scholarly journals Special Issue on the Alcohol Policy 16 Conference: Building Blocks for Sound Alcohol Policies, April 3-5, 2013, Washington, DC

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Barbara Ryan

Ryan, B. (2015). Special Issue on the Alcohol Policy 16 Conference: Building Blocks for Sound Alcohol Policies, April 3-5, 2013, Washington, DC. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 4(2), 95. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v4i2.210In 1981, the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse convened the first Alcohol Policy conference (AP1) in Charleston, to provide a forum where researchers, practitioners, and prevention advocates could discuss innovative policy approaches and research for preventing alcohol-related problems. Its director, Jerry McCord, used his position to organize AP1 to promote the careful consideration of alcohol policy issues from both a research and practitioner perspective at a time when few public officials were interested in pursuing alcohol control policies as a way to address—and reduce—societal alcohol problems.

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Giesbrecht ◽  
Ashley Wettlaufer ◽  
Stephanie Simpson ◽  
Nicole April ◽  
Mark Asbridge ◽  
...  

Giesbrecht, N., Wettlaufer, A., Simpson, S., April, N., Asbridge, M., Cukier, S., Mann, R., McAllister, J., Murie, A., Pauley, C., Plamondon, L., Stockwell, T., Thomas, G., Thompson, K., & Vallance, K. (2016). Strategies to reduce alcohol-related harms and costs in Canada: A comparison of provincial policies. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5(2), 33-45. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i2.221Aims: To compare Canadian provinces across 10 research-based alcohol policy and program dimensions.Design and Measures: The 10 Canadian provinces were assessed on the following 10 policy dimensions: alcohol pricing; alcohol control system; physical availability; drinking and driving; marketing and advertising; legal drinking age; screening, brief intervention, and referrals; server training, challenge, and refusal programs; provincial alcohol strategy; warning labels and signs. Data were collected from official documents, including provincial legislation, regulations, and policy, and strategy documents. Three international experts on alcohol policy contributed to refining the protocol. Provincial scores were independently determined by two team members along a 10-point scale for each dimension, and the scores were expressed as a percentage of the ideal. Weighting of dimensions according to scope of impact and effectiveness was applied to obtain the final scores. National and provincial scores were calculated for each dimension and consolidated into overall averages.Findings: Overall, the consolidated national mean is 47.2% of the ideal, with Ontario scoring highest at 55.9%, and Québec lowest at 36.2%. Across dimensions, Legal Drinking Age and Challenge and Refusal Programs scored highest at 75% and 61%, respectively, while Warning Labels and Signs scored lowest at 18% of the ideal. Pricing, rated third highest among dimensions at 57%, should nevertheless remain a priority for improvement, given it is weighted highest in terms of effectiveness and scope.Conclusions and Implications: Policy dimension scores vary among the provinces, with substantial room for improvement in all. Since spring 2013, several provinces have taken steps to implement specific alcohol policies. Concerted action involving multiple stakeholders and alcohol policies is required to reduce the burden of alcohol problems across Canada.


1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Mäkelä

Sociologists, particularly in the United States, have devoted little attention to the impact of centrally directed alcohol policies on drinking problems. Sociocultural studies of religious and ethnic differences In drinking behavior appear to suggest that the liberalization of alcohol policies would favor the growth of moderate drinking patterns at the expense of excessive drinking. However, this “substitution hypothesis” receives less support in Scandinavian research on alcohol policy than does an alternative “addition hypothesis.” When policy controls on alcohol are relaxed, increases in moderate consumption occur in addition to and not at the expense of relatively stable patterns of heavy drinking.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Staudenmeier

The last decade has seen the widespread adoption by employers of occupational alcoholism programs designed to address the alcohol problems of employees. This innovative pattern of alcohol-related employer policy has received considerable attention in the scientific literature while other, traditional employer policies persist with relative inattention. This paper frames a broad perspective on employer alcohol policy by looking at four current patterns of policy: 1. Drinking on the Job, 2. Dry on the Job, 3. Employer Prohibition, and 4. Occupational Alcoholism Programs (including Employee Assistance Programs). The author explores the systematic variation among employers in their alcohol policies and emphasizes the relationship among alcohol-related culture, policy and practice. The existence of conflicting cultural positions on alcohol makes the United States an especially interesting case for this analysis.


