Health - Ad Limits Seen as Way to Curb Youth Smoking and Drinking

NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Published: May 22, 2007

Price-cutting and other marketing strategies widely used by the tobacco and alcoholic beverage industries are highly effective in encouraging children and teenagers to smoke and drink, according to two new studies.

In one study, researchers showed that point-of-sale advertising and other marketing significantly increase the likelihood that junior and senior high school students will try smoking
or become habitual smokers. Another has found that exposure to alcohol advertising among sixth graders strongly predicts alcohol use a year later.

That advertising liquor and tobacco increases their sales may not be a revelation. But both studies suggested that fairly simple public policy changes might significantly reduce underage smoking and drinking. . . . . . .

Read Full Article

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Stability of subtypes of natural recovery from alcohol dependence after two years
Addiction 102 (6), 904–908.

The lack of consistent findings in studies on natural recovery from alcohol dependence may reflect heterogeneous subgroups according to social support and problem severity.

In a previous report, we identified the following groups: high severity of dependence, low alcohol-related problems and low social support (low problems–low support: LPLS), high severity of dependence, high alcohol-related problems and medium social support (high problems–medium support: HPMS) and high social support, late age of onset, low severity of dependence and low alcohol-related problems (low problems–high support: LPHS).

However, little is known about the trajectories of these groups. The aim of the present study is to analyse the stability of these three groups report on longer-term outcomes.

Differences between the cluster groups in social support diminished over time; however, even at follow-up, LPLS revealed less social support by friends when compared to LPHS and showed significant higher rates of relapse and utilization of formal help than did HPHS and LPHS.

Data show that the interplay between psychosocial resources and substance-related problems may still account for differences in trajectories of naturally remitted individuals in a 2-year follow-up.

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Reprint Request E-mail: gallus.bischof@ukl.uni-luebeck.de

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Alcoholics Anonymous in Ireland: AA's first European experience
Addiction 102 (6), 879–886.

To trace the evolution of Alcoholics Anonymous in Ireland from its establishment there in 1946, focusing on the efforts of early members to publicize the fellowship and negotiate a role for themselves in relation to existing religious and healthcare institutions.

Anticipated tensions between this fellowship, which had its roots in Evangelical Protestantism, and the politically powerful Roman Catholic Church in Ireland were skillfully avoided; initial hostility from the medical profession quickly dissipated; and AA distanced itself from policy debate on the wider topic of alcoholism as disease.

The relatively smooth introduction of AA to Ireland, the first European country in which it was established, may be attributed to the essentially pragmatic nature of the fellowship and the strategic abilities of its early members

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Reprint Request E-mail: sbutler@tcd.ie
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The spatial ecology of alcohol problems: niche theory and assortative drinking
Addiction 102 (6), 870–878.

This paper summarizes several theoretical perspectives that serve to explain observed associations between concentrations of alcohol outlets and alcohol-related problems. A critique of each perspective discusses how each addresses the social etiology of these problems; that is, how, where and why these problems arise in association with alcohol outlets?

Associations between outlets and problems are thought to arise from the concentration of individuals in drinking places (‘flow models’), the attraction of some places for people at risk for problems (‘gravity models’), or because outlets are located in high-risk neighborhoods and have negative social normative effects (‘social contextual models’). None of these approaches explain how some outlets come to have more problems than others (e.g. violent outlets).

An alternative social ecological model is introduced which asserts that the complementary processes of niche marketing and assortative drinking form the social dynamic that explains these relationships. Alcohol sellers ‘niche market’ to select social strata, drinkers return to establishments at which they find people like themselves, and consequent social stratification of the market-place increases the levels of related problems in some outlets.

The proposed mechanism is very general, and suggests that over-concentrations of outlets will lead to stratification of drinking groups and intensification of problems related to those outlets.

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Reprint Request E-mail: paul@prev.org

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Mutations at F637 in the NMDA receptor NR2A subunit M3 domain influence agonist potency, ion channel gating and alcohol action
British Journal of Pharmacology advance online publication 21 May 2007

NMDA receptors are important molecular targets of ethanol action in the CNS. Previous studies have identified a site in membrane-associated domain 3 (M3) of the NR1 subunit and two sites in M4 of the NR2A subunit that influence alcohol action; the sites in NR2A M4 also regulate ion channel gating.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether mutations at the site in the NR2A subunit corresponding to the NR1 M3 site influence alcohol action and ion channel gating.

