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Although designed to mitigate the normalising role that advertising can have on alcohol consumption, France’s Loi Évin (1991) has unwittingly channelled advertisers into reinforcing the link between their products and escapist pursuits. Where contemporary concerns about alcohol consumption in France have themselves been influenced by global trends in public health and alcohol studies, they revolve around the adoption of perceived ‘foreign’ drinking cultures, notably an embrace of drinking as a marker of leisure time and binge-drinking. Advertising strategies have accordingly countered by accentuating both leisure, in the form of travel, and intoxication. A visual semiotic analysis of recent French advertising campaigns for spirits and beer reveals layered signification of escapist themes, all in defiance of the spirit but not the letter of the Loi Évin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social cost of drugs is the monetary cost of both the consequences of their trade and their consumption. In this paper, drugs considered are tobacco and alcohol, which are legal, plus those that are illegal. The social cost is the sum of the external cost: value of loss in quality of life, value of years of life lost and value of loss in productivity, plus public expenditure. Public expenditure consists of public spending on medical care, prevention, and law enforcement, minus savings from unpaid pensions and taxes levied on tobacco and alcohol. The parameters for the calculations have used the recommendations of a French governmental working group (2013) Quinet, L'évaluation socioéconomique des investissements publics [Internet], Centre d'Analyse Stratégique, 2013, http://www.strategie.gouv.fr/sites/strategie.gouv.fr/files/archives/CGSP_Evaluation_socioeconomique_17092013.pdf , and the health data were derived from the scientific literature. The social costs are €122 billion for tobacco, €118 billion for alcohol, and €8.7 billion for illegal drugs. The largest fraction of the costs (53, 56, and 31 %, respectively) derives from the number of deaths, 79,000 for tobacco, 49,000 for alcohol, and 1600 for illegal drugs, given the high cost of a year of life lost (€115,000). The external cost corresponds to 86, 97, and 68 % of the social cost, respectively, for tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. The annual drug-related net expenditure represents €13.9, €3.0, and €2.3 billion, respectively, for tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. The tax revenues on tobacco and alcohol, €10.4 and €3.2 billion, represent less than half of the corresponding healthcare costs, which are €25.9 and €7.7 billion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Social cognition influences social interactions. Alcohol reportedly facilitates social interactions. However, the acute effects of alcohol on social cognition are relatively poorly studied. Methods: We investigated the effects of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beer on emotion recognition, empathy, and sexual arousal using the dynamic face emotion recognition task (FERT), Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET), and Sexual Arousal Task (SAT) in a double-blind, random-order, cross-over study in 60 healthy social drinkers. We also assessed subjective effects using visual analog scales (VASs), blood alcohol concentrations, and plasma oxytocin levels. Results: Alcohol increased VAS ratings of stimulated, happy, talkative, open, and want to be with others. The subjective effects of alcohol were greater in participants with higher trait inhibitedness. Alcohol facilitated the recognition of happy faces on the FERT and enhanced emotional empathy for positive stimuli on the MET, particularly in participants with low trait empathy. Pictures of explicit sexual content were rated as less pleasant than neutral pictures after non-alcoholic beer but not after alcoholic beer. Explicit sexual pictures were rated as more pleasant after alcoholic beer compared with non-alcoholic beer, particularly in women. Alcohol did not alter the levels of circulating oxytocin. Conclusions: Alcohol biased emotion recognition toward better decoding of positive emotions and increased emotional concern for positive stimuli. No support was found for a modulatory role of oxytocin. Alcohol also facilitated the viewing of sexual images, consistent with disinhibition, but it did not actually enhance sexual arousal. These effects of alcohol on social cognition likely enhance sociability. Trial registration: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many testimonies on mass murders of Jews by SS and German police units in the East, witnesses and perpetrators mention that alcohol was present or that the killers were intoxicated. In fact, it is clear from available evidence that alcohol--normally in the form of vodka or schnapps--was often available at murder sites. Despite the ubiquity of its presence, however, there has been little scholarly analysis concerning the use of alcohol or its role in the process of mass murder. This article examines the ways in which SS and police leaders used alcohol in the occupied Eastern territories, as well as the role played by alcohol in genocide. In offering insights into the use of alcohol by perpetrators during the Shoah, the study may provide insight into the role of alcohol in the conduct of other atrocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciência & Saúde Coletiva is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Pos-Graduacao em Saude Coletiva and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study, the effects of ethanol on honey bee social communication and behavior within the hive were studied to further investigate the usefulness of honey bees as an ethanol-abuse model. Control (1.5 M sucrose) and experimental (1.5 M sucrose, 2.5% w/v ethanol) solutions were directly administered to individual forager bees via proboscis contact with glass capillary tubes. The duration, frequency, and proportion of time spent performing social and nonsocial behaviors were the dependent variables of interest. No differences in the relative frequency or proportion of time spent performing the target behaviors were observed. However, ethanol consumption significantly decreased bouts of walking, resting, and the duration of trophallactic (i.e., food-exchange) encounters. The results of this study suggest that a low dose of ethanol is sufficient to disrupt both social and nonsocial behaviors in honey bees. In view of these results, future behavioral-genetic investigations of honey bee social behavior are encouraged. DOI 10.2466/PR0.106.3.701-717

The article discusses the ethical issues and challenges to community justice values in contemporary developments in Australian criminal justice system. The topics discussed include the role of social workers in post-sentence detention and supervision, alcoholic intoxication and violence in Australia, and prominence of Aboriginal offenders in the Australian prison population.

