Alcohol Review

"Alcohol Review has become an essential way to keep on top of international alcohol news, evidence and policy changes—with a strong basis in science." Please support dedicated alcohol reporting, events, media monitoring and fact-checking. https://lnkd.in/dX8mt5E5

"The 2022 [US] trends include a 6% decline in the overall alcohol induced mortality rate, after more than a decade of increases," said a recent report from the NGO Trust for America's Health, calling for evidence-based policies. Report: https://lnkd.in/dqmSWpMh Despite the slight downturn alcohol death rates are still around a third above pre-pandemic levels. Among the factors is a failure to increase alcohol taxes, the most effective policies against alcohol harm, with some not budging since the late 70s. https://lnkd.in/dmUZ-t_u

UPDATE: The UK Men's Sheds Association acknowledged concerns from health experts and shed users about its partnership with alcohol giant Diageo, while highlighting the benefits of the controversial deal. https://lnkd.in/dQCrwn-A

"The Oregon Health Authority has released new data revealing that eight Oregonians die each day due to alcohol, a dramatic 30% leap over just three years... Beer taxes are less than 1 cent per bottle, and haven’t been raised since 1977." [Oregon Recovers] https://lnkd.in/dA9ggUeQ

"Consumption of [no-los] is more common among riskier drinkers of alcohol and among more advantaged social groups...," says a new study. On the degree to which they may take the place of alcoholic drinks it says "more evidence is needed". [Parvati Perman-Howe] AR Alcohol-free drinks coverage often implies they may reduce alcohol harm. There is not much to back this up. At the same time ads for alcohol free beers sharing a brand with an alcoholic one likely makes matters worse. This all deflects attention from policies known to work. The alcohol industry itself says alcohol-free beers are mainly taking market share from water and soft drinks rather than alcoholic beer. This is said to reassure twitchy shareholders rather than inform public health, but the facts should be the same. (see https://lnkd.in/dfEurB2M) Clearly, more research is needed. In the meantime it is perhaps worth noting it would make little sense for a business to move its customers away from its highly addictive core product to one with no addictive qualities at all. So that is, most likely, not what is happening. https://lnkd.in/d2_dMNhF

Increasing alcohol tax in line with inflation and economic growth is the first of a dozen recommendations to Sri Lankan presidential candidates from the country's Alcohol and Drug Information Center. https://lnkd.in/gZpJNfrB

"A 39-year-old woman from Rijsbergen has appeared in court, charged with attempting to kill her baby by drinking alcohol and using drugs while pregnant, Omroep Brabant has reported." https://lnkd.in/dsAVyyGj "When [scientists] exaggerate effects, fail to account for important confounds, and use stigmatising language, we perpetuate the ideas that policies like these are warranted," said drug researcher Camille Cioffi, Ph.D. in a comment on this post (See https://lnkd.in/dVzM8fhP) The judge has described it as a "unique case". The accused woman being in a secret location where she will be barred from alcohol and drugs and contact with the child's father before the court decides how to continue on November 19th. (See https://lnkd.in/dxfddeGT)

"The main segment losing out to no-alcohol drinks [according to the IWSR] is not full-strength beverages but other non-alcoholic options such as water or soft drinks," the Financial Times says, yet still credits alcohol-free drinks for more moderate drinking. https://lnkd.in/d5t-ba5u AR: The net effect of alcohol free drinks on alcohol consumption is, in fact, not known. Meanwhile alcohol-free drinks sharing and alcohol brand are used as a vehicle for alcohol brand marketing to huge audiences, including people who find moderating difficult and to children, driving up alcohol consumption. It is important to be open to innovative solutions, but there is no evidence to suggest alcohol free drinks are such a thing. The problem is not even remotely in hand. The UK's alcohol deaths remain at record highs, with the government consistently failing to act.

"Men’s health is a national concern," says the Local Government Association, citing high levels of alcohol drinking as a contributing factor to illness and earlier death. It offers eight case studies of council initiatives to reduce the problem. https://lnkd.in/duHj-jYE The initiatives reached men through football, walking, barbers shops, photography, nostalgia, a farm livestock market and schools. One initiative set up a Men's Shed, a charity recently criticised for partnering with alcohol giant Diageo. https://lnkd.in/dQCrwn-A

An expert panel in Australia examining how to best prevent violence against women and children has called for tighter alcohol and gambling laws. This includes "restrictions on alcohol sale, advertising and delivery time frames", the panel's report says. https://lnkd.in/dc8cnY4z “We encourage National Cabinet to adopt the recommendations relating to alcohol in full," says Caterina Giorgi, head of Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), welcoming the panel's recommendations. (see https://lnkd.in/d4naj2rB) The report can be found here https://lnkd.in/gUjyV4yb The review points to studies showing men in alcohol and other drug interventions are unusually likely to be perpetrators, while alcohol problems are associated with inflicting more serious injuries. Alcohol and other drug problems are also unusually common among victims. "Over 1 in 3 incidents of physical intimate partner violence involve alcohol, and alcohol-related incidents are twice as likely to involve severe physical violence and life-threatening injuries," it says. "A failure to consider domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) in alcohol policy has allowed unprecedented growth in alcohol availability, both in the density of liquor outlets and the length of online delivery hours," an omission linked to more cases, the report says. The report calls on state and territory governments to prioritise the prevention of this type of violence. It also calls for restrictions on alcohol advertising during sporting events, given the spike in such violence during these events and their large audiences of children.