Alcohol News - 20/2021

OECD - Governments should step up their efforts to tackle harmful alcohol consumption
Investing in policies to reduce harmful alcohol consumption would save millions of lives. The economic benefits of putting them in place would also be much higher than the costs, according to a new OECD report.
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CNN - Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds
There is no such thing as a "safe" level of drinking, with increased consumption of alcohol associated with poorer brain health, according to a new study.
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Study Finds - Drinking alcohol can cause immediate heart rhythm problems in people with AFib
When it comes to alcohol, doctors continue to find there’s a fine line between how much is good or bad for the heart.
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Business Tech (South Africa) - A lobby group wants these 10 alcohol restrictions during South Africa’s third wave
The South African Alcohol Policy Alliance (Saapa) has called on the government to restrict alcohol sales and advertising in South Africa as part of the fight against the third wave of Covid-19 in the country.
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SciTechDaily - Red Meat Intake, Heavier Alcohol Use, and Poor Education Linked to Colorectal Cancer
A new paper in JNCI Cancer Spectrum, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that several non-genetic factors — including greater red meat intake, lower educational attainment, and heavier alcohol use — are associated with an increase in colorectal cancer in people under 50.
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New York Post (USA) - Proposed NY law would lower state blood alcohol limit to .05
New York could become just the second state in the US to lower its legal blood alcohol limit to from .08 to .05 under a proposed new bill — a move its advocates say would save countless lives.
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660 News (Canada) - More Canadians leaning on drugs, alcohol to push through pandemic: survey
Are Canadians okay? More than a year into the pandemic, a new survey finds we’re relying on drugs and alcohol to get us through our days more than usual.
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Nordic Roads (Norway) - Half of e-scooter riders in Oslo have driven while under the influence of alcohol
43 percent of e-scooter riders rode with a blood alcohol-level above the legal limit and they see it as unlikely to be stopped in alcohol control.
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Addiction Proffesional - Instagram, Snapchat Linked with Increased Alcohol Use by New College Students
Exposure to alcohol-related content on social media platforms has been linked with an increase in alcohol consumption by college students, according to new research released this week by Loyola Marymount University.
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EWN (South Africa) - ALCOHOL IS A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO ASSAULT CASES IN SA, SAYS CELE
Police Minister Bheki Cele says alcohol abuse is the albatross around the South African Police Service's neck.
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SW Londoner (UK) - Charity calls on Government to act after alcohol-related deaths reach record high
A leading national alcohol charity has called on the Government to react and move quickly to tackle rising numbers of alcohol-related deaths.
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MedicalXpress - Alcohol problems are severely undertreated, researchers report
Some 16 million Americans are believed to have alcohol use disorder, and an estimated 93,000 people in the U.S. die from alcohol-related causes each year. Both of those numbers are expected to grow as a result of heavier drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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PharmacoEconomics - What are the Economic Costs to Society Attributable to Alcohol Use?
If all cost components were to be considered, the economic costs of alcohol consumption would amount to 1306 international dollars (Int$) per adult (95% confidence interval 873–1738), 1872 Int$ per drinker (95% CI 1279–2466), or equivalent to 2.6% (95% CI 2.0–3.1%) of the gross domestic product.
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