Drinks giant attacks plans to combat alcohol abuse

Distilling boss says SNP plans are unfair and do not target real problem drinkers
By Colin Donald, Business Editor

THE WORLD'S biggest drinks company Diageo has launched a scathing assault on the Scottish government's plans to combat alcohol abuse, claiming that the SNP's approach is "unfair" and will not achieve its objective.

Benet Slay, managing director of Diageo Great Britain, said the SNP's discussion paper, Changing Scotland's Relationship With Alcohol, unfairly penalises responsible consumers, lacks an evidential basis, ignores recent progress on problem drinking and risks producing "unintended consequences" in direct opposition to its stated aims.

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“Alcohol” previews on SL before New York City engagement
by Scarlett Qi
August 29, 2008


BROADWAY LIVE SOUTH: Thirty-two Second Life residents were treated to a one day, two performance, preview showing of a new play called “Alcohol” at the Broadway Live South Theatre. The play will be opening at the real life Players Theatre Loft in Greenwich Village, New York on September 11.
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New Toolkit Available to Influence Decision-Makers on Drinking Age

August 28, 2008

Last week´s news of college presidents supporting the Amethyst Initiative, which seeks to revisit the debate on the legal drinking age and encourages lawmakers to lower it, generated media coverage in both national and local media outlets, and sparked a public debate on the merits of lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. CADCA joined MADD in opposing the initiative and is urging grassroots prevention organizations to launch a community-wide educational campaign to shed light on the importance of keeping the drinking age at 21.

To help community coalitions in their efforts, CADCA has developed a Support 21 Community Toolkit. The online toolkit includes the following components:

 Sample letter for college presidents
 Contact Information Sheet of college presidents
 Sample Op-Ed for local newspapers
 News release template
 Tips on How to Hold Editorial Board Meetings
 Fact Sheets & Stats
 National & Local News Clips
 Helpful Resources & Links

The Toolkit contains key statistics and research that will help coalitions make the case that lowering the drinking age is a bad solution to a preventable problem.
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Dramatic increase in women alcoholics

Published: 30 Aug 08

Alcoholism among women in Sweden increased by 50 percent to 100,000 between 2003 and 2007, a new report from the National Institute of Public Health has shown.

The number of men classified as alcoholics has increased by 25 percent to 165,000 over the period, the study shows.

Sven Andréasson, chief physician at Stockholm's addiction centre and head of the institute's alcohol and narcotics department, gave his view of the reasons behind the development in a full-page opinion article in Dagens Nyheter on Saturday.

"Alcohol taxes have been cut, private imports have increased, the number of restaurant alcohol licences has increased, (and) opening hours have been extended at both restaurants and state liquor stores."

"It is well known that the concentration of licences premises and opening hours have a significant effect on violence and other alcohol related problems," he argued.

The study was conducted from 2003-2007 in 12 municipalities across Sweden. It showed that alcoholism had increased despite the fact that total alcohol consumption has remained unchanged for several years.
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Alcohol and the EU no 6
September 2008

Table of contents

Alcohol Strategy Focus:
EU Alcohol and Health Forum update 1
Alcohol on the Swedish EU presidency agenda 1

Competition:
Reform of the wine regime: 1st phase into force 2

Sales and marketing:
Website on health launched by global beer producer 2
Strong resistance to health labelling of alcoholic beverages 2

Taxation and customs:
The effect of the single market on excise taxes 3

Research:
Registered vs unregistered consumption: total consumption still matters 3

Public health:
Wine organisation urge for standard drink units 3
European Commission: “Higher taxes most important action against smoking 4

Reports:
Alcohol use and mental health among adolescents 4
European alcohol policy conference: presentations available 4
Almost 400,000 Swedish children have parents with alcohol problems 4


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Forbidden fruit: learning to drink responsibly

Regarding alcohol, middle and high schools' only message is 'just say no.' That leaves alcohol education to parents and, increasingly, colleges, where newfound freedom can send students off track.

By Susan Brink, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 1, 2008

Whether the legal drinking age is 18, 21 or something in between, at some point the odds are better than even that eventually a young adult is going to have that first drink. About 61% of American adults 18 or older said they've had alcohol in the last year, according to a 2006 national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the most part, lessons in how to drink come through experimentation with excess, essentially trial and error, exploring how much can be consumed, as young people go through what has become a rite of passage to adulthood.

