Alcohol Policy UK

Links for 5/6/06

• Alcohol has replaced tobacco as Scotland's "public enemy number one" with ministers pledging to clamp down on the country's excessive drinking culture. Following the success of the smoking ban, the Scottish Executive is considering ways of tackling the socially acceptable yet unhealthy national habit of the regular pint or dram. Scotsman

• The latest quarterly figures are showing a downward trend in violent crime in the Wakefield District. Just over 1800 incidents were reported in between 1st February and 30th April 2006, which is down from just over 2100 from 1st November 2005 to 31st January 2006. This represents a decrease of 14%. West Yorkshire Police

• Leeds city centre: retailers, together with pubs and clubs, have joined a new system designed to protect them from shoplifters, thieves, aggressive or drunken behaviour and other problem customers.  The scheme links businesses by radio to the CCTV system, and will mean that individuals banned from pubs will be banned from all businesses.  Yorkshire Post

• A course is being launched by University of York to study the blight of binge drinking on Britain's towns and cities. The one-year Crime and the City masters course is thought to be the first of its kind, and will analyse the changing face of society amid rising levels of anti-social behaviour fuelled by alcohol. Yorkshire Post story; course details here

• Supermarkets in Scotland will be selling lager for as little as 27p a pint during the World Cup, despite a law which bans price promotions in pubs to prevent binge-drinking. Big chains including Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are offering multipacks of alcohol for a fraction of the equivalent cost in bars. It is raising fears that cheap deals, combined with the smoking ban, will see Scots drinking in greater volume at home. Scotsman

Links for 1/6/06

• Fresh calls were made today for alcohol to be banned at children's gala days after violent brawls involving drunk teenagers forced one event to close early. Organisers at Penicuik's gala day had to abandon the celebrations on Saturday. Scotsman

• UK adults and adolescents are among the top binge-drinkers in Europe, according to the first-ever comprehensive EU-wide report on alcohol released today.  The report, funded by the European Commission and written by the UK-based Institute of Alcohol Studies, shows that:
  
  • The UK are one of the top bingeing nations in western Europe, binge-drinking 28 times per year on average – about once every 13 days
  • UK adolescents are also the third-worst binge-drinkers in the EU, with more than a quarter 15-16 olds binge-drinking 3-or-more times in the last month.
  • Alcohol is public health enemy #3, behind only tobacco and high blood pressure, and ahead of obesity, lack of exercise or illicit drugs.
  • Many people suffer due to someone else’s’ drinking – including 5-9 million children living in families damaged by alcohol and the 10,000 ‘innocent’ deaths that occur to bystanders or passengers from drink-drivers.
  • Alcohol is also estimated to cost Europe €125 billion – equivalent to over €650 for every household each year.

IAS press release  Link to the report will posted on the IAS site later today.