www.alkoholpolitik.ch

A new report from Alcohol Concern looks at how children and young people are at risk of being exposed to alcohol marketing and pro-drinking messages via the internet.
‚The report reveals the growing importance to alcohol companies of social networking sites (SNSs) like Facebook and video sharing sites such as YouTube as a means of promoting their products, and the inadequacies of online age verification pages aimed at preventing under 18s from accessing content intended for adults.
It also highlights the frequent practice of users of SNSs posting pictures and descriptions of themselves drinking and being drunk, and asks why so many of us choose to publicise our alcohol consumption in this way.‘ (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 08/23/11)

More than 100 bodegas across the city were busted for selling alcohol to underage customers during a three-day sting by the State Liquor Authority.
The State Liquor Authority visited 212 stores beginning Monday, sending six young men and women inside while a state investigator looked on. At 123 of the undercover visits – or about 58% – the decoys, ages 18 to 20, successfully bought booze.
Of the bodegas visited by the SLA, the Bronx had the highest citation rate. Thirty-eight of the 48 stores – about 79% – sold alcohol to underage spies in the borough. Manhattan wasn’t far behind with 75% of the bodegas selling to customers under the age of 21. …
The state mailed violations to the 123 stores for selling alcohol to minors. First-time offenders face $2,500 fines. Repeat offenders can be slapped with fines of up to $10,000. Business owners can lose their liquor licenses after a third offense. (Source: Join Together, 08/23/11) nydailynews.com, 08/19/11

As we prepare to send kids back to classrooms for another school year, it’s important to equip parents and caregivers with the tools for talking with their children about alcohol. This issue is especially personal for me because my beautiful 15-year-old daughter, Alisa Joy, was killed by an underage drunk driver. While the pain of losing a loved one to drunk driving is devastating, we at Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are committed to educating families about how to prevent such needless tragedies.
Teen alcohol use kills 6,000 young people each year, more than all other illegal drugs combined. However, research shows that three out of four teens say their parents are the number one influence on their decisions about alcohol. So it makes sense to provide parents with the tools to effectively harness their tremendous influence. … (Source: Join Together, 08/19/11)

—Results From a Multicenter Cross-sectional Study
To assess alcohol use and problem drinking among university students in the German Federal State of North Rhine–Westphalia (NRW) and to examine the associated factors.
A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 16 universities in 2006–2007 in NRW by a standardized questionnaire and 3,306 students provided information (response rate of 88%). Problem drinking was measured by the CAGE questionnaire. …
Overall, heavy drinking and problem drinking are common among university students in this sample. Intervention programs should be designed for students at a particularly high risk. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 08/14/11)

by Fiona Ryan, Director of Alcohol Action Ireland, the national charity for alcohol-related issues.
WE LOVE TO talk about Ireland’s alcohol culture – it allows us to speculate about how we drink and why we drink, without ever actually doing anything about it.
We can engage in romantic notions of the dark Celtic soul, or question if as a nation we just have an addictive personality. In the meantime, one person dies every seven hours from an alcohol-related cause. Alcohol is the biggest killer of young people in Ireland and 100,000 kids – enough to fill Croke Park and then some – are impacted by their parents’ drinking. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 08/15/11) businessinsider.com, 08/10/11

Koforidua, Aug 9, GNA – Dr Eugene Dordoye, a psychiatrist with the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has suggested that alcohol should be declared a public health hazard. He said alcohol intake was resulting in many diseases claiming lives but because alcohol was not a national health issue its related diseases were not being measured. Dr Dordoye, who spoke to the GNA after addressing a five- day Youth Alive Camp in Koforidua, said alcohol effects were measured by the psychiatric hospitals because of its known effects on mental health. … (Source: Alcohol Reports, 08/15/11) ghananewsagency.org, 08/10/11

An online course that demonstrates the consequences of excessive drinking appears to significantly reduce the most common types of alcohol-related problems among freshman, including binge drinking and sexual assault. The program, called AlcoholEdu for College, has students imagine themselves in real-life situations, such as being with a friend who drinks too much and goes wild, and asks them what they would do. … (Source: Join Together, 08/15/11)

Based on a Danish birth cohort (n=9182), a high risk group of sons of alcoholic fathers (HR, n=223) and a low risk group of sons without parental alcoholism (LR, n=106) has been followed prospectively from pregnancy to age 40.
The HR sons are characterized by a high prevalence of alcohol dependence (31%) and a high rate of remission (55%).
Most powerful predictors for alcohol dependence in adulthood are: low birth weight, ADHD, conduct disorder, low cognitive efficiency and high behavioural dyscontrol in childhood.
A 50 year follow-up examination of the sample, including DNA-testing, is planned in the nearest future. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 08/11/11)

To determine the effect of age, sex, and cohort on the prevalence and genetic architecture of adolescent alcohol use (AAU). Design Survey study in participants registered with the Netherlands Twin Register. Setting Twins from the general population.
Two cohorts (data collected in 1993 and 2005-8) of twins aged 13-15, 16-17 and 18-21. In 1993 and 2005-8 a total of respectively 3269 and 8207 twins took part.
Survey data on initiation and frequency of alcohol use and quantity of alcohol consumed. …
In the Netherlands, the prevalence of alcohol initiation, frequency and quantity has increased in adolescents over a 15 year period, but there are no changes in the genetic architecture of adolescent alcohol use. (Source: Alcohol Reports, 08/11/11)

Holding alcohol retailers liable for injuries or damage done by their intoxicated customers can reduce motor vehicle deaths, homicides, injuries, and other alcohol-related problems, according to the Community Preventive Services Task Force. The independent, nonfederal, volunteer body of public health and prevention experts has determined that commercial host liability, otherwise known as dram shop liability, can be an effective intervention for reducing alcohol-related harms. … (Source: Google Alcohol News, 08/10/11) finanznachrichten.de, 10.8.11