These results demonstrate that NR2A(F637) influences NMDA receptor affinity, ion channel gating, and ethanol sensitivity. The changes in NMDA receptor affinity are likely to be the result of altered ion channel gating.

In contrast to the cognate site in the NR1 subunit, the action of ethanol does not appear to involve occupation of a critical volume at NR2A(F637).

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Reprint request E-mail: robert.peoples@marquette.edu

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Call for proposals: An exploration of trends in drinking in the four countries of the UK

Project summary: An exploration of trends in drinking in the four countries of the UK.

Deadline:	2pm on Monday 25 June 2007
JRF Committee:	Alcohol Research Committee
Timescale:	Draft report by the end of 2007.
Budget:	£15,000
Key contacts:	Charlie Lloyd (Principal Research Manager), charlie.lloyd@jrf.org.uk Marguerite Owen, marguerite.owen@jrf.org.uk, 01904 615911

Project summary

Proposals are sought for a review of what is known about trends in drinking in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Background

The JRF Alcohol Research Committee (ARC) has recently been set up and will be funding research and development in the alcohol field over a three-year period (2007-2009). At this early stage in the programme, the ARC has identified a need to bring together what is known about trends in drinking in the UK.

Read Full Call for Proposals

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Call for proposals:

A review of initiatives that have resulted in changes in attitudes, knowledge and behaviour

Deadline:	2pm on Monday 25 June 2007
JRF Committee:	Alcohol Research Committee
Timescale:	Draft report within six months
Budget:	£25,000
Key contacts:	Charlie Lloyd (Principal Research Manager), charlie.lloyd@jrf.org.uk Marguerite Owen, marguerite.owen@jrf.org.uk, 01904 615911

The JRF Alcohol Research Committee (ARC) has recently been set up and will be funding research and development in the alcohol field over a three-year period (2007-2009). The ARC has recognised that a number of trends in drinking are causing increasing harms to individuals, families and communities; and wishes to identify approaches which might impact on these trends.

Read Full Call for Proposals
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SMART Recovery News & Views Newsletter
Spring 2007





Inside:
President’s Letter
New Organizational Developments
for SMART Recovery® . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
4-Point ProgramSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
SMART Progress
SMART Recovery®
OnLine (SOL) Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
SMART Recovery® UK Update . . . . . . .3
SMART Recovery® Needs Your Help . . . .4
SMART Recovery® Spanish Meeting . . . .5
Concerned Significant Others:
Help for Families and Friends . . . . . . . .5
Book Review
Get Your Loved One Sober:
Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading,
and Threatening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
SMART Ideas
Love Means… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Self-Acceptance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
How to Get “Self-Control” . . . . . . . . . .8
Donating to SMART Recovery®: . . . . . .9
Recovery Solutions Magazine . . . . . . . .9
Slurpee, Urpee, Icee, Micee . . . . . . . . .10
People Power
Member of the SMART Recovery®
International Advisory Council
Receives Medical Award . . . . . . . . . . .10
Prison Outreach
Rationally Seeing the Purpose in All . . .11
3-Minute REBT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12


Read Full Newsletter (PDF)
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Genuine Episodic Memory Deficits and Executive Dysfunctions in Alcoholic Subjects Early in Abstinence
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles).
20 May 2007

Chronic alcoholism is known to impair episodic memory function, but the specific nature of this impairment is still unclear. Moreover, it has never been established whether episodic memory deficit in alcoholism is an intrinsic memory deficit or whether it has an executive origin.

Thus, the objectives are to specify which episodic memory processes are impaired early in abstinence from alcohol and to determine whether they should be regarded as genuine memory deficits or rather as the indirect consequences of executive impairments.

At alcohol treatment entry, alcoholic patients present genuine episodic memory deficits that cannot be regarded solely as the consequences of executive dysfunctions. These results are in accordance with neuroimaging findings showing hippocampal atrophy.

Moreover, given the involvement of episodic memory and executive functions in alcohol treatment, these data could have clinical implications.

