Some media stories since the January round-up:
Mancunian Matters reports on University of Manchester research findings that women who drink alcohol at moderate to heavy levels in the early stages of their pregnancy risk damaging the growth of cells in their placenta. Cell growth was stunted at roughly two to three drinks whilst alcohol at very low concentrations didn’t have any effect on growth or function.
Women who harm their unborn babies by drinking alcohol during pregnancy could be found guilty of a criminal offence, claims the Daily Mail. A new legal test case claims a six-year-old girl who suffered brain damage due to alcohol exposure in the womb is the victim of a crime.
Meanwhile, the number of babies being born with alcohol poisoning in Britain has increased significantly over the past years because of mothers with drinking habits, according to a study by Centre for Social Justice think tank, reported by PressTV.
Alcohol-related hospital admissions in Scotland fell by just over 7% during 2012/13, according to the Daily Record. The drop in cases has been welcomed by public health minister Michael Matheson, but he warned that rates are still too high and continued to make the case for minimum pricing.
The Guardian reports that Age UK has called for action to tackle the "growing and serious" problem of excessive drinking in older age after ONS figures revealed the number of alcohol-related deaths among people aged 75 and over has increased to their highest level since records began in 1991.
Research, published in The Lancet, says 25% of Russian men die before they are 55, and most of the deaths are down to alcohol. The comparable UK figure is 7%, reports the BBC.
Trade and Industry
David Cameron has ordered a rethink on extending pub licensing hours for England's opening football World Cup match in Brazil this summer after the Home Office ruled it out, reports the Morning Advertiser.
Leading licensing lawyers have warned that new legislation tightening closure powers on the licensed trade could be “enormously damaging”, leading to increased police intervention and loss of trade, according to the Morning Advertiser.
CAMRA has announced that 300 pubs have now been listed as Assets of Community Value. Pubs are now the most listed buildings in the UK giving councils greater ability to refuse planning applications and providing community groups with additional time to save a valued local pub if it is for sale. Communities are then able to raise cash to purchase and re-open the pub. The Morning Advertiser gives the background.
The latest CGA-CAMRA Pub Tracker, covering the period of April-December 2013, shows that the number of net pub closures in the UK has risen from 26 to 28 per week.
Islington Council in London has approved the introduction of a late-night levy (LNL), which could act as a “watershed” for other authorities in the capital to follow, reports the Morning Advertiser. Islington is the third council to implement a LNL after Newcastle and Cheltenham. Meanwhile, trade figures have welcomed Blackpool Council’s licensing committee’s rejection of an early morning restriction order (EMRO), which would have banned the sale of alcohol in licensed premises in the town from 3am to 6am, says the Morning Advertiser. There are currently no EMROs in place.
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