Author(s):  
Carolin Kilian ◽  
Jakob Manthey ◽  
Jacek Moskalewicz ◽  
Janusz Sieroslawski ◽  
Jürgen Rehm

Alcohol policy endorsements have changed over time, probably interacting with the implementation and effectiveness of alcohol policy measures. The Standardized European Alcohol Survey (SEAS) evaluated public opinion toward alcohol policies in 20 European locations (19 countries and one subnational region) in 2015 and 2016 (n = 32,641; 18–64 years). On the basis of the SEAS report, we investigated regional differences and individual characteristics related to categories of alcohol policy endorsement. Latent class analysis was used to replicate cluster structure from the SEAS report and to examine individual probabilities of endorsement. Hierarchical quasi-binomial regression models were run to analyze the relative importance of variables of interest (supranational region, gender, age, educational achievement, and drinking status) on class endorsement probability, with random intercepts for each location. The highest support for alcohol control policies was recorded in Northern countries, which was in contrast to the Eastern countries, where the lowest support for control policies was found. Across all locations, positive attitudes toward control policies were associated with the female gender, older age, and abstaining from alcohol. Our findings underline the need to communicate alcohol-related harm and the implications of alcohol control policies to the public in order to increase awareness and support for such policies in the long run.


2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-79
Author(s):  
Börje Olsson

During the years around 1990, several policy and economic events occurred which had significant effects on the Swedish society. In this context, critique against the welfare state grew and the traditional roles of the state and the individual were challenged. The legitimacy and efficiency of Swedish alcohol policy was also called into question. The article describes and analyses how portrayals of alcohol, alcohol problems and alcohol policies have changed during the 1990s in the Swedish press. Despite the growth of media like television and the Internet, the daily press must still be considered an important source of information and also an active constructor of reality. The analysis is based on different samples of press articles during the studied period. Special attention is paid to different actors/narrators, their argumentation and how they perceive the individual and the state as legitimate actors and controllers of our drinking habits. The analysis shows that the dominant restrictive alcohol discourse, based on the total consumption model, public health perspectives and universal and restrictive alcohol policy measures, gradually has been challenged by a liberal discourse in which individual freedom, market liberalism and consumer perspectives are put forward as guiding principles for alcohol policies. A ‘sensible drinking’ perspective has seriously weakened the traditional perspective where alcohol- related problems have been situated as the legitimate foundation for policies. Finally, the ongoing redefinition of the alcohol issue also has made it possible for new narrators, for instance, business representatives, to take part in and significantly influence the alcohol discourse.


Author(s):  
Katherine Severi

Ralston et al present an analysis of policy actor responses to a draft World Health Organization (WHO) tool to prevent and manage conflicts of interest (COI) in nutrition policy. While the Ralston et al study is focussed explicitly on food and nutrition, the issues and concepts addressed are relevant also to alcohol policy debates and present an important opportunity for shared learning across unhealthy commodity industries in order to protect and improve population health. This commentary addresses the importance of understanding how alcohol policy actors – especially decision-makers – perceive COI in relation to alcohol industry engagement in policy. A better understanding of such perceptions may help to inform the development of guidelines to identify, manage and protect against risks associated with COI in alcohol policy.


Author(s):  

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead). Homoptera: Aleyrodidae (Citrus whitefly). Attacks Citrus, coffee and many ornamentals. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Europe, Corsica, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Sardinia, Sicily, Spain, Turkey, Africa, Algeria, Asia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Beijing, Fujian, Guangdong, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hong Kong, India, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, Macau, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, CIS (former USSR), Azerbaijan, Georgia, Tajiskistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Krasnodar area, North America, USA, Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington DC, Central America and Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Peru.


