Alcohol Policy UK

Cheap alcohol promotions to be banned in Scotland

Cut-price and free alcohol offers in Scottish shops are to be made illegal in a bid to tackle the nation's "destructive" drinking culture. Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said licensing laws would be extended to outlaw drink promotions in corner shops, supermarkets and other stores. Alcohol-related illness kills six people in Scotland every day.

Mr MacAskill said the perception of "drinking to get drunk" should no longer be seen as acceptable. Under the measures, which have come at the start of a long-term drive, shops will also be required to have separate alcohol display areas - a move which will come into effect in 2009.

It is hoped the other restrictions can be brought in early next year. As well as trying to ban promotions such as buy-two-get-one-free deals, ministers are also taking legal advice on how to end the practice of "deep-discounting", where shops sell alcohol at an artificially low price.  BBC News

See alcohol Tesco booze sales slammed in the Greenock Telegraph

Alcohol misusers at risk: fatties, ladettes, bar staff, and Saga louts

• Britons are drinking an extra day’s worth of calories every week through alcohol, and triggering higher protection insurance rates.  According to research commissioned by Standard Life with 3,278 adults, the average UK resident is drinking enough lager, wine, cider and spirits to pack on almost 3,000 calories a week. Mick James, protection marketing manager for Standard Life, said: 'The indirect financial impact of a growing nation can affect anything from your private medical insurance to life insurance and critical illness insurance, which can all be far more expensive if you have a body mass index over the average for your height and age. In the worst case scenario you might actually be declined cover.'  He added: 'Someone with a body mass index over 30 is technically obese. We would typically charge an extra 75% for someone’s life insurance with a BMI between 32.6 and 35.' Citywire

• Growing ladette culture means young women who work in offices are twice as likely to drink themselves to death as the rest of the population.  They are apeing the macho office culture and dying from liver disease, cirrhosis and alcohol poisoning, according to figures.  Actresses and female entertainers who are accused by many of promoting ladette behaviour are also among the most likely to die from drink. Alcohol-related deaths have doubled since 1991 - up from 4,144 to 8,386 last year. And experts fear the toll will rise as the 24-hour drinking culture begins to affect the nation's health. Rising levels of binge-drinking have been blamed for high numbers of mouth cancer cases and babies with developmental problems.  The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that among women, the third most dangerous occupation in terms of risk of dying from alcohol was the office junior.  These are young workers who carry out tasks such as photocopying, delivering mail and data entry.  They are 1.92 times more likely to die from alcohol than the rest of the population.  Daily Mail

• Bar staff are the mostly likely workers to die of alcohol-related problems, figures for England and Wales indicate. The Office for National Statistics data shows bar staff are twice as likely as average to die from conditions such as liver disease or pancreatitis. Least likely to die, according to the figures from 2001 to 2005, were farmers among men and educational assistants among women. Alcohol-related deaths have doubled since 1991. Last year the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed alcohol deaths, which include poisoning but not alcohol-induced accidents, topped 8,000 in 2005, up from just above 4,000 in 1991. The latest study looked at 13,011 deaths among men aged 20 to 64 and 3,655 deaths among women. It showed male bar staff were 2.23 times more liked to die from alcohol than average, while their female colleagues were 2.03 times more likely. BBC News

• A new breed of Saga louts - retired people who drink too much - has been identified by a top psychiatrist, who claims they are second only to twenty-somethings in their appetite for alcohol. Dr Peter Rice says the typical Saga lout is retired, acquired a taste for drinking at home as alcohol prices dropped in the 1970s and 1980s, and is well off enough to enjoy regular evenings knocking back their favourite wines and beers. Rice, a consultant psychiatrist based at Sunnyside Royal Hospital, Montrose, is concerned by the growing number of elderly binge drinkers on his patient list. Rice is so concerned he has flagged up the problem to a Scottish Parliament think-tank, Scotland's Futures Forum, which is investigating ways to reduce alcohol and drug misuse. Recent figures obtained by Scotland on Sunday reveal that in 2001/2 the number of people over the age of 60 admitted to Scottish hospitals with an alcohol-related illness was 8,500. This rose to 10,573 in 2005/6. But the trend among youngsters is down, with 1,733 teenagers aged 15 to 19 admitted in 2001/2, compared with 1,462 in 2005/6.  Scotland on Sunday

