Alcohol Policy UK

Alcohol industry news for 4/10/06

• The Portman Group is undertaking a public review of its Code of Conduct.  Comments are invited, and the consultation ends on 5th January 2007.  Details here.

• Hundreds of marginally profitable pubs in Scotland face a bleak winter as the smoking ban starts to hit profits for the first time since it was introduced in March. Industry sources predict that scores of licensed premises, particularly in rural areas, could be forced to close down under the extra burden of rising costs for labour, energy and council rates. They add that pubs have already started to shut their doors. At least four in Fife and three in Aberdeenshire have been forced to close. “For many, the smoking ban was the final straw,” said Steven Mudie, a vice-president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association. It is also believed that the smoking ban was a contributing factor in the Swallow hotel and pub group’s collapse into receivership two weeks ago. A number of its premises in Scotland had posted declines in patronage since March. According to industry insiders, as many as 10-15% of the nation’s 5200 licensed premises, a sector which produces a combined revenue of about £1.5 billion a year and is a major tourism earner, will struggle to stay out of the red this winter if smokers opt to drink at home. Indeed, the sharp growth in sales of packaged beer suggests that is what many have already started to do.  Sunday Herald

• Carlsberg is urging pubs to usher in a new relaxed drinking concept using its premium Export brand. The Scandinavian relaxed drinking concept of Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) looks to bring a 'home from home' environment into the pub. Darran Britton, marketing director for Carlsberg UK, said: "Carlsberg UK has done extensive research into the growing trend towards relaxed drinking. Research suggests that Hygge is the ideal way to make the most of the opportunities that this presents, and that Carlsberg Export is the ideal brand to bring this to the trade."  The Publican

• A bar owner shut his customers in and called the police after suspecting most of them were underage. Ronny Carter said he took the drastic action at Oxford's G-Bar on Friday night to strike back against under 18s going into pubs and clubs. Each of the 23 people in the downstairs bar had produced apparently authentic identification - such as a driving licence, student card or birth certificate - on the door to prove they were 18 or over. However, after consulting staff at 8.30pm at the bar in Penny Farthing Lane, Mr Carter suspected the IDs might be fake. So he turned the lights on and told those in the bar the police were on their way to check their IDs. continued... Officers arrived within 15 minutes and when a Pc told anyone who was carrying fake IDs to sit down, only one person remained standing, he said. Mr Carter said police agreed there was no way to differentiate between the fake and the real IDs. He said: "It is ridiculous. As a responsible bar owner what am I up against? They buy them on the Internet and they are perfect copies. "I want to send a clear message to any youngsters that try to get in that we won't tolerate it. Sometimes people look 18 and if they have got ID to back it up it is very difficult for the door staff. Unless we have got access to a national database it's almost impossible."  Oxford Mail

Tory conference says drugs do more harm than alcohol

I wouldn't want to try to downplay the level of harm harm related to illicit drugs, but I am surprised that Tories at their party conference today voted against the motion "Alcohol does more harm than drugs".  How were delegates persuaded otherwise?  Not by the facts,  apparently.

• Drug misuse gives rise to between £10 billion and £18 billion a year in social and economic costs (Updated Drug Strategy, 2002, p8 )  whereas alcohol-related harm costs around £20 billion per year (Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England, 2004, p5)

• There are about 250,000 problematic drug users in the UK (Updated Drug Strategy p50) and 1.1 million alcohol dependent people in England (ANARP, 2005, p13) (with 7.1 million drinking at risky levels)

• In 1999 there were 1568 drug related deaths (Reducing Drug-related Deaths, 2004, p4) and an estimated 22,000 alcohol-related deaths each year (ANARP, p2)

• There are between 250.000 and 350.000 children of problem drug users in the UK (Home Office) and between 780,000 and 1.3 million children affected by parental alcohol misuse (Alcohol Strategy, p7)

More info

• BBC report on the debate
• Conservative Home blog, which suggests the result of the debate was not what conference planners anticipated
• Tory policy development on alcohol, which suggests the Social Justice Challenge policy team do understand the issues for alcohol (although the focus on addictions excludes the majority of alcohol problems)

Hypnotherapy for alcohol problems - spread the word

York Press reports today that:

A ground-breaking venture using hypnotherapy to tackle alcohol addiction in York has attracted the attention of drink and drug agencies around the UK. Word has spread about how the hypnosis treatment at the York Alcohol Advice Service (YAAS) is helping problem drinkers beat the battle with the bottle.

