought by student newspapers in Virginia challenging a state ban on alcohol advertising in their pages, The Roanoke Times reported Nov. 30.
The Collegiate Times of Virginia Tech and The Cavalier Daily of the University of Virginia sued the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) in 2006, challenging state regulations that outlawed most alcohol advertising in newspapers serving college students under 21. They argued that the regulations violated their First Amendment rights, Student Press Law Center reported June 9, 2006. (Source: Join Together, 12/01/10)

The HM Treasury today announced plans to change beer duty for certain strengths as part of Government plans ‚to review alcohol taxation to tackle problem drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and important local industries.‘
The Treasury announced its plans to introduce a new additional duty on beers over 7.5% abv in strength and a reduced rate of duty on beers at a strength of 2.8% abv or below. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 11/02/10) hm-treasury.gov.uk, 11/30/10 Comment: Interesting that it is now accepted: The price influences the consumption. But reducing the taxes on beer is an invitation for young people to start earlier. Maybe that’s the reason why this tax reform has been accepted by the industry.