Tackling alcohol-related crime and disorder: Safer Scotland; York and Eastbourne stag nights; Wakefield ASBOs

• Scotland: Police cracking down on street drinking have seized enough alcohol to fill a petrol tanker in the past year.  Officers confiscated 17,451 litres as part of a Safer Scotland campaign against knife and alcohol-related violence. The Herald

• Stag and hen parties have a negative impact on York according to the city's tourism partnership, which has asked if they should be banned. The partnership undertook research into people's opinions of the city's night time economy, asking tourists, business owners and residents for their views. Business owners felt that one of the worst aspects of York in the evening was the prevalence of stag and hen parties and that there should be a debate over whether such groups should be confined to one area or even banned completely from staying in the city overnight through hotels and guest houses adhering to a common policy.  York Press

• New pubs, clubs and bars are to be banned from an area in the centre of Eastbourne over fears it will become the stag party capital of the south. Councillors fear the town could become a ‘downmarket party place’ if they do not limit the number of bars and clubs. Eastbourne Borough Council has also decided to make it much harder for venues to extend their opening hours. The ban covers a half a mile square zone which already contains 37 licensed pubs and clubs - more than half of the total for the whole of the town.  Morning Advertiser

• People in the Wakefield District are being warned not to go over the top when they go out, or they could face severe penalties. Strict new measures have been put into place to reduce alcohol related violent crime in Wakefield City Centre. If a person is arrested for assault, public order offences, being drunk or disorderly or any other violent crime, the police will collate data and record it. The person will also be referred to the Wakefield Anti-Social Behaviour Unit, who will instigate intervention work with the individual. This may take the form of receiving a letter warning them about their behaviour or a warning of notice of legal action, or even consideration to seek an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), which could prevent them from entering pubs and clubs within the City Centre along with other conditions.  West Yorkshire Police

Drink better: Shetland's challenge to Scottish drinking culture

Shetland Alcohol and Drug Action Team is to launch an unusual alcohol harm reduction campaign this evening, called Drink Better.  Based on a strategy used in Quebec, Canada, the campaign emphasizes the positive aspects of sensible alcohol use.

More details from Shetland Today, and in a fascinating section of Shetland's 2006 Public Health report, here.

Tackling young people's drinking pt88

• Shopkeepers across Scotland who are suspected of selling booze to under-age drinkers will be the subject of sting operations. New laws came into force today which give the police power to use schoolchildren below the age of 18 in an attempt to catch rogue traders. John Farrell, head of licensing at Strathclyde Police, warned: "This is an operational tool we will certainly be using in our fight to ensure the well being of communities." Evening Times

 

• Lancashire: Police in Darwen have seized 79 bottles of beer, 80 cans of lager, 12 bottles of cider, six bottles of vodka and other alcohol from young people in recent weeks. And most of it was taken from youngsters in Sunnyhurst Woods. One 18-year-old had to be rescued from the river running through the woods and taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital after falling in while he was drunk on March 31.  The Friends of Sunnyhurst Woods are now joining police on the patrols, which will take place every night this week.  Lancashire Telegraph

• Burnley: Police arrested two teenagers and seized 100 litres of alcohol in a crackdown on underage drinking. Two 16-year-olds were arrested for a public order offence on Friday night in the Towneley Park area, Burnley, and were reprimanded for their behaviour. Officers also confiscated 53 cans of lager, 52 bottles of cider, two bottles of vodka and eight bottles of alcopops from youths on the same night.