Read Full Abstract

Reprint Request E-mail: neuropsycho@chu-caen.fr

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Red Stripe - calling out to 'the kids'

21st May 2007 17:11

Last weekend, Wells & Young's were kind enough to invite just-drinks to attend The Great Escape festival in Brighton, which was sponsored by its imported beer brand, Red Stripe.

With the promise of some quality live music and beer-fuelled partying, we took time out of our busy schedule of work, work and more work, to find the energy to succumb to the debauchery - It’s not like us at all, we're usually quite shy and restrained.

Having already seen the brand strutting its stuff at The Camden Crawl music festival in London last month, we were pretty geared up for what lay ahead. Fantastic bands, handpicked to appeal to the hearts and minds of the younger underground indie music scene which so many drinks companies strive to reach. . . . . .

Read Full Beverage Business Blog

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Drink and Drugs News
21 May 2007








In this issue
News Round-up
Government challenged over alcohol
consultation • Review follows surge in
European cocaine use • Campaign on
ketamine • UN supports random drug drive
tests • Action on Addiction merger pools
resources • Discrimination still an obstacle
to HIV prevention • Media watch 4

Features Cover story
Looking beyond the drugs
GPs often treat a drug problem without seeing
the person beneath. Tony Birt shares his
experiences; doctors Chris Ford, Linda Harries
and Francis Labinjo suggest improvements
to the primary care landscape. 6
Looking for fresh ideas
We invite Home Office minister
Vernon Coaker to share his approach
to revising the Drugs Strategy. 8
Monitor to deliver
Will the new client monitoring system
‘TOP’ restore faith in data collection by
showing real outcomes? DDN reports.

Now tell us what you want..!
Harninder Athwal tells DDN about a new
movement that aims to divert young women
from drugs and destructive behaviour. 12
Curing bad paperwork
Doctors Adrian Flynn, Rupert White and
Omair Khan found a way of streamlining
their patients’ journey into drug services. 13
Inside innovators
Prison staff share their ideas for tackling
prison drug problems. as DDN reports. 14

Regulars Letters and comment
Commonsense, and fear and bureaucracy. 9
Background briefing
Prof David Clark continues his look at what
treatment could look like if it were based
on the best science possible (part 3). 15
Q&A
More time to answer the last question! 4
Jobs, courses, conferences, tenders 16

Download 21 May 2007 Issue (PDF)
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NMDA receptor trafficking in synaptic plasticity and neuropsychiatric disorders
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8, 413-426 (June 2007)


The number and subunit composition of synaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are not static, but change in a cell- and synapse-specific manner during development and in response to neuronal activity and sensory experience.

Neuronal activity drives not only NMDAR synaptic targeting and incorporation, but also receptor retrieval, differential sorting into the endosomal–lysosomal pathway and lateral diffusion between synaptic and extrasynaptic sites.

An emerging concept is that activity-dependent, bidirectional regulation of NMDAR trafficking provides a dynamic and potentially powerful mechanism for the regulation of synaptic efficacy and remodelling, which, if dysregulated, can contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders such as cocaine addiction, chronic alcohol abuse, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

Read Full Review Text
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Research Highlight
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8, 410-411 (June 2007) |

Molecular neuroscience: Homer's alcohol connection

Leonie Welberg

Many TV-watching readers will be familiar with a certain Homer and his relationship with alcohol. Now, Urizar et al. show that expression of a gene with the same name in a subset of neurons in the Drosophila ellipsoid body plays a part in the flies' sensitivity to and rapid tolerance for ethanol.

Flies grow tolerant to the effects of ethanol vapour after just one exposure, and this tolerance becomes more permanent after multiple exposures. In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying these adaptations, the authors used microarrays to identify Drosophila genes that show altered expression after one or multiple exposures to ethanol vapour. They found that ethanol changed the transcription of many genes, but the investigators focused on the homer gene. Homer is thought to be involved in the regulation of synaptic plasticity, and its expression decreased by 17% and 24% after single and repeated exposures, respectively, to ethanol.

To test whether this gene has a direct and functional role in ethanol-induced behaviours, the authors studied homer null-mutant flies. Exposure to ethanol sedated homer-null mutants 5 minutes earlier on average than wild-type flies. Moreover, a larger percentage of mutants were sedated by the alcohol fumes, indicating that homer mutants displayed increased sensitivity to ethanol. In addition, fewer mutant flies developed rapid tolerance on a second exposure to ethanol than wild-type flies. Homer mutants did not have altered ethanol absorption or metabolism, indicating that the role of homer in regulating sensitivity and rapid tolerance to ethanol is not related to alterations in ethanol levels.