Other organisations are now planning to visit and see how the unusual intervention works first-hand with a view to setting up their own project. YAAS, a voluntary sector alcohol counselling organisation in Bootham, does not receive permanent funding for the hypnotherapy project despite its resounding success.

After struggling to get recogntition for the service, this recent flurry of interest follows an article in Drink and Drugs News, here.

More info

• Drink and Drugs News
• York Alcohol Advice Service (YAAS)
• The Corporation of Advanced Hypnotherapy

News for 3/10/06

• The competitive drinking culture of the City is driving more and more bankers, traders and brokers to addiction.  Timesonline

• Drinking does not appear to be associated with the overall incidence of prostate cancer, according to findings published in the International Journal of Cancer. However, men who drink alcohol may have a lower risk of having an aggressive prostate cancer and dying from this cancer.  Reuters

• Visiting students are being reminded to wise up to the "Bath rules" to enjoy a trouble-free night out in the city.  With just weeks to go to the start of the university term, police in Bath are urging students to learn the dos and don'ts or face being fined for their actions.  Police believe that many students studying in Bath are probably unaware that the Three Strikes scheme is in operation which could potentially see them being banned from every pub in the area if they step out of line.  Avon and Somerset Constabulary

• A 'culture of intoxication' has taken hold across the UK, Lancashire university researchers have warned. Members of Lancaster University's criminology team found people under the age of 25 are going to pubs and clubs fully intending to end up very drunk.  A survey of 351 drinkers found most had drunk far more than the recommended daily limit – and were officially binge drinkers.  The study also found little gap between men and women when it comes to heavy drinking.  When interviewed, the women had drunk an average of 5.7 units of alcohol and the men 9.6 units – enough to classify them as 'binge-drinkers' according to the UK definition of six units for women and eight for men.  Criminologist Dr Fiona Measham, who headed the research team, said: "There's a new culture of intoxication in relation to alcohol and illegal drugs in this country.  "People are going out to get drunk and it's this determined drunkenness which is now the norm.  What they drink – shots, alcopops and cocktails – has changed so you can drink quicker and faster." Preston Today.  Research abstract here.

News for 2/10/06

• Landlords in York were have been warned they could lose their licences if drunken customers are served in their pubs.  The city's licensing manager John Lacy, issued the warning after a 19-year-old was sentenced for smashing a pub window at Copmanthorpe.  Shane Ronald Adams, of Moor Lane, Copmanthorpe, was ordered to do a community order with 60 hours' unpaid work after pleading guilty to £391.28 criminal damage at the Fox And Hounds.  District judge Martin Walker said at York Magistrates Court: "If he was drunk in a public house, that tends to suggest he was served alcohol when he was drunk. That is an offence. "I would certainly like the police to bear that in mind if an offence is committed in a public house. I think it is important to look whether a person is served whilst in drink."  Serving drunken people in a pub is a crime. York Press

It is a crime, but how many people get caught?  According to this Parliamentary answer,  just 28 did in 2005 in England and Wales.

• Night-out safety packs which contain a condom and a kit to test drinks for date-rape drugs are to be given to 16-year-olds in Bolton. They have been devised by a group of teenagers concerned about the effects of binge drinking on young people. The Safe Night Out kits also contain a special Alcotop' bottle stopper to put over opened drinks to prevent them being drugged or spiked. And there is an information leaflet spelling out drinking "dos and don'ts" and advice on safe sex. continued... Police and Bolton Council have backed the initiative. The packs are being distributed through youth workers, youth clubs, teenage pregnancy workers and drugs advisers to young people aged 16 and over. They are the brainchild of 18-year-old Zaman Kala, his brother 17-year-old Zaeem and their cousin, Sufiyan Kala, aged 15. They developed the idea after attending Bolton's "Bin the Binge" conference in April to address the high levels of drinking among young people.  This is Lancashire. Details of Bin the Binge from Bury Times.

