Alcohol News - 5/2010

PsychCentral.com - Alcohol Dependency Tied to Stress Hormone
New research suggests alcohol dependency may hinge on a specific stress hormone, the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF).
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/02/01/alcohol-dependency-tied-to-stress-hormone/11086.html

The Age (Pakistan) - Pakistan calls for barriers, alcohol ban
PAKISTAN Sports Minister Aijaz Hussein Jakhrani has urged Cricket Australia to set up barriers at grounds and ban alcohol following the tackle by a spectator on Khalid Latif in Perth on Sunday night.
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/pakistan-calls-for-barriers-alcohol-ban-20100201-n8x6.html

Swissinfo (Switzerland) - Experts send out warning over alcohol ads
A group of addiction prevention experts has said that alcohol adverts on television - allowed since February 1 - must not target youths and children.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/index/Experts_send_out_warning_over_alcohol_ads.html?cid=8210392

Reuters (UK) - Alcohol-related deaths in Britain rising fast
Alcohol-related deaths in Britain have more than doubled over the past 16 years, official statistics showed Thursday, with those in managerial and professional jobs regularly drinking more than manual workers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60R4FW20100128

Scotsman (Scotland) - Labour MSP says minimum pricing for alcohol 'unjust'
MINIMUM pricing for alcohol would bring supermarkets a £90 million "bonanza" at the expense of pensioners and people on low incomes, the Scottish Labour Party has claimed.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Labour-MSP-says-minimum-pricing.6030160.jp

KTUU (USA) - APD: Half of all fatal collisions since 1980 involved alcohol
The Anchorage Police Department has released statistics about local traffic fatalities in the last 30 years.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=11910739

BBC News (Wales) - Petition over Urdd eisteddfod alcohol plan
A drugs advisory body has launched a petition against an annual Welsh language youth festival's plan to sell drink to visitors for the first time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8488599.stm

BusinessWeek - Alcohol Affects Baby's Pain Regulation
Exposure to alcohol in the womb can alter a child's developing pain regulatory system, a new Canadian study suggests.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/635311.html

Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) - Aussies 'rather give up sex than grog'
Australians' love affair with grog is so great they'd rather give up sex, their car and their friends than lay off the bottle for a month, a survey shows.
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/aussies-rather-give-up-sex-than-grog-20100201-n6zt.html

BBC News (UK) - Tough new rules to tackle under-age drinking
New powers aimed at tackling the problem of under-age drinking in England and Wales have come into force.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8486508.stm

WebMD.Boots.com (UK) - Drinkers think only bingeing is bad for their health
A new campaign launched online today and backed by three major health charities aims to highlight the unseen damage being done to drinkers’ internal organs.
http://www.webmd.boots.com/mental-health/alcohol-abuse/news/20100129/drinkers-think-only-bingeing-is-bad-for-their-health

The Moscow News online independent newspaper (Russia) - Happy Birthday, Vodka!
January 31 is often considered Russian vodka's unofficial birthday. It was the day when Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev defended his doctoral dissertation "On Combining Water and Alcohol" in 1865 in St Petersburg.
http://www.mn.ru/news/20100201/55407092.html

Times of India - Alcohol may lead to violence among couples
According to researchers from University of Texas School of Public Health in Dallas, while the chances of severe male-on-female violence tripled, severe female-on-male violence also more than doubled when the woman drank.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/man-woman/Alcohol-may-lead-to-violence-among-couples/articleshow/5512723.cms

Los Angeles Times (USA) - More could be better when it comes to attending AA meetings
Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of people get and stay sober. A new study explores why the program may have such a good results record for some.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/01/more-could-be-better-when-it-comes-to-attending-aa-meetings.html

The Local (Germany) - Booze-related violence on the rise among youths
The number of alcohol-fuelled acts of violence by youths in Germany has seen a stunning increase over the last decade, a new study released on Monday showed.
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100201-24949.html

BusinessWeek - Too Much Alcohol Impairs Seniors' Thinking
Elderly people who are heavy drinkers are more likely to suffer memory and cognitive problems than mild-to-moderate drinkers, a new study shows.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/635310.html

Baltic Times (Lithuania) - Uncollected alcohol excise tax cripples Lithuanian economy
What is the best price for a bottle of Lithuanian vodka? Ten, 25, or 35 litas (respectively 3, 7 and 10 euros)? It seems that some conservatively minded politicians in the Lithuanian Parliament wouldn’t mind if a bottle of national vodka cost one thousand litas.
http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/24237/

YLE News (Finland) - Health Ministry: Finland's Alcohol Consumption Shouldn't Be Encouraged
Allowing Finland’s state-run alcohol chain Alko to open on Sundays is not on the agenda at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, reports the newspaper Länsi-Savo. Instead, a ministry representative says Finns' consumption of alcohol could be further restricted.
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2010/01/health_ministry_finlands_alcohol_consumption_shouldnt_be_encouraged_1394632.html