The authors used the UAS/GAL4 system to re-introduce the wild-type homer gene into the CNS and PNS of the mutant flies. The resulting pan-neuronal expression of homer restored both ethanol sensitivity and rapid tolerance. But in which parts of the Drosophila brain is homer crucial for this rescue?

Using immunohistochemistry, Urizar et al. observed staining for the homer protein in most neuropil areas in the wild-type Drosophila brain, including the antennal lobes and the ellipsoid and fan-shaped bodies of the central complex. Next, the authors used different GAL4 lines to drive UAS–homer expression in the null flies in particular regions of the nervous system. Homer expression in most brain areas did not alter the flies' ethanol sensitivity and tolerance. However, gene expression in the R2 and R4 ring neurons — but not in other neurons — of the ellipsoid body resulted in significant rescue of ethanol sensitivity and of rapid tolerance.

This study provides evidence that regulation of sensitivity to and tolerance for ethanol in Drosophila involves a small group of homer-expressing neurons in the ellipsoid body of the central complex, although the precise role of homer is still unclear. Homer is highly homologous to mammalian HOMER1; it remains to be seen whether this protein has a role in adaptation to alcohol in humans.

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Participate in Memorial Day Insurance Equity Action!
“In Washington, the squeaky wheel gets the grease…. So Congress needs to hear from everyone who thinks it's time to bring fairness and equality to insurance coverage for mental illnesses and addictions.” Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), May 2007.

Faces & Voices of Recovery urges you to participate in Memorial Day Insurance Equity Action from May 28th – June 1st when members of Congress will be home for the Memorial Day recess.

Support is growing in Congress for enactment of H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. (Click here for a one page fact sheet.) We need your help to keep the heat on for action in this Congress. We know that the American public supports this law, which is an important step in getting people the help they need to enjoy long-term recovery from addiction.

According to a Peter D. Hart Research Associates and Robert M. Teeter’s Coldwater Corporation national survey for Faces & Voices of Recovery, “a 76% majority of Americans are more likely to vote for a candidate who proposed a law that required health insurance companies to cover recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs the same as other medical conditions.”

Join us this Memorial Day in building support for insurance equity!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Meet with your member of Congress during the Memorial Day recess to urge him or her to push for enactment of H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act. Learn more…
2. Write a letter to the editor, urging Congressional action on the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act this year. Use our Sample Letters to the Editor to send a Letter to the Editor of your local paper during Memorial Day Weekend.
3. Write an Op-Ed for your local newspaper, urging Congressional action on the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act this year. Use our Sample Op-Ed to write an Op-Ed for your local newspaper during Memorial Day Weekend. Read the Op-Ed by Rep. Patrick Kennedy that’s been appearing in newspapers around the country.
4. Encourage others in your community to ask your Representative to take action on the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act this Memorial Day. Learn more...

Thank you for participating in Memorial Day Insurance Equity Action! Email us to let us know what happened!

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STATE OF CALIFORNIA
STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION

May 18, 2007

Dear Interested Party:

Staff has reviewed comments received in response to our February 22, 2007 interested parties meeting regarding the classification and taxation of flavored malt beverages. After considering the comments and information provided to date, staff has identified alternatives and drafted regulatory language that if adopted by the Board, would tax flavored malt beverages as distilled spirits.

Enclosed is the Second Discussion Paper on this subject. This document provides the background, a discussion of the issues and explains alternatives in more detail. Also enclosed for your review is a copy of the draft regulatory language.

A second meeting of interested parties is scheduled for June 6, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 121 (Boardroom) at 450 N Street, Sacramento, California to discuss these alternatives and the draft regulations. . . . .

Read Full Letter and Discussion Paper (PDF)
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Ethanol Induces Long-Term Facilitation of NR2B-NMDA Receptor Activity in the Dorsal Striatum: Implications for Alcohol Drinking Behavior
The Journal of Neuroscience, March 28, 2007, 27(13):3593-3602



Addiction is characterized by compulsive alcohol or drug taking and seeking, and the dorsal striatum has been implicated in such maladaptive persistent habits.