Burnley Wood with Rosehill beat manager John Fisher said: "I would like to warn youths and their parents that extra patrols are now in operation in this area of Burnley and firm action will be taken by officers against anyone involved in under-age drinking or acting in an anti-social manner. "The extra patrols are just one tactic we are using to address community concerns about anti-social behaviour - other action is also being taken including the closure and boarding up of buildings used by teenage drinkers. "We are also carrying out test purchasing at off-licences."  The Citizen

• Fife: Hundreds of litres of confiscated alcohol were disposed of yesterday as part of a crackdown on youth disorder. Fife police officers poured away a total of 234 litres of alcohol at Scottish Water's waste transfer station in Cowdenbeath. The alcohol will be treated by Scottish Water, diluted and made safe.  The recycling operation followed Fife Police's month-long campaign, Time2Act, to crack down on youth disorder, antisocial behaviour and underage drinking.

Police officers from across Fife returned 131 young people to their parents after they were found on the streets drinking. It was the bottles and cans taken from them which were disposed of yesterday at Cowdenbeath.  The Herald

• Norwich: Families who live near an under-age drinking den today welcomed new powers that help police and trading standards officers tackle anti-social behaviour. Doreen Cochrane, 59, and Robert Raven, 50, both of St Stephen's Square, in the centre of Norwich, have had to put up with long-standing drunken, foul-mouthed behaviour near their homes. They hope new powers to prevent children from getting hold of alcohol, tobacco and fireworks will mean a more peaceful neighbourhood.

Mrs Cochrane, a grandmother-of-three, said: “We're sick and tired of the amount of under-age drinking that goes on in front of our homes."  Pubs and off-licences which repeatedly break the law by selling items to under age people have now been warned they could be shut down. It is hoped the new legislation, which targets the sale of alcohol, tobacco, solvents, fireworks and knives to young people, will help reduce anti-social behaviour.

Police will have the right to close or restrict trading for up to 48 hours if a business persistently sells illegal items to children. This could then be extended for up to three months if the shop owner is convicted. The new legislation comes under the auspices of the Violent Crime Act 2006. Other restrictions will see an increase in the age for tobacco buying from 16 to 18.  Evening News

Tackling young people's drinking pt86

Fife: More than 130 litres of alcohol was confiscated from underage drinkers during an Easter weekend crackdown on youth disorder. At least 63 intoxicated youngsters were also picked up by the police and returned to their parents during the operation by Fife Constabulary. It was the second weekend of a high-level police operation aimed at curbing youth anti-social behaviour.

Operation Time2Act officers will be out on patrol again this weekend. Insp Alex Harkness, of Fife Constabulary's community safety, said: "It's disturbing that so many underagers were found drunk or in possession of alcohol by our Time2Act task force. "Alcohol and young people is such a volatile mixture. Under the influence of alcohol, they are more likely to be both the victims and the perpetrators of crime."

Insp Andy Edmonston Fife Constabulary Insp Andy Edmonston, of Fife Constabulary's crime reduction and divisional planning, said tip-offs from the public are proving an important tool in cracking down on youth disorder. He said: "In Glenrothes, for example, we had received intelligence that fights were planned for Friday night between rival gangs. "At about 7.40pm a number of youths were seen drinking at flats in the Auchmuty area. They ran off when police arrived.

"The area was checked and we found 15 litres of alcohol, a baseball bat and a martial arts weapon. "This is a worrying find and, unfortunately, is consistent with recent drink-fuelled violence involving local youths." Officers armed with hand-held cameras will be patrolling the streets this weekend.  BBC News

Alcohol industry news: UK drinks companies worst for complying with advertising standards; NUT calls for ban on sports sponsorship; smoking ban hits beer sales in Scotland

• Drinks companies in the UK are the worst in western Europe at complying with advertising standards aimed at ensuring responsible consumption, according to an industry-commissioned survey seen by the Financial Times. The findings will fuel the debate about binge drinking in the country. The annual survey of the European Forum for Responsible Drinking (EFRD), which groups seven mostly spirits companies, showed that 96 per cent of advertisements in the 13 European Union countries assessed met standards laid down by national regulators or the industry, on a par with last year. Yet in the UK, which accounted for a third of the advertisements assessed, 7.4 per cent failed stricter standards introduced last year, a sharp increase from 1.4 per cent in 2005.  FT.com