• A single patient has been admitted drunk to Milton Keynes General Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department a staggering 112 times – at a cost of more than £25,000. The shock revelation was made by Julie Orr, a matron at the hospital, who says that A&E staff are having to deal with an increasing number of drunk patients in the department. Quite often staff can find drunk patients intimidating, aggressive and they can be very difficult to manage," she said. "They are very labour intensive because people can be uncooperative when they are drunk. Nurses are also concerned about the health and social care of much younger age groups being admitted to the department."

She said that during the past six years the youngest patient suffering from the effects of alcohol intoxication was 10 years old and had to be kept in at the hospital for 24 hours under observation. At present the number of alcohol related admissions is not recorded because often a drunk patient could often be treated for an injury rather than the direct effects of drinking.

Ms Orr added: "Alcohol is the reason for attendance and not the cause. Usually they have had a fight or a fall, and we have people who attend because they are intoxicated and have passed out. "We do not know figures because they do not collect them. People come in with a hand injury and you find out later they have had five pints and punched a wall." During the last two weeks of August alcohol-related admissions included: assault, head injuries, lacerations, falls, intoxication, collapse, road traffic accidents and self harm. There are four times as many drunk men than women in A&E and the age usually ranges from 16 to 54 years old.  Milton Keynes Today

Focus on foetal alcohol syndrome

On ITV1 this evening at 8pm, Tonight's Linda Duberley investigates the drinking habits of expectant mothers as fears grow that young women's binge-drinking culture could lead to an explosion in children born with brain damage in the UK.  According to ITV new research shows that even moderate drinking could harm unborn babies but Tonight reveals how few mums-to-be know the permanent damage a tipple can cause or even how to measure their intake.

The Mirror today carries a story about FAS (entitled "A few glasses of wine during pregnancy has wrecked my son's life"), and says:

Shocking research out today reveals that 61% of British women drink alcohol while expecting. And with binge-drinking on the rise, doctors are also predicting an explosion in the number of children born with FAS.

Yet a survey for Tonight With Trevor McDonald shows that 56% of pregnant women are not warned about FAS by their doctor.

Further information

• Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Aware
• FAS World
• National Organisation on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome UK

New research links drinking by young people to risk of injury through violence

Teenagers who drink alcohol are at higher risk of becoming victims of violence, a Cardiff University study has found. A team from the School of Dentistry's Violence Research Group studied drinking habits in children aged 11-16 in England. They found not only a link between drink and aggression but also that children who drank were more likely to be hit, even if they weren't violent themselves.  Medical News Today  Journal of Adolescence abstract

Professor Jonathan Shepherd, who led the research, said a lot of previous alcohol-related violence work had focussed on the offenders rather than the vulnerable. His team is calling for more prevention work by parents and teachers in the first two years of secondary school by capitalising on the "teachable moment" represented by period immediately after missing school of injury because of drunkenness.

Previous work by Professor Shepherd has shown drinkers may be more at risk of violence because of reduced physical co-ordination, poor decision-making in threatening situations and isolation while out late at night. He said: "This new study seems to be the first to show a direct link between alcohol misuse and vulnerability to injury, independent of any link between drinking and fighting. There now needs to be much more effort put into reducing alcohol misuse in order to reduce injury."  Cardiff University press release

Assistant Drugs and Alcohol Business Manager post

Wigan council is seeking

"an innovative and enthusiastic manager to support the Drugs and Alcohol Business Manager in commissioning substance misuse services for the borough and to personally take the lead on the implementation of the borough’s Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy"

Details here; closing date 13th October.