"It's a forbidden-fruit sort of thing," says Brenda Chabon, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Montefiore Medical Center, New York. "We haven't done a good job on educating kids. We kind of demonize alcohol on one hand and embrace it in another way.
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New Report on the Consequences of Privatizing Retail Alcohol Sales

[2007-11-30]

What potential consequences would a modification or abolishment of the Swedish alcohol monopoly have on public health? This question is the focus of a new publication from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health. The report, written by an international team of experts, presents the potential effects of a privatization of the current system of selling alcohol.

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Ultra-brief intervention for problem drinkers: Research Protocol
BMC Public Health 2008, 8:298

Helping the large number of problem drinkers who will never seek treatment is a challenging issue. Public health initiatives employing educational materials or mass media campaigns have met with mixed success. However, clinical research has developed effective brief interventions to help problem drinkers. This project will employ an intervention that has been validated in clinical settings and then modified into an ultra-brief format suitable for use as a public health intervention. The major objective of this study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial to establish the effectiveness of an ultra-brief, personalized feedback intervention for problem drinkers.

Problem drinkers recruited on a baseline population telephone survey conducted in a major metropolitan city in Canada will be randomized to one of three conditions - a personalized feedback pamphlet condition, a control pamphlet condition, or a no intervention control condition. In the week after the baseline survey, households in the two pamphlet conditions will be sent their respective pamphlets. Changes in drinking will be assessed post intervention at three-month and six-month follow-ups. Drinking outcomes will be compared between experimental conditions using Structural Equation Modeling. The primary hypothesis is that problem drinkers from households who receive the personalized feedback pamphlet intervention will display significantly improved drinking outcomes at three and six-month follow-ups as compared to problem drinkers from households in the no intervention control condition. Secondary hypotheses will test the impact of the intervention on help seeking, and explore the mediating or moderating role of perceived drinking norms, perceived alcohol risks and the problem drinker's social reasons for drinking.

This trial will provide information on the effectiveness of a pamphlet-based personalized feedback intervention for problem drinkers in a community setting. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registration #NCT00688584.

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Alcohol-Attributable Deaths and Years of Potential Life Lost Among American Indians and Alaska Natives --- United States, 2001--2005
MMWR August 29, 2008 / 57(34);938-941

Excessive alcohol consumption is a leading preventable cause of death in the United States (1) and has substantial public health impact on American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations (2).

To estimate the average annual number of alcohol-attributable deaths (AADs) and years of potential life lost (YPLLs) among AI/ANs in the United States, CDC analyzed 2001--2005 data (the most recent data available), using death certificate data and CDC Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) software.*

This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that AADs accounted for 11.7% of all AI/AN deaths, that the age-adjusted AAD rate for AI/ANs was approximately twice that of the U.S. general population, and that AI/ANs lose 6.4 more years of potential life per AAD compared with persons in the U.S. general population (36.3 versus 29.9 years).

These findings underscore the importance of implementing effective population-based interventions to prevent excessive alcohol consumption and to reduce alcohol-attributable morbidity and mortality among AI/ANs.


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A Message in a Bottle: Extrapharmacological Effects of Alcohol on Aggression
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Article in Press 19 August 2008


The physiological and expectancy effects of alcohol consumption on the aggressive behavior of 116 general-population males aged 18-45 years were analyzed separately in a naturalistic field experiment using a 3x3 Balanced Placebo Design (BPD).

Participants were given a nonalcoholic drink, a drink targeting a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .05%, or a drink targeting a BAC of .1%. Within these three groups, three expectancy levels were induced regarding the quantity of alcohol ingested. Aggressive behavior was measured as retaliation against an aggressive confederate, in the form of amounts of hot sauce and salt administered in a taste test.

Expectancies significantly increased aggressive behavior, whereas actual quantity of alcohol ingested was unrelated to aggression. Aggressive dispositions also predicted aggressive behavior.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: Laurent.Begue@upmf-grenoble.fr
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Dry Law: Homicides 'with intent' fall 46.9% in Rio

‘Homicides with intent’* in the state of Rio de Janeiro have been reduced by approximately half since the `dry law´ was enacted for motor vehicle drivers in Brazil. On July 24, a report issued by the Institute of Public Security of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Instituto de Segurança Pública do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, ISP) found that violent homicides have dropped 46.9%. The data cover deaths resulting from offenses with intention of causing death.

