www.alkoholpolitik.ch

Gasolina-CapriSun Following in the footsteps of brands like Four Loko and Blast who use colorful, youth-oriented packaging and pop-culture icons to market their products to an underage, urban demographic, newcomer Gasolina Urban Blends has upped the ante with its “Party in a Pouch“ line: Brightly colored, 200-ml aluminum pouches complete with little straws inside to suck up the vodka, tequila, and rum, plus some fruit juice.
These pouches look remarkably similar to Capri Sun. Yes, the same packaging you see at youth soccer games across the country has now been repurposed for easy-access, take-anywhere alcohol. … (Source: Marin Institute, 06/29/11)

Marin Institute, the alcohol industry watchdog, released a new study today: Questionable Health Claims by Alcohol Companies: From Protein Vodka to Weight-Loss Beer. The report analyzes Big Alcohol’s latest marketing scheme to jump on the healthy product bandwagon made popular by the food industry. But, the report concludes, when it comes to alcoholic beverages, such marketing messages are “legally tenuous, morally unsound, and potentially dangerous.”
“The wine industry has been exaggerating wine’s health benefits for years. Now Big Alcohol is taking such messages to a whole new level,” said Marin Institute’s Research and Policy Director Michele Simon, JD, MPH and coauthor of the report. “Major alcohol companies are exploiting ineffective or non-existent regulatory oversight with deceptive marketing and potentially dangerous products.” … (Source: Marin Institute, 06/29/11)

NATIONAL STUDY REVEALS:
ORIGINS OF AN EPIDEMIC, TEEN SUBSTANCE USE AMERICA’S #1 PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM.
90 PERCENT OF AMERICANS SUFFERING FROM ADDICTION STARTED SMOKING, DRINKING, OR USING OTHER DRUGS BEFORE AGE 18.
ALMOST HALF OF ALL AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SMOKE, DRINK, OR USE OTHER DRUGS.
Nine out of 10 Americans who meet the medical criteria for addiction started smoking, drinking, or using other drugs before age 18, according to a national study released today by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.
Adolescent Substance Use: America’s #1 Public Health Problem reveals that adolescence is the critical period for the initiation of substance use and its consequences. The CASA report finds 1 in 4 Americans who began using any addictive substance before age 18 are addicted, compared to 1 in 25 Americans who started using at age 21 or older.
Adolescent Substance Use at Epidemic Levels:
The CASA report underscores the fact that addiction is a disease with adolescent origins. The underdeveloped teen brain makes it likelier that teens will take risks, including using addictive substances that interfere with brain development, impair judgment and heighten their risk of addiction. (Source: CASA press release, 06/29/11)

– reports the Telegraph. A survey found 47 per cent of alcopops had been on offer in the past year, compared to only 20 per cent of red wines and 10 per cent of after-dinner tipples such as port. The Health Secretary recently called on supermarkets to take further action on front of store sales as part of the controversial Responsibilty Deal. (Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 06/29/11) telegraph.co.uk, 06/05/11

The Royal College of Psychiatrists of London has published a report related primarily to problems of unrecognized alcohol misuse among the elderly. The report provides guidelines for psychiatrists and family physicians on how to find and how to treat elderly people with misuse of alcohol and drugs. Forum members consider it very important to identify abusive drinking among the elderly and this report provides specific and very reasonable recommendations to assist practitioners in both the identification and treatment of such problems. … (Source: Medical News Today, 06/28/11)

It’s considered a rite of passage among young people – acting out their independence through heavy, episodic drinking. But a new University of Cincinnati study, the first of its kind nationally, is showing how binge drinking among adolescents and young adults could be causing serious damage to a brain that’s still under development at this age.
Researcher Tim McQueeny, a doctoral student in the UC Department of Psychology, is presenting the findings this week at the 34th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism in Atlanta. … (Source: Medical News Today, 06/28/11)

An analysis of three years worth of data from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) shows that the vast majority of alcohol sales to minors occur at locations other than the full-service supermarkets and specialty grocers that use assisted self-checkout stands.
The examination of disciplinary actions from January 1, 2008 to March 11, 2011, all public data found on the ABC website, shows that the ABC filed almost 2,300 accusations against off-sale license holders (which include supermarkets and liquor stores) throughout California for selling alcohol to minors.
Of these accusations, fewer than 7 percent were lodged against specialty grocery stores and big box retailers, most of which do not yet use assisted self-checkout technology.
Large, chain supermarkets that do increasingly use assisted self-checkout stands accounted for less than 4 percent of the accusations. Fresh & Easy stores, which use only self-checkout stands, accounted for only 2 accusations. (Source: Google Alcohol News, 06/28/11) trading-house.net, 06/28/11

Alkohol- und Tabaktestkäufe durch Jugendliche in Läden und Restaurants im Kanton Zürich werden gesetzlich geregelt. Der Kantonsrat hat einer entsprechenden Parlamentarischen Initiative von SP, CVP und EDU in zweiter Lesung mit 82 zu 64 Stimmen zugestimmt.
Geregelt werden die Testkäufe mit einer Ergänzung im Gesundheitsgesetz. Gemäss dem Gesetzestext können Kanton und Gemeinden Personen, die das erforderliche Mindestalter noch nicht erreicht haben, mit dem Abschluss von Scheingeschäften betrauen. Die Gesetzesänderung untersteht dem fakultativen Referendum.
Seit Jahren führen Jugendliche im Kanton Zürich im Auftrag der Gemeinden Alkoholtestkäufe durch – ohne gesetzliche Grundlage. … (Quelle: Google Alkohol News, 28.6.11) bielertagblatt.ch, 27.6.11

12.000 Mädchen und Jungen haben sich seit Februar am bundesweiten Plakatwettbewerb der Krankenkasse DAK gegen das Rauschtrinken beteiligt. Als Bundessieger gewählt wurde am Montag der 17-jährige Schüler Jean-Pascal Haas aus Baden-Württemberg. Er gewann mit einem Comicbild voller Geier, die auf jugendliche Alkoholopfer warten, 500 Euro. Den zweiten Platz belegte eine Berliner Schülerin mit einem abgewandelten Beatles-Cover. Dritte wurde eine Schülerin aus Hessen mit einem Bild, das in einer Flasche Gefangene zeigt. … (Quelle: aerzteblatt.de, 27.6.11)

On October the 27th the Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy (STAP) will host the first European network conference on reducing youth drinking by law enforcement. Law enforcement experts and professionals from all over Europe will be able to exchange knowledge and experiences during a conference specifically focussed on enforcing alcohol legislation. Although regulations, policies and responsibilities differ by country, there are similar enforcement topics that apply to all. Effective enforcement of legal age limits is one of the main themes of the conference. Because the knowledge about law enforcement in Europe has grown substantially over the last decades it is the right moment to organise the first European alcohol enforcement meeting. … (Source: stap.nl, 6/27/11)