• Drinks companies should be banned from sponsoring professional sport because too many children are slipping into alcoholism, a teachers' union has warned. The 'massive assault of the drinks industry' on sport through advertising and sponsorship must end, National Union of Teachers' general secretary Steve Sinnott demanded yesterday. He warned beer firms which sponsor football are exposing impressionable children to highly damaging messages. Speaking at the NUT's annual conference, Mr Sinnott said: 'This exposure to alcohol is damaging young people's lives and their futures.We are failing our youngsters. 'The sponsorship of sport by the drinks industry must end in advance of the Olympics in 2012.'  Metro.co.uk
  

• Beer sales in Scottish pubs are falling as customers stay away because of the smoking ban, industry figures showed yesterday. The amount of beer sold in pubs last year fell by 6 per cent in Scotland, compared with 4 per cent across the United Kingdom, according to data from the market research analyst AC Nielsen. The discrepancy highlights the added impact of the smoking ban north of the Border, and will raise concerns in Wales, where a ban took effect this week, and in England, where one will be imposed on 1 July. And although there was an increase in wine sales, pub industry leaders said the figures reflected a downturn across the industry which was facing pressure from cheap drink deals in supermarkets. Paul Waterson, chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: "Our own results show turnover figures among our membership are down by 11 per cent. Our figures and yesterday's results confirm that the smoking ban is badly hurting our business, no matter what the politicians say."   The Scotsman

Tackling young people's drinking pt85

• LAGER, cider, brandy and other booze has been confiscated from children as young as 13 in Bridlington. Police have said that in some cases it is parents who are buying the alcohol for their teenagers to drink. Elsewhere older teenagers are getting the booze for their younger friends, but they have been warned they could be given on-the-spot fines of up to £80.

PCSO Richard Bastiman said: "This alcohol has been seized from teenagers who we have found drinking in public, or adults who have been supplying alcohol to children. "We are getting great support and intelligence from off licences and the community wardens and because of CCTV evidence and people wishing to give statements, we are able to issue penalty notices for buying and supplying alcohol.

"With the lighter nights here now, we are going to be very pro-active on tackling this matter in the next couple of months." Under 16s who are spotted drinking alcohol by the PCSOs are instantly taken home to their parents. Those who are 16 or 17 and are found drinking in public or supplying alcohol, or adults who are supplying booze, face fines of up to £80.  Bridlington Today

• Dispersing groups of up to 30 youths drinking on the streets of Bridgnorth is to become a top priority for police. People living in the town have called on officers to stamp out the problem, which becomes worse during the summer months. Last month it emerged parents were purchasing alcohol on behalf of their children and leaving them to drink it in the streets.

At last week’s Police and Communities Together (Pact) meeting, residents voted under-age drinkers as one of the major issues affecting Bridgnorth. Sergeant Bob Matthews said: “Anti-social behaviour and youth alcohol, predominately in the High Street from early Thursday evenings and through the weekend, is a concern.

“It is something we are going to be looking at for quite a while and with the weather getting nicer people stay out longer.We have had reports that up to 30 youths at one time congregate outside of Tesco up until about 9.30pm. It is something that needs sorting out. “We hope to speak to the staff to see if they have had any problems and also some of the kids to find out what they are doing.” Shropshirestar.com

• North East: Pubs are facing closure in the biggest crackdown on underage drinking the region has ever seen. The Home Office campaign will start on May 4 and will involve police and licensing authorities enforcing the law banning the sale of alcohol to under 18s. The Tackling Underage Sales of Alcohol campaign will last ten weeks and will target known troublespots. Last month, workers in three North West Durham pubs were issued with £80 fines for serving two 16-year-old girls in a police operation. It is believed to be the first time such fines have been imposed in the North East. Plain clothes officers visited the Ram's Head, in Langley Park, the King's Head, in Lanchester, and the Jolly Drover's, in Leadgate.  Sunday Sun

• WELL worth while - that's how licensees have hailed a new course aimed at giving retailers who supply alcohol a better understanding of their responsibilities.  Employees are given practical tips about how to deal with alcohol related crime and disorder. The laws concerning under age drinking and serving anyone who appears to be drunk are spelt out in great detail. "Most retailers take their responsibilities very seriously and they are aware of the social problems that can arise through under age drinking," said Eric McKay, owner of the Londis store in Hough Green, Widnes.