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Accessing Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Online Webcast

With the advent of the Internet in the mid-90s, the number of available options for finding addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery support services has grown exponentially. Nowadays one can search online and instantly find an extensive list of materials and providers, locate them immediately on an interactive map, read testimonials of people who are struggling with similar issues or have already overcome them, and find support in a sea of chat rooms and Web sites. Today's youth, in particular, are more technologically savvy than ever. Youth-oriented social Web sites can serve as a forum for developing skills and abilities to stay away from addictive substances, for realizing one has a problem, and for offering avenues toward unprecedented treatment methods such as "e-therapy" and "virtual support groups." This program will highlight the state of recovery in the 21st century and examine how technology has revamped the field of substance use disorder prevention and addiction treatment.

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Recovery Management and Recovery Oriented Systems of Care: Scientific Rationale and Promising Practice


This monograph, by William White, is sure to be regarded as a seminal work in the addictions treatment literature, as it is the first and most comprehensive attempt to lay out the empirical support for moving to recovery-oriented systems of care.
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The Recovery Bill of Rights

is a statement of the principle that all Americans have a right to recover from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. It was developed and adopted by Faces & Voices of Recovery‘s board of directors and has been endorsed by allied national organizations. We call on all Americans and our elected officials to take action to build communities of recovery that will support the more than 22 million Americans and their families still needing help and to end discrimination facing millions in long-term recovery.


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Old Enough to Vote, Enlist and Marry, but to Drink?

August 28, 2008; Page A14

The call by college presidents and others to lower the drinking age to 18 years old ("Bid to Reconsider Drinking Age Taps Unlikely Supporters," U.S. News, Aug. 21) is an idea whose time is long passed. One major outcome of such a foolhardy idea would be to increase the rate of illegal drinking of 16- and 17-year-olds far above what it is now. Paramedics would be scraping more adolescents off the pavement and responding to more cases of alcohol toxicity in high-school parking lots and university dorms.

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Moves to let alcohol flow in Sweden

von David Ibison (Stockholm)

It's difficult to determine where the principles really lie in country with state owned monopolies on alcohol and gambling. Sweden's 'systems' have many critics, and EU-backed online services are already devising loopholes.

Travel to a small town outside Stockholm and it is not unusual to see a discreetly parked van, back door open, offloading crates of beer and spirits to a throng of cash-paying customers.

The clientele are not shuffling drunks but well turned out, middle-class Swedes, prepared to risk breaking the law to bypass the high prices at Systembolaget, the state-owned alcohol monopoly, known by its Stalinist nickname "Systemet" - or "The System".

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Improving the faith-based initiative

Web Extra: The Access to Recovery program allows individuals to choose where they receive help

Marvin Olasky

The faith-based initiative during President Bush’s first term did almost nothing to challenge Washington-centric social services spending. Recently, though, the White House has tried to redirect parts of the funding process.

About $100 million a year in support of anti-addiction and anti-alcoholism programs now goes out through the Access to Recovery program (ATR), which emphasizes vouchers that can be used at God-centered programs, or at secular or superficially religious ones. For example, the conventional grant-making process does not allow involvement by Teen Challenge programs, since they refuse to give up their religious emphasis, but 13 Teen Challenge centers in nine states received funding through vouchers.

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Combined effects of alcohol and distraction on driving performance
Accident Analysis & Prevention Volume 40, Issue 5, September 2008, Pages 1742-1749

Although alcohol and distraction are often cited as significant risk factors for traffic crashes, most research has considered them in isolation.

It is therefore necessary to consider the interactions between alcohol and distraction impairment sources, especially when examining the relationship between behavior and crash risk.

In a driving simulator, the primary goal was to maintain a safe headway to a lead vehicle and the secondary goal was to maintain stable lane position. All participants engaged in distractions that represented different levels of resource competition and half of the participants consumed alcohol (target BAC 0.08 g/dl). Specific comparisons were made between sober driving while distracted and driving intoxicated without distraction.

Distraction tasks produced more changes in driving behavior than did alcohol for both longitudinal (primary) and lateral (secondary) driving goals. Alcohol impairment was evident only in relation to lateral driving performance, however there was an amplification of impairment when alcohol and distraction conditions were combined.

Distraction resulted in a general level of impairment across all driving goals, whereas participants with alcohol appeared to shed secondary driving goals to “protect” primary driving goals.

Drivers’ strategies to cope with alcohol (and distraction) may not be sufficient to offset the increased crash risk.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: mickr@alumni.clemson.edu
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Prevalence of alcohol and drugs among Norwegian motor vehicle drivers: A roadside survey
Accident Analysis & Prevention Volume 40, Issue 5, September 2008, Pages 1765-1772

The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of alcohol, psychoactive medicinal drugs and illegal drugs among drivers in Norwegian road traffic.

