Alcohol Policy UK

Parents who provide children with alcohol: what's the problem?

Any PR guru worth their salt knows a story about children drinking has a strong chance of making some headlines. Churchill Insurance recently demonstrated this with a new survey reporting half of parents with children under 14 allow them to drink at home, making it into plenty of the nationals - BBC.

But why so much attention to issue? Interest in children and adolescent's drinking is likely to be driven by many factors, including perhaps the apparent complexity of the question 'is it OK to give my child alcohol?'. On the one hand, parents might recognise alcohol as a potentially dangerous drug, but may also say supervised drinking at home is safer and teaches 'responsible' alcohol use. The argument may sound logical, but is not exactly supported by the CMO's evidence.

PHE CLeaR alcohol self-assessment tool to support local strategy

Public Health England (PHE) have released an alcohol CLeaR self-assessment tool which aims to 'bring together all those working to reduce alcohol-related harm in a locality to think through what is working well and to identify the opportunities for further improvement'.

CLeaR stands for 3 linked domains in local alcohol strategy planning, adopted from a similar model for smoking:

Events & dates: alcohol & smoking, schools education, digital, City Health 2016 & more

Selected alcohol events and opportunities forthcoming in 2016:

Free UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies event

A free two day conference in collaboration with the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies takes place on 29 and 30th September in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Day one will focus on the attempt to implement evidence-based policies in a challenging political environment while day two will look at the impact of the two substances on the healthcare system. See here for more information and to register an interest in attending.

Behavioural science and technology in alcohol reduction services

Key policy issues still fought as white cider back under fire

White ciders and 'super strength' drinks have been a regular feature in alcohol policy debates over the years. This month a letter published in Clinical Medicine reminded readers of research that found all cheap strong cider drinkers in Scotland are 'dependent, and possibly ill' - or 'alcoholics' as some of the media seemed to prefer.

The existence of such drinks are therefore highly contested and interplay with key alcohol policy areas including price, availability and industry led 'responsibility' action. In 2011 a report released by Alcohol Concern called for action to stop 'irresponsible profiteering from the high-alcohol low-cost drinks' whillst the Observer ran a feature 'White cider is becoming like heroin among alcoholics'.

Price and taxation: time for change?

Guidelines receive further fanfare as public 'disagree'

A fresh bout of media attention on the revised alcohol guidelines hit the headlines last week as survey figures released by CAMRA suggest much of the public 'disagree with official health guidelines on alcohol consumption'.

This may not be news to many in the field who know of the public's sensitivity to what many perceive as 'lecturing', or the tendency of those drinking above the guidelines to disagree based on 'normative misperception' or other reasons.

Alcohol, drugs and the workplace – BMA medical and employer's guidance

An updated briefing from the the British Medical Assocation (BMA) provides guidance for medical and other professionals on addressing alcohol and drug use in the workplace, including guidance on supporting or recruiting employees with histories of substance misuse. 

See the BMA webpage or 'Alcohol, drugs and the workplace – The role of medical professionals' [pdf] briefing.

PHE report on drinking and harms amongst under 18's

Drinking amongst children and young people; one of the most frequently discussed alcohol policy topics - and arguably with good reason. Children who drink are at significant risk of alcohol harms both in terms of their immediate and longer term health and wellbeing, yet significant falls in consumption have been seen in recent years.

News & updates July 2016: airports, cancer, binge drinking, PM's pubs policy & more

Selected media stories since the June roundup:

Possible changes to how alcohol is sold at airports hit the headlines following comments from a Conservative peer saying he wants to “look at” airports as currently exempt from licensing laws - thus being able to open 24 hours. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon said he did not want to "kill merriment altogether", but that passengers need to be responsible and not disrupt flights and others onboard. Increasing concerns have been voiced over 'floozing' and 'air rage' incidents over recent months. See the Independent's 'what you need to know' and Guardian and BBC reports.

IAS Alert July 2016: happiness, parenting, cancer risk, tax and MUP news & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: July 2016  is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• Alcohol makes you momentarily happier... but not more satisfied

• “Strong evidence” that alcohol causes cancer

• Alcohol duty rise might cut violence-fuelled emergency visits by 6,000 per year

• Better parenting and lower affordability linked to fall in underage drinking

Findings bulletins: treatment lessons and dual diagnosis, Pharmacy IBA 'null findings' & IBA matrix bites returns

Recent bulletins from the drug and alcohol bank:

The therapeutic potential of patients and clients

We consider the therapeutic potential of patients and clients, from the place of recovery champions, mutual aid groups, and recovery networks, to the day-to-day ways that people make use of and engage with treatment and harm reduction practices.

The complexity and challenge of ‘dual diagnosis’