Alcohol News - 10/2021

The Irish Times (Ireland) - ‘Ocean of alcohol’ pouring into Irish homes since Covid-19 pandemic
An “ocean of alcohol” has been pouring into Irish homes since the start of the Covid-19 crisis with official data showing wine sales for home consumption increasing dramatically last year, according to Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI).
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Financial Times - How much alcohol is in your wine?
Alcohol may be what distinguishes wine from fruit juice, but many drinkers seem pretty wary of it these days. In February, researchers Wine Intelligence published a global study which suggested that 40 per cent of regular wine drinkers wish to moderate their alcohol consumption.
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Healthday (USA) - Alcohol Withdrawal Rates Up in Hospitalized Patients During Pandemic
In 2020, there was an increase in alcohol withdrawal (AW) rates among hospitalized patients, with a peak at the end of the stay-at-home period, according to a research letter published online March 3 in JAMA Network Open.
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Business Tech (South Africa) - The problem with having a zero-percent alcohol limit for drivers in South Africa – and what can be done to solve it
Non-profit group Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (SAAPA) has thrown its support behind the government’s proposed drunk driving rules, but has warned that the regulations will need to be adapted to avoid wrongful convictions.
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ABC News (Australia) - Temperance and Finding Alternatives to Alcohol
During the Covid pandemic in Australia, alcohol consumption has risen, but abstinence is also becoming a huge trend. The Temperance movement aims to help people curb drinking and look toward alternatives for social recreation.
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LRT (Lithuania) - Alcohol laws in Lithuania to be reviewed, says parliament speaker
Alcohol control-related laws should be put on the Lithuanian parliament's agenda in April, according to Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktorija Čmilyte-Nielsen.
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Vancouver Sun (Canada) - New alcohol drinking guidelines planned for 2022
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) is planning updates to their safe drinking guidelines. The plans come as Canadians report drinking more during the pandemic.
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The Irish Times (Ireland) - Significant drop in children drinking alcohol and smoking, new study shows
Rates of smoking, alcohol and cannabis use among school-aged children have significantly decreased since 1998, while the number of children who reported being on a diet has increased in recent years, according to a new report.
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Inverse - HOW JOBS AND GENDER INFLUENCE HOW MUCH ALCOHOL YOU DRINK
STRESSFUL DAYS ARE, to some, synonymous with an after-work drink. The type of job you have may, in turn, correlate with how much alcohol you consume, according to the largest study of the subject to date, published in the journal BMC Public Health.
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ABC News (Australia) - Researchers return to find out fate of children involved in landmark FASD study
Ten years after a groundbreaking study revealed record-high rates of FASD in outback Australia, researchers have returned to the Kimberley to see how the children are coping in adulthood.
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The BMJ (UK) - Alcohol deaths rise sharply in England and Wales
Provisional data for England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a sharp increase in deaths from alcohol specific causes between April and September 2020.1 The figures add to concerns that the wider health and wellbeing consequences of the covid-19 pandemic include an increase in alcohol related harm, although the reasons behind this rise are unclear.
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Addiction - WHO should not support alcohol industry co‐regulation of public health labelling
The World Health Organization (WHO) is undertaking important work to develop a new action plan on alcohol for 2022–30. However, the WHO's published proposal for the action plan envisages that the alcohol industry be a co‐regulator with government of consumer information, including health warnings, on alcoholic beverage labels.
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Movendi - Big Tobacco’s Strategic Ally Interferes in WHO Alcohol Policy Consultation
In December 2020 the World Health Organization conducted a web-based consultation on a working document to develop a global action plan to better implement the WHO Global Alcohol Strategy.
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Intouch Public Health (Australia) - Impacts of lifting Sydney’s lockout laws must be closely monitored to protect public health and safety
In September 2015, then NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said very publicly that Sydney’s lockout laws should never be changed and should, in fact, be made permanent.
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NordAN - Daniel Jones: Warnings needed to be seen to be effective
Introducing prominent health warnings on alcohol products could be effective in increasing awareness of the potential harms of drinking, according to a new study involving young adult drinkers.
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