Alcohol Policy UK

IAS Alcohol Alert January 2016: guidelines, MUP in Ireland, NHS, media reporting & more

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

• Chief Medical Officers: There is no ‘safe’ level of drinking
• Minimum unit pricing comes to Ireland
• 'Stark challenge' for NHS from alcohol consumption
• Health Survey England 2014: Well-off most likely high risk drinkers
• Middle-aged seek alcohol treatment services
• Minimum unit pricing: Where are we now? Responses to the latest court opinion
• Comment: Should there be a zero tolerance policy towards drink driving?

News & updates September 2015: stressed mums, hangover prevention, beer goggles & sober students

Selected alcohol media reports since the August roundup:

Alcohol research

British doctors and scientists have developed a pioneering technology that could save the lives of hundreds of people with livers damaged by alcohol abuse and obesity, reported the Mirror.

Stressed mothers are increasingly turning to wine after the school run, according to a report which suggests parents with children at home are the most likely to have a drink problem. Telegraph

IAS Alcohol Alert September 2015: further minimum pricing analysis, public purse debate, Scotland, NI & EU news

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: September 2015 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• Minimum Unit Pricing legal if justified as best health measure

• Minimum Unit Pricing: The Advocate General’s view

• Alcohol and the Public Purse: Debating the correct frame for alcohol harm

• Scotland: Rise in teetotalism “masks differences” in alcohol consumption and harm

News & updates August 2015: policing Spanish resorts; drunk rape victims, UK nightclubs decline, rise of the half pint

Selected media stories in August since the July roundup:

Crime and disorder

Two police officers posted to a Spanish resort to deal with UK tourists involved in crime have received flak for finishing work at 10pm, just as the bars start to get busy, reported the Guardian. The Daily Mail said Benidorm is to follow Ibiza and Magaluf and deploy British police officers on the streets to curb alcohol-fuelled trouble.

Drunk rape victims can remember their attacks, reported the Telegraph. The story

Welsh Assembly Committee report focuses on alcohol action

The National Assembly for Wales’ Health and Social Care Committee has undertaken an inquiry into alcohol and substance misuse, publishing a report which recommends a range of alcohol actions.

Download 'National Assembly for Wales Health and Social Care Committee: Alcohol and substance misuse' [pdf]

The Assembly says greater awareness, support and policy level action is needed as the prevalence of alcohol-related conditions is rising. The committee set out to review the impacts of alcohol and substance misuse on people in Wales, but found alcohol as the most significant issue.

News & updates July 2015: floozing, Evelyn Gillan tributes, boozing whilst pregnant, cocktail clouds

Selected July media stories since the June roundup:

Alcohol-related crime & disorder

Alcohol-fuelled air rage incidents are up 40% from last year... proving a 'floozing' phenomenon is on the rise, said the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile Ryanair has banned passengers from bringing duty free alcohol onto its flights between the UK and Ibiza in an effort to reduce incidences of rowdy behaviour. Telegraph

Just 42 drinkers were responsible for more than 1,000 police call-outs in Portsmouth - ranging from anti-social behaviour to sexual assaults and robberies - as the council defends its Reducing the Strength initiative. The News

Health news

Wales consults on minimum pricing plans

The Welsh Government have announced a consultation on its plans to introduce a 50 pence minimum unit price (MUP), which runs until December this year.

The likely success of the draft Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill will still be reliant on the outcome of the current Scottish MUP battle, still going through the European courts. Scotland first passed legislation to implement a 50 pence MUP in 2012, but a number of industry bodies represented by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) mounted a legal challenge.

News & updates June 2015: MUP cuts crime, loi evin, Anti-Social Behaviour, chimpanzees that drink, pregnancy, smoking in pubs

Selected June media stories since the May roundup:

Alcohol policy

Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) cuts crime, according to research from Canada. Crimes against the person fell by 9% over a decade as authorities in British Columbia increased prices by 10%. The Guardian

The British Medical Association (BMA) in Scotland has called for alcohol advertising at events aimed at children to be banned. BBC News

Drinks advertising in France, currently severely restricted, could become "almost limitless" if MPs approve wine grower-senator Gerard Cesar's (pictured) amendment on Monday, warns Claude Evin, father of landmark law on drink ads ban. Telegraph

Alcohol-related hospital admissions rise again reports the Guardian, despite falls in consumptions - APUK analysis here.

IAS Alcohol Alert June 2015: Loi Evin under threat, tackle cheap drink to support pubs, 'huge' growth in online sales, Welsh Health Survey

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: June 2015 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• NGOs quit EU Alcohol and Health Forum

• France: National Assembly votes down government over Loi Evin

• Statistics on Alcohol England 2015: Consumption falls, admissions rise

• Rising trend in alcohol-related liver disease admission rates continues

• Millions of alcohol units lost to special occasions in surveys

• Support pubs, deal with off-trade cheap drink

• UK online drinks market sees huge growth in 2015

• Study: Alcohol treatment programmes slash male reoffending rates

• Lower drink-drive limit to Scots level, urge Police Federation

• Facebook can help reduce problem drinking among fresher students

• Sturgeon: Member States need autonomy over alcohol policy

• Welsh Health Survey 2014: Older drinkers buck downward consumption trend

• Eurocare to F1 – alcohol ads must stop

• FARE unveils alcohol plan to tackle Australian domestic violence

• Balance North East launches 7 cancers campaign

IAS Alcohol Alert May 2015: Irish alcohol policy, drinking in films influences teens, pregnancy, pricing & more

The latest Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) Alcohol Alert: May 2015 is now available (here for PDF version). Read the editorial here and articles below:

• OECD report gives damning assessment of UK drinking habits

• Action on Alcohol Week in Ireland: Women drink as much as men

• Stop Out of Control Drinking scheme under fire over its position on Irish Public Health Bill

• What does the future hold for alcohol policy under a Tory government?

• Movie drinking linked to alcohol-related problems in teens

• Poll: one-in-five women drink while pregnant

• “Good week” Guinness tweet escapes ad ban

• Poll: price top factor for supermarket beer drinkers

• Lines blurred as industry mixes sport and alcohol cocktail

• Supreme Court foetal alcohol damage appeal rejected

• CAMRA votes to end LNLs

• Court ruling: Reducing the Strength scheme still valid

• European Parliament passes resolution for a new EU Alcohol Strategy