The NMDA receptor (NMDAR), which is a major target of alcohol, is implicated in striatal-based habit learning.

We found that, in the dorsal striatum, alcohol (ethanol) exposure produced an increase in the phosphorylation of the NR2B subunit of the NMDAR, and a corresponding increase in the activity of Fyn kinase, which phosphorylates NR2B.

Our results suggest that the Fyn-mediated phosphorylation and LTF of NR2B-NMDAR activity in the dorsal striatum after exposure to ethanol may underlie aberrant plasticity that contributes to mechanisms underlying alcohol drinking behavior.

Read Full Abstract



Reprint Request E-mail: dorit.ron@ucsf.edu
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Naltrexone’s suppressant effects on drinking are limited to the first 3 months of treatment

Psychopharmacology Online 19 May 2007

Twelve weeks of naltrexone significantly improves drinking outcomes in alcoholics; however, the clinical benefits of naltrexone decline shortly after treatment is discontinued.

The present study investigated whether extended treatment with naltrexone significantly improved drinking outcomes.

The results of this study suggest that administering naltrexone beyond an initial 12 weeks of treatment may not be beneficial to all patients and should be administered along with close medical monitoring to insure compliance.

Read Full Abstract

Reprint Request E-mail: ddavids2@iupui.edu
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Drosophila Homer Is Required in a Small Set of Neurons Including the Ellipsoid Body for Normal Ethanol Sensitivity and Tolerance
The Journal of Neuroscience, April 25, 2007, 27(17):4541-4551





The molecular mechanisms occurring in the nervous system that underlie behavioral responses to ethanol remain poorly understood.

Here, we report that molecular requirements for two of these responses, initial sensitivity and the development of rapid tolerance, comap to the same small set of neurons.

We show that null homer mutant flies exhibit both increased sensitivity to the sedative effects of ethanol and failure to develop normal levels of rapid tolerance. Both the sensitivity and rapid tolerance phenotypes of the homer mutants are rescued by the expression of wild-type homer in a subset of neurons that include the ellipsoid body.

Thus, some of the molecular- and systems-level requirements for these two behavioral responses to ethanol are identical.


Read Full Abstract

Reprint Request E-mail: rdavis@bcm.tmc.edu
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Genetic and Environmental Predictors of Early Alcohol Use

Biological Psychiatry
Volume 61, Issue 11, 1 June 2007, Pages 1228-1234

The goal of the current investigation was to examine genetic and environmental predictors of early alcohol use, a potent predictor of later alcohol dependence.

Early alcohol use was predicted by maltreatment, 5-HTTLPR, and a gene by environment interaction, with increased risk for early alcohol use associated with the s-allele.

Psychopathology at baseline, severity of maltreatment, and poor mother–child relations also predicted early alcohol use.

Maltreated children are at high risk for psychiatric, alcohol, and substance abuse problems.

Examination of genetic and environmental risk and protective factors can help identify those who are most vulnerable and help guide prevention and intervention efforts.

Read Full Abstract

Reprint Request E-mail: joan.kaufman@yale.edu

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News Release: Quebecers and alcohol in 2007: An overall healthy approach, despite specific problems to resolve and certain needs that must be addressed

  MONTREAL, May 17 /CNW Telbec/ - Quebecers have a healthy approach to
alcohol. While, over the past five years, drinking habits have become more
regular and the consumption of wines and spirits has continued to grow,
problems related to overconsumption have not increased. Consumption is
primarily associated with friendly get-togethers, and the context within which
people drink is overall very responsible.

   However, three to five percent of the population still drink to abusive
and indeed dangerous levels, seven percent of drivers admit to having taken
the wheel with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit, and, in certain
sectors, awareness of the issues surrounding alcohol use is on the decline.

   But most Quebecers are also thirsty for knowledge - about the impact that
alcohol has on health, about how to talk about drinking with children, and
about how to drink more responsibly. The credibility of Educ'alcool has
reached an all-time high, and the organization is committed to responding to
this need for information in the coming five years.

   Such were the main findings of a major five-year study conducted by CROP
on behalf of Educ'alcool and released today by Educ'alcool chairman, Jean-Guy
Dubuc.

. . . . Read Full News Release
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