Alcohol News - 36/2026

Psychology Today - Do We All Need to Start Saying No to Alcohol? 
A major new study from Sinead George of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health finds no net health benefit from low-level alcohol consumption and estimates a 1 in 25 lifetime risk of alcohol-attributable death among people consuming 14 drinks per week.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/addiction-outlook/202606/do-we-all-need-to-start-saying-no-to-alcohol/amp

France 24 (France) - France’s record heatwave pushes champagne alcohol levels to historic high
France’s record-breaking summer heat has forced champagne producers to contend with unusually high sugar levels in grapes, forcing authorities to allow alcohol content of up to 15 percent in the region’s sparkling wine for the first time. Champagne is usually capped at 13 percent.
https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260909-france-s-record-heatwave-pushes-champagne-alcohol-levels-to-historic-high

TimesLIVE (South Africa) - Calls for higher alcohol taxes to help prevent foetal alcohol syndrome
Increasing liquor excise duties is one of most cost-effective public health measures available to reduce harmful drinking, says doctor.
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-09-09-calls-for-higher-alcohol-taxes-to-help-prevent-foetal-alcohol-syndrome/

Movendi International - Preventing FASD Is Possible and a Human Rights Priority but Big Alcohol Stands in the Way of Governments Protecting Children
Children have a right to be protected from predictable and preventable harms, yet tens of millions of people live with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a condition governments already have the tools to prevent.
https://movendi.ngo/blog/2026/09/09/preventing-fasd-is-possible-and-a-human-rights-priority-but-big-alcohol-stands-in-the-way-of-governments-protecting-children/

The Brussels Times (Belgium) - Belgium is changing how alcohol is marketed - will it change drinking habits?
The new rules will restrict alcohol advertising in media where at least 30% of the audience is under 18, as well as advertising by influencers primarily followed by minors, and require alcohol advertisements to carry the warning “alcohol harms health.”
https://www.brusselstimes.com/2306891/belgium-is-changing-how-alcohol-is-marketed-will-it-change-drinking-habits

The Citizen (South Africa) - Government moves to enforce zero alcohol limit for drivers
GOVERNMENT is moving to tighten restrictions on driving under the influence of alcohol. This as the Department of Transport (DoT) continues to pursue legislative amendments to the National Road Traffic Act to implement a strict zero per cent blood alcohol policy.
https://www.citizen.co.za/zululand-observer/news-headlines/local-news/2026/09/07/government-moves-to-enforce-zero-alcohol-limit-for-drivers/

Alcohol Change - 100 Days Your Way: The gap between what we expect alcohol to do and what it actually does
Most of us have built up a set of beliefs about what alcohol does for us over many years. “It helps me relax”. “It makes social situations easier”. “It takes the edge off a hard day”. These beliefs feel personal and true. But a lot of research has looked at how accurate they actually are, and the findings are often surprising.
https://alcoholchange.org.uk/blog/100-days-your-way-stage-7-2

MedicalXpress - Caregivers for people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder report increased stress and relational strengths
Caregivers of people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) identified stress levels and emotional health as the factors most negatively affected by their caregiving role.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-caregivers-people-fetal-alcohol-spectrum.html

MedicalXpress - AI helps clarify complex array and interaction of risk factors contributing to alcohol use disorder
Explainable AI (xAI) models are illuminating the multiple risk factors that underlie the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD), according to a new study.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-ai-complex-array-interaction-factors.html

Cancer Network (USA) - Alcohol-Attributable Cancer Mortality Has Doubled in the US Since 1990
Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the United States doubled from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023, according to a secondary analysis of Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas.
https://www.cancernetwork.com/view/alcohol-attributable-cancer-mortality-has-doubled-in-the-us-since-1990

NordAN (Lithuania) - Lithuania strengthens its response to FASD
Klaipėda University Hospital is strengthening efforts to improve the recognition of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Lithuania through the international FASD-Bridge project, implemented with partners from Germany and Poland.
https://www.nordicalcohol.org/post/lithuania-strengthens-its-response-to-fasd

Alcohol Awareness (Denmark) - Few people know it: Alcohol increases the risk of cancer
Only 28% of Danish adults are aware of the link between alcohol and cancer, according to new figures from the Danish Cancer Society.
https://alcoholcampaign.org/2026/09/07/few-people-know-it-alcohol-increases-the-risk-of-cancer/

Alcohol Awareness (Norway) - A sold-out Norwegian youth festival puts music first and alcohol out of the Picture
Young people in the Norwegian city of Ålesund have their own two-day music festival this weekend. Spirefest 26, taking place on 4 and 5 September at Terminalen Byscene, is sold out, with organisers saying demand was so strong that tickets disappeared in record time.
https://alcoholcampaign.org/2026/09/05/a-sold-out-norwegian-youth-festival-puts-music-first-and-alcohol-out-of-the-picture/