England’s northwest coast town Blackpool is considering locally banning alcohol advertising throughout the town within the next two years, to reduce the town’s drink-related crime and health problems. Blackpool’s new Alcohol Strategy specifically asks councillors to consider imposing the ban near pubs, shops and off licences. This new ban will thus expand the current alcohol … Read More →
The Local Government Association of the U.K. has renewed a push for alcohol producers to label beverages with caloric information. The association says the labels are necessary because the public is largely unaware of the amount of empty calories in alcohol, which may be related to high obesity levels in the country. Associations Now reports … Read More →
Reliance on voluntary action by alcohol firms to curb drink-related harm has been a failure, according to a hard-hitting report by the Institute of Alcohol Studies. The “public health responsibility deal” unveiled during the last UK government has resulted in broken promises and too little being done to reduce alcohol problems. In the report, the … Read More →
New Canadian research finds crimes, including murders, sexual assaults and drink-driving, dropped 9% over a decade as authorities in British Columbia increased prices by 10%. The conclusions fuel the debate about the need for minimum unit pricing. The research, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, shows crimes, including violent assaults, fell … Read More →
In England, the Labour party’s plans to introduce a ban on alcohol sponsorship of sporting events, combined with a series of measures to boost Britain’s health have been watered down at the last minute following ‘internal disagreement’ on how far reaching such measures should be. Labour’s health ambitions were presented last week as a future … Read More →
Leading UK doctors are demanding a ban on alcohol firms sponsoring sports clubs and events because the “outrageous” practice is fuelling underage drinking. In a letter published in the Guardian on Boxing Day, the signatories state that alcohol sponsorship of sport has become “as commonplace as advertising for cereal or soap powder”. The letter is … Read More →
Two powerful Swedish interest groups have turned to the European Commission to try and enforce a complete ban on alcohol advertising on television. Sweden already has a total ban of alcohol advertising on TV, but this regulation is circumvented by Swedish language channels broadcasting from abroad. Both the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) and the Swedish … Read More →
The UK’s national charity Alcohol Concern is calling for the regulation of alcohol marketing to be statutory and independent of the alcohol industry. This comes after a new report has shown how big alcohol companies cannot be trusted to promote moderate drinking. The report ‘Creating customers’ looks at how the major alcohol producers are constantly … Read More →
Speaking at the House of Lords, Labour peer Lord Brooke accused ministers of bowing to pressure from the alcohol industry. According to Lord Brooke a bill which is currently going through the House of Lords aims to remove the law that presently prohibits the sale of alcohol to children in the form of food. Baron … Read More →
Author: Jim McCambridge, Kypros Kypri, Peter Miller, Ben Hawkins and Gerard Hastings
Title: Be aware of Drinkaware
Journal: Addiction, Volume 109, Issue 4, pages 519–524, April 2014 … Read More →