Drivers of motor vehicles were selected from April 2005 to April 2006 in the south-eastern part of Norway, surrounding, but not including the capital, Oslo. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling procedure was used. In the first stage, random road sites and time intervals were selected, and in the second stage, drivers were stopped by random at those sites and time intervals. Altogether about 12,000 drivers were asked to provide a sample of oral fluid (saliva) and answer a few questions. Samples of oral fluid were obtained from 88% of the drivers, of whom 30% were females and 70% males. The prevalence of each drug was estimated by a weighted average using weights adjusted for under- or over-sampling compared to traffic statistics.

Alcohol or drugs were found in oral fluid samples of 4.5% of the drivers; alcohol in 0.4%, psychoactive medicinal drugs in 3.4%, and illegal drugs in 1.0%. Illegal drugs were found more frequently in samples from younger drivers, while psychoactive medicinal drugs were more frequently found in samples from older drivers.

Psychoactive medicinal drugs were more prevalent among females than males, among drivers stopped on working days rather than weekends, and among those who reported annual driving distances less than 16,000 km. The drugs found most frequently were zopiclone (1.4%), benzodiazepines (1.4%), codeine (0.8%), tetrahydrocannabinol (0.6%) and amphetamines (0.3%). Two or more drugs were found in 0.6% of the samples, corresponding to 15% of the drug-positive drivers.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: Hallvard.Gjerde@fhi.no
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Hot Topic: Minimum Legal Drinking Age

Once again under discussion is the topic of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA), also referred to as the age 21 laws. Campus and community leaders are examining all sides to this issue, reviewing reputable research and discussing how the drinking age plays out practically on campus.

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Report Finds Older Drinking Age Saves Lives

August 22, 2008

A higher drinking age really does save lives, according to a new study. In what is considered one of the most comprehensive studies on the minimum legal drinking age, research reveals an 11 percent drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths among those under age 21.

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Global survey highlights need for cancer prevention campaigns to correct misbeliefs

GENEVA, Switzerland - Many people hold mistaken beliefs about what causes cancer, tending to inflate the threat from environmental factors that have relatively little impact while minimizing the hazards of behaviours well established as cancer risk factors, according to the first global survey on the topic.

The survey, conducted by Roy Morgan Research and Gallup International on behalf of the International Union of Against Cancer (UICC), identified key areas where misconceptions could be addressed and where lives could be saved.
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Key findings from the survey include: People in high-income countries were the least likely to believe that drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer. In that group, 42% said alcohol does not increase the risk. That compares with only 26% of respondents in middle-income countries and 15% in low-income countries saying that alcohol use does not increase the risk of cancer. In fact, cancer risk rises as alcohol intake increases

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Opinion - Colleges' misguided plan for drinking

College presidents are wrong. Data clearly show the damage done by letting 18- to 20 year-olds drink.

By Robert Nash Parker
August 27, 2008

Awell-intentioned but misguided group of college and university presidents has been in the news recently for suggesting that we revisit the drinking age and asserting that 21 "is not working." Called the Amethyst Initiative, their proposal would have received a failing grade in my sociology classroom for its faulty logic and how unmindful it is of the history of alcohol policy in this country.
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National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, 2008
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

Substance abuse is an unrelenting evil that destroys lives, ruins families, and endangers neighborhoods. During National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, we emphasize our commitment to alcohol and drug addiction prevention. This month is also an opportunity to recognize those who have had the courage to combat and overcome addiction.
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French curb on alcohol sales as teenagers discover le binge drinking

Adam Sage in Paris

Teenagers are to be banned from buying alcohol in France, as health advisers dismiss the cherished Gallic belief that children should be initiated in the art of wine-drinking at an early age.

With British-style binge drinking gaining ground among French youth, officials say they want to send out a clear message against adolescent consumption. Roselyne Bachelot, the Health Minister, said that she was planning to make it illegal to sell alcohol to the under18s, with legislation likely to be introduced next year.

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How big a problem is alcohol misuse by young people in London?

The Health and Public Services Committee is investigating alcohol misuse by young people in order to make recommendations on the best approach to tackle the problem – and is calling people of all ages to send in their opinions and experiences. For the purposes of this inquiry the Committee is using ‘young people’ to refer to two groups: 11 to 15 year olds and 16 to 21 year olds.