News for 1/10/06

• Wales has opened its first drug and alcohol helpline. It offers bilingual specialist services throughout Wales and is available 24 hours each day. Launching the line at an exhibition of paintings done by offenders as a part of their drug rehabilitation, Minister for Social Justice and Regeneration, Edwina Hart said: "It represents an important step in our continuing efforts to tackle substance misuse and is part of wider aims to improve health as part of Health Challenge Wales. "It will have a major impact on accessing substance misuse treatment and advice and lead to wide ranging benefits for individuals, as well as their families, communities and organisations. The helpline number is 0800 6 33 55 88. All calls from landlines will be free, although some mobile phone networks may charge.  News Wales

• Police have linked a crackdown on under-age drinkers with a drop in violent crime. Officers seized a staggering 50 litres of booze over Friday and Saturday in Inverclyde. Extra patrols swooped from as far afield as Port Glasgow to Inverkip and Wemyss Bay as part of the Safer Scotland campaign. Buckfast, cider and beer, often carried in plastic lemonade bottles, were the most popular confiscated tipples. And as part of the crackdown, drinkers of all ages were reported to the procurator fiscal. A Gourock licensee was also reported to the procurator fiscal for selling alcohol to a 16-year-old boy. But they saved the latest haul to hit home that under-age drinking will not be tolerated. Chief Inspector Tony O'Donnell said: "We launched a high-visibility operation across the estates to identify street drinkers and check out youths hanging around. "The operation has been a success because there were no serious or violent assaults that weekend, which does show a causal link with alcohol."  Greenock Telegraph

• Police are planning an operation to tackle anti-social behaviour among young people in the Isle of Man. Large groups of youths, aged 13 to 16, have been gathering in areas such as Noble's Park and Douglas Promenade. Police said many of them were drinking alcohol, which often led to fighting, vandalism and anti-social behaviour. Sgt Mark Britton, of the Isle of Man Constabulary, urged parents to take responsibility for their children and find out where they were going. The operation comes in response to problems on 22 September when about 150 youths gathered at Noble's Park. BBC News

• A crackdown on underage drinking netted 30 litres of alcohol in Duns on Saturday evening (23/9). Police patrols in Market Square and the Langtongate area of the town were carried out as part of the nationwide initiative, Safer Scotland. After the alcohol was confiscated letters were sent out to the parents of the youth involved. Lothian and Borders Police are now trying to identify the people responsible for supplying the alchol to the children.  Berwickshire Today

• Reporters who carried out a series of undercover tests in the toilets of Crawley's High Street pubs on a Friday evening found traces of cocaine in every single one. Traces of the drug were found around the cistern, toilet-paper dispenser and on tiled services in Bar Med, Liquid Envy, Brannigans, The Rat & Parrot, The Old Punch Bowl, The Brewery Shades, The Ja Ja Bar and The Jubilee Oak. Chris Cordell, manager at Crawley Addaction, an agency dealing with the effects of drug and alcohol misuse, said he was 'not at all surprised' by the results, adding that reporters were 'naïve' if they expected anything different. He said: "It's well known that cocaine users, especially recreational cocaine users, use the drug in facilities where recreation is going on."  Crawley Today

• A senior judge has criticised levels of weekend drink-related violence on the streets of Preston city centre – and says last orders should be 9pm. Judge Robert Brown was summing up in the case of a Saturday night brawl in which one man suffered fractures to his nose and knuckle. At the end of the Preston Crown Court trial, he said: "Alas it seems to have been a typical Saturday night in Preston city centre. "This court would be a much quieter place if they stopped serving alcohol at 9pm."   Lancashire Evening Post

• Insurers have told the family of a British tourist who became critically ill after falling while on holiday in Florida that her cover is invalid because she had been drinking. Kathleen Ackers, 63, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, slipped and hit her head in Orlando. She suffered bleeding to her brain and is in intensive care in hospital. Her husband, Ted, said Halifax Travel Insurance initially agreed to pay for her to be airlifted by helicopter for specialist treatment. But the company changed its mind after learning that Mrs Ackers had drunk enough to make her nearly four times over the legal limit for driving. A clause in the family's insurance policy reads: "Your policy does not cover you for any claim directly or indirectly resulting from…the misuse of alcohol or you being under the influence of alcohol."  Telegraph