"The biggest problem appears to be adults buying alcohol for them. It is the one area that I feel the law should be more stringently enforced." The one day course, run by Halton Council and Halton & St Helens PCT, leads to a British Institute of Inn Keeping Awarding Body level 1 award in responsible alcohol retailing. thisisCheshire.co.uk

• CONTROVERSIAL PLANS to introduce alcohol tolerance zones for under-age drinkers in Scotland will not be rolled out in Tayside and Fife in the near future. A pilot scheme announced by North Lanarkshire Council aims to create supervised alcohol shelters in public parks to cut down on loud and aggressive youths hanging around the streets. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and Alcohol Focus Scotland said they will monitor the scheme for possible introduction in other areas. A COSLA spokeswoman said other local authorities would learn from the experience and decide whether it was appropriate for them.

She added, “Local authorities are renowned for developing innovative and creative solutions to problems, such as alcohol abuse, and to addressing the wider issues of anti-social behaviour and community safety.” Dundee City Council insisted that, although they have been made aware of the scheme, they “do not think it is necessary.” A similar response was received from local authorities in Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife. The news will come as a relief to alcohol awareness groups and police who say the move fails to tackle the core problem.  The Courier

Alcohol in the news (Scotland) 22.3.07

• A pressure group has called for a Scottish Parliament inquiry into alcohol-related health problems.  The move comes a month after Health Minister Andy Kerr announced a strategy for tackling alcohol abuse.  Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) is particularly worried about low-cost drink promotions in supermarkets and off-licences.

The group will present a petition to the parliament on Tuesday and will publish its parliamentary manifesto.  The organisation wants the health and community care committee to lead an inquiry into Scotland's alcohol problems.  It wants the Scottish Executive to look at extending the promotions mechanism in the Licensing (Scotland) Act to cover supermarkets, off-licences and shops as a means of preventing the low-cost promotion and sale of alcohol.  BBC News

• Persistent drunken troublemakers would be subjected to weekend "stay-at-home" curfews in Edinburgh under plans being drawn up by Labour councillors ahead of May's local elections. Council wardens and police officers would be charged with keeping track of the offenders in the first instance by simply telephoning them at home.

The move is to be a key manifesto commitment in the city as part of local Labour plans to curb antisocial behaviour. But opposition politicians today condemned the plans as further evidence of a creeping "nanny state" culture and cast doubt on whether they would ever see the light of day. Under the plans, special antisocial behaviour orders would be sought in court, which senior councillors believe judges would agree to without the need for further legislation or anyone being electronically tagged. Anyone caught breaking one of the court orders would face being jailed.  Scotsman

Alcohol in the news: Irish Bishops; Scottish parents

• The Irish bishops’ conference has issued a warning about alcohol in a pastoral letter for Lent. In the letter, the bishops urged people to reduce their intake of alcohol and praised the work of anti-drink groups in Ireland on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Temperance movement by the Capuchin friar Fr Theobold Mathew. The bishops’ letter also pointed out that while Ireland’s relationship with drink could be a positive experience when enjoyed in moderation, statistics show that people in Ireland were drinking more and a time when other EU countries are drinking less.  totalcatholic.com

• Concern was raised after the case of a 12-year-old girl was found lying in a pool of her own vomit in the Clackmannanshire town of Sauchie, close to death after drinking cider, vodka and wine which bought for her by adults. It followed a case at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, where a 16-year-old boy was banned from drinking alcohol and warned he would be jailed if he didn't stop bullying his family.

Conservative MSP Bill Aitken, said there was now a real danger of losing a generation of young people to drink and violence. "There is clearly something wrong with our society when this sort of thing is happening. What on earth are the parents doing? Basically, there does seem to be a complete breakdown in family structures in certain parts of Scotland, and unless parents are willing to take responsibility for children's behaviour, we are in real danger of losing a whole generation," he said. His comments were echoed by Tom Roberts, head of public affairs at the charity Children 1st, who said the Scottish Executive had to look at the underlying reasons for teen alcohol abuse.  Care and Health