Author(s):  
J. E. M. Mordue

Abstract A description is provided for Ustilago syntherismae. Information is included on the disease caused by the organism, its transmission, geographical distribution, and hosts. HOSTS: Digitaria spp., including D. filiformis, D. ischaemum, D. sanguinalis. DISEASE: Loose smut of Digitaria. Infection sometimes dwarfs the host and causes it to branch more profusely than usual (36, 657); it is also reported that vegetative vigour is much prolonged in infected plants compared with uninfected (30, 432). Surface contamination by the large number of ustilospores when shed may result in some discolouration of the entire inflorescence including sheaths and leaf blades. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Africa: 'Congo', Gambia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe; Asia: Azerbaijan, China, Republic of Georgia, India, Japan, Pakistan, Russia (central Asia, far east); Australasia: Australia: NSW (31, 225); Europe: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark (39, 284), Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (European region), Ukraine (52, 354); North America: Canada (Ontario; 46, 3383), Mexico, USA (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, IA, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, MD, ME, Michigan, Montana, Missouri, MS, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia; 69, 2765); South America: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay. (33, 634; 40, 209; 48, 2203; 50, 2756; 64, 4163). TRANSMISSION: No detailed studies have been reported; ustilospores are presumably disseminated by air currents and infection is thought to be systemic.


Deferred Dreams, Defiant Struggles interrogates Blackness and illustrates how it has been used as a basis to oppress, dismiss and exclude Blacks from societies and institutions in Europe, North America and South America. Employing uncharted analytical categories that tackle intriguing themes about borderless non-racial African ancestry, “traveling” identities and post-blackness, the essays provide new lenses for viewing the “Black” struggle worldwide. This approach directs the contributors’ focus to understudied locations and protagonists. In the volume, Charleston, South Carolina is more prominent than Little Rock Arkansas in the struggle to desegregate schools; Chicago occupies the space usually reserved for Atlanta or other southern city “bulwarks” of the Civil Rights Movement; diverse Africans in France and Afro-descended Chileans illustrate the many facets of negotiating belonging, long articulated by examples from the Greensboro Woolworth counter sit-in or the Montgomery Bus Boycott; unknown men in the British empire, who inverted dying confessions meant to vilify their blackness, demonstrate new dimensions in the story about race and religion, often told by examples of fiery clergy of the Black Church; and the theatres and studios of dramatists and visual artists replace the Mall in Washington DC as the stage for the performance of identities and activism.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e031560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayara Fontes Marx ◽  
Leslie London ◽  
Nadine Harker Burnhams ◽  
John Ataguba

ObjectiveThis paper assesses the usability of existing alcohol survey data in South Africa (SA) by documenting the type of data available, identifying what possible analyses could be done using these existing datasets in SA and exploring limitations of the datasets.SettingsA desktop review and in-depth semistructured interviews were used to identify existing alcohol surveys in SA and assess their usability.ParticipantsWe interviewed 10 key researchers in alcohol policies and health economics in SA (four women and six men). It consisted of academic/researchers (n=6), government officials (n=3) and the alcohol industry (n=1).Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe desktop review examined datasets for the level of the data, geographical coverage, the population surveyed, year of data collection, available covariables, analyses possible and limitations of the data. The 10 in-depth interviews with key researchers explored informant’s perspective on the usability of existing alcohol datasets in SA.ResultsIn SA, alcohol data constraints are mainly attributed to accessibility restrictions on survey data, limited geographical coverage, lack of systematic and standardised measurement of alcohol, infrequency of surveys and the lack of transparency and public availability of industry data on production, distribution and consumption.ConclusionThe International Alcohol Control survey or a similar framework survey focusing on substance abuse should be considered for implementation at the national level. Also, alcohol research data funded by the taxpayers’ money and alcohol industry data should be made publicly available.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document