Selected news and media stories since the June roundup:
Supreme Court judges retired to consider the latest appeal against minimum pricing of alcohol in Scotland, reported BBC News whilst public health experts continued to put forward their case for the policy (eg in the Guardian and Independent). See our report here.
Fenland District Council will share £226,000 with Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council to recruit two 'EU speaking' alcohol outreach recovery workers to crackdown on street drinking in Wisbech. Wisbech Standard
The author of The Licensed City explained how Liverpool transformed its 19th century reputation for drunkenness, and the social impact of licensing laws in a city centred on drinking culture in an Alcohol and Drugs History Society blog post.
The rapid closure of Manchester’s postwar estate pubs – once seen as a vital part of the community – is leaving neighbourhoods without a social anchor, said the Guardian, whilst elsewhere heralding the rise of the community owned pubs.
Following its merger with Alcohol Concern, Alcohol Research UK has announced Dr Richard Piper (pictured) as new Chief Executive with effect from September 2017. Piper is former Chief Executive of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and his career includes seven years at NCVO and most recently 18 months as Director of Impact Transformation at Mencap.
Business Insider UK reported new research from Glassdoor that found 45% of UK workers consume alcohol with colleagues once a month, and 10% do so several times a month. 12% of those polled admitted to having to be put in a taxi home from work event for being too drunk, and 7% had witnessed a fight at a work function.
Health research
The Mirror, and others, reported new research which suggested drinkers were less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes if they had a regular alcoholic drink in moderation, compared to people who drank less than once a week. NHS Choices looked at the research more closely and concluded: 'it is unclear whether the link between moderate alcohol drinking and diabetes is real'.
Britons who have two alcoholic drinks a day are at higher risk of developing two of the most lethal forms of cancer, according to a report that confirms the link between regular alcohol consumption and the disease. Guardian
In a world first, scientists in Bristol are using the psychoactive drug MDMA as part of a treatment programme people with addiction problems. Independent
Huffington Post looked at alcohol-related blackouts - complete memory loss due to acute intoxication - saying alcohol blocks pro-memory neurotransmitters and enhances anti-memory neurotransmitters which relay signals between nerve cells in order to communicate information between the brain and the body.
On the other hand, researchers at the University of Exeter, reported the Telegraph, have found that those who drink after studying are better at recalling what they learnt, possible because alcohol blocks the learning of new information and therefore the brain has more resources available to lay down other recently learned information into long-term memory. The Express was concerned about alcohol and memory too, in an article about alcohol-related brain damage that discussed dementia, Werncike encephalopathy and Korsakoff's Syndrome.
Researchers say excessive drinking may be both a cause and a consequence of eczema in some people, and warn that some drugs used to treat the condition may interact with alcohol, resulting in unwanted side effects including liver inflammation and, rarely, cirrhosis. MailOnline
An Express explainer covered alcohol's connection to hepatitis, described as 'inflammation of the liver, and a type of liver disease. Loss of appetite, yellowing of the eyes and skin, and memory problems are just some of the key symptoms'.
The Telegraph gave tips for moderating one's alcohol intake in the article "Choose booze: How to fit alcohol into a healthy lifestyle" and the Independent explained units.
Children and young people
After a Russian heiress was found guilty of being drunk in charge of a child, the Independent dug out the 1902 licensing act, which states that a fine or up to a month’s imprisonment would result if “any person is found drunk in any highway or other public place, or on any licensed premises, while having the charge of a child.”
MailOnline reported mice research that suggests consuming alcohol during pregnancy may negatively alter the genetic material of the foetus, which can then be inherited by future generations, whilst current guidelines on drinking during pregnancy were outlined in the Sun.
Labour’s shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has claimed the Department of Health has failed to bring forward a promised strategy to help Britain’s 2.6 million children who are living with a parent who drinks too much. Express
Figures published by the Department for Education show an increase over the past decade in the number of exclusions being issued for drugs and alcohol in state-funded schools. In the last academic year 9,250 permanent and fixed period exclusions were issued for substance offences compared to 8,580 in 2006-07, reported BBC News
Retailers in Northern Ireland sold alcohol to more than one in four teenage mystery shoppers last year without asking for proof of age - the worst in the UK - according to data disclosed by retail age check auditors Serve Legal reported by Belfast Telegraph. Petrol stations were the least likely retail category to ask for proof of age, said Forecourt Trader.
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