Alcohol

In the United States annually, excessive alcohol consumption accounts for an average of 79,000 deaths and 2.3 million years of potential life lost, making it the third-leading preventable cause of death in the country. This serious public health problem carries a heavy economic burden and causes a number of adverse health and social consequences. In 1998, researchers estimated that excessive alcohol consumption cost the United States $184.6 billion each year. According to a recent study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the cost of excessive alcohol consumption grew to 223.5 billion in 2006, with binge drinking accounting for over 75% of the total economic cost.

HealthDay News reported the findings of a new study this week which found that watching a lot of movies that feature alcohol doubles the likelihood that young teens will start drinking, and these teens are more likely to progress to binge drinking.

Members of the United Methodist Church are heeding a call to abstain from alcohol this Lenten season, hoping to get out of the experience more than they give up.

The Penn State Live website this week reported on new “early intervention” research conducted by their own scholars that may help students from becoming binge drinkers.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is accepting applications for up to a four year total of $15.6 million to fund STOP Act grants aimed at preventing alcohol use among underage youth in communities across the nation.

The Super Bowl, which will be aired on NBC Feb. 5, is known for its commercials as much as the game itself. About 18 percent of the game and commercial viewers will be youth younger than 21 and will see alcohol related ads.

The first issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2012’s Vital Signs includes the latest findings on binge drinking from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) which included combined landline and cellular telephone respondents.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently kicked off a nationwide crackdown on drunk driving coinciding with the 2011 winter holiday season. New data show drunk-driving deaths declined in 2010 in many parts of the country. However, the data also show that fatalities from alcohol-impaired driving crashes continue to account for one in three deaths on American roadways each year.

Communities with a large concentration of bars and liquor stores pose a risk to both young people and adults, increasing the likelihood for violence or alcohol-impaired driving. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Guide to Preventive Services has endorsed reducing alcohol outlet density as an effective strategy for reducing alcohol-related harms. CADCA member, the Talbot Partnership for Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse Prevention, in Maryland, has formed strategic community partnerships that have effectively reduced alcohol outlet density at the local level, proving that people have the power to make their neighborhoods healthier and safer.

Alcohol Justice, formerly Marin Institute, in California, has asked for health advocates to make public comments against Phusion Projects, makers of the infamous Four Loko beverages, and its proposed agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to discontinue marketing its new “supersized,” re-sealable containers.

The cost of excessive alcohol consumption in the United States in 2006 reached $223.5 billion or about $1.90 per drink, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Based on just two questions from a newly released guide, health care professionals could spot children and teenagers at risk for alcohol-related problems. “Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner's Guide,” is now available from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Physicians often fail to counsel their young adult patients about excessive alcohol use, according to a study led by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. David Jernigan, Director of the Johns Hopkins’ Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, will conduct a special pre-conference workshop next week on how to reduce alcohol outlet density. The workshop will take place at the Society for Public Health Education’s annual meeting, Oct. 27 from 1-5 p.m. in Arlington, Va.

Kevin A. Sabet’s opinion editorial on prohibition ran in The Los Angeles Times this week. The piece, “Prohibition's real lessons for drug policy,” debated the argument that legalization would solve America’s drug epidemic and was released in conjunction with the highly-acclaimed PBS “Prohibition” documentary.