Binge drinking and alcohol-related hospital admissions by young people are a growing concern in England. Among 35 European countries, the UK has the third highest proportion of 15 year olds (24%) that have been drunk 10 times or more. Although a lot of work is being done in London to tackle alcohol misuse, there is no clear picture of just how big the problem is in the capital.

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Who drinks most of the total alcohol in young men—risky single occasion drinking as normative behaviour
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on August 22, 2008


The objectives of this study were to analyse (a) the distribution of risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD) among 19-year-old men in Switzerland and (b) to show the percentage of all alcohol consumption in the form of RSOD.

264 recruits were never seen by the research staff, 3536 of the remaining 3852 conscripts completed a questionnaire which showed that 7.2% abstained from alcohol and 75.5% of those drinking had an RSOD day at least monthly. The typical frequency of drinking was 1–3 days per week on weekends. The average quantity on weekends was about seven drinks, 69.3% of the total weekly consumption was in the form of RSOD days, and of all the alcohol consumed, 96.2% was by drinkers who had RSOD days at least once a month.

Among young men, RSOD constitutes the norm. Prevention consequently must address the total population and not only high-risk drinkers.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: gerhard.gmel@chuv.ch
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News Release - Hazelden Board of Trustees Names Long-Time Twin Cities Health Care Executive

MINNEAPOLIS (August 25, 2008)

Mark G. Mishek, a Minnesota native with extensive executive-level experience in health care, was named Monday as President and CEO of Hazelden, the national non-profit organization that helps people reclaim their lives from addiction. The appointment was made by the Hazelden Board of Trustees.
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Editorial: Let's have a sober discussion of campus boozing

08/25/2008

College presidents generally are loath to take stands on hot-button issues. So it speaks volumes about the extent of underage alcohol use that 123 college presidents - including Santa Clara University's Paul Locatelli - are calling for a public debate on the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age.

Lowering the drinking age is not the answer to binge drinking in college. It would only push the problem down to high school, where some students drink even now, and increase the number of teens who die in car accidents.

But we agree that it's time to talk about this problem. Young people, parents and communities suffer from the trend of overt, excessive drinking in the late teens. What we need is a culture change in teenagers' approach to drinking, and lowering the drinking age won't help bring that about.

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News release - Pub industry issues challenge to BMA on “unjust” tax

25.08.2008

Sensible majority not willing to pay more for bad minority, says BBPA poll

The British Medical Association is wrong to argue that responsible drinkers are willing to pay more tax on alcohol to deal with the behaviour of an irresponsible minority, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.

In a letter to the BMA’s Head of Science and Ethics, Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BBPA Chief Executive Rob Hayward points to new polling that indicates that the public overwhelmingly believes that higher taxes unfairly penalise sensible drinkers and will not significantly reduce binge drinking.
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News Release - Alcohol consumption can cause too much cell death, fetal abnormalities

Toni Baker - 2008 August 25

The initial signs of fetal alcohol syndrome are slight but classic: facial malformations such as a flat and high upper lip, small eye openings and a short nose.

Researchers want to know if those facial clues can help them figure out how much alcohol it takes during what point in development to cause these and other lifelong problems.

They have good evidence that just a few glasses of wine over an hour in the first few weeks of fetal life, typically before a woman knows she's pregnant, increases cell death. Too few cells are then left to properly form the face and possibly the brain and spinal cord.

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Rethinking the drinking age of 21


America's alcohol law has led to increased fatalities and a culture of binge drinking at colleges. It must be re-examined

• John McCardell
• guardian.co.uk,
• Friday August 22 2008

In the academic world, as in the world at large, there are data, statistics, charts, correlations and formulae. These methods, of course, have great value. They allow us to take a macro view of significant public problems and see patterns that can lead to informed decision-making.

Such an approach has informed much of our public policy on the subject of alcohol over the past 25 years. We have studied and restudied traffic fatalities, rates of binge drinking and brain development. Even when the findings are inconsistent, even contradictory, we have tried to frame policies whose effects can be best measured by more data, statistics, charts, correlations and formulae.

But also in the academic world, as in the world at large, behind every individual statistic is a human story, and sometimes those stories, individually and even cumulatively, challenge what the supposedly objective data appear to show.

This reality, too, has informed how we view alcohol and its effects, and it is this increasingly frequent conflict - between what science purports to show us and what experience in fact demonstrates - that we might locate the current debate over the effects of America's 21-year-old drinking age.

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