Alcohol consumption is a central aspect of social life among Mongols in Mongolia and Buryatia as well as in Inner Mongolia. Despite its prominence, however, it has not yet been addressed as a phenomenon deserving anthropological attention in its own right. Drawing on material collected in Inner Mongolia (PR China), this article tries to fill this ethnographic gap by describing the deeply contradictory moral values associated with alcohol as well as the social and affective dynamics generated by the ambivalent role of drinking in the construction of a moral self. It thereby draws attention to the inherent contradictions in local systems of moral values and their anxiogenic impact on social interaction, particularly in rural settlements. At the same time, it provides a new perspective on old topics within the anthropology of Mongolia, such as notions of morality, the maintenance of a rigid social hierarchy, and uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background In 2002/03 the Queensland Government responded to high rates of alcohol-related harm in discrete Indigenous communities by implementing alcohol management plans (AMPs), designed to include supply and harm reduction and treatment measures. Tighter alcohol supply and carriage restrictions followed in 2008 following indications of reductions in violence and injury indicators. Despite the plans being in place for over a decade, no comprehensive independent review has assessed to what level the designed aims were achieved and what effect the plans have had on Indigenous community residents and service providers. This study will describe the long-term impacts on important health, economic and social outcomes of Queensland's AMPs. Methods/Design The project has two main studies, 1) outcome evaluation using de-identified epidemiological data on injury, violence and other health and social indicators for across Queensland, including de-identified databases compiled from relevant routinely-available administrative data sets, and 2) a process evaluation to map the nature, timing and content of intervention components targeting alcohol. Process evaluation will also be used to assess the fidelity with which the designed intervention components have been implemented, their uptake and community responses to them and their perceived impacts on alcohol supply and consumption, injury, violence and community health. Interviews and focus groups with Indigenous residents and service providers will be used. The study will be conducted in all 24 of Queensland's Indigenous communities affected by alcohol management plans. Discussion This evaluation will report on the impacts of the original aims for AMPs, what impact they have had on Indigenous residents and service providers. A central outcome will be the establishment of relevant databases describing the parameters of the changes seen. This will permit comprehensive and rigorous surveillance systems to be put in place and provided to communities empowering them with the best credible evidence to judge future policy and program requirements for themselves. The project will inform impending alcohol policy and program adjustments in Queensland other Australian jurisdictions. The project has been approved by the James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number H4967 & H5241). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the authors discuss topics addressed in the issue related to the connection between alcohol and visual culture, including public houses in London, England, Prohibitionism, and the illusion of freedom offered by alcohol.

The article considers the rapid increase in the English market for alcohol and tobacco in the 1620s and the set of concurrent influences shaping their consumption. It suggests that intoxicants were not merely a source of solace for ‘the poor’ or the lubricant of traditional community, as historians often imply. Rather, the growth in the market for beer, wine, and tobacco was driven by those affluent social groups regarded as the legitimate governors of the English commonwealth. For men of a certain disposition and means, the consumption of intoxicants became a legitimate – indeed valorized and artful – aspect of their social identity: an identity encapsulated by the Renaissance concept of ‘wit’. These new styles of drinking were also implicated in the proliferation (in theory and practice) of ‘societies’ and ‘companies’, by which contemporaries meant voluntary and purposeful association. These arguments are made by unpacking the economic, social, and cultural contexts informing the humorous dialogue Wine, beere, ale and tobacco. Contending for superiority. What follows demonstrates that the ostensibly frivolous subject of male drinking casts new light on the nature of early modern social change, in particular the nature of the ‘civilizing process’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

dolescent drinking has an important health and social impact in many countries. In Spain, this behavior often takes place in groups and in open areas (known as 'botellón'). The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of excessive drinking among Spanish adolescents and its association with socialization and family factors. A national school survey was conducted in 2006 among 26,454 students aged 14-18 years who were selected by two-stage cluster sampling (schools and classrooms). The questionnaire was self-completed with paper and pencil. The outcomes were: habitual excessive drinking or HED (average consumption ≥30 g/day of alcohol among men, and ≥20 g/day among women), binge drinking (drinking 5 or more standard alcohol units in a 2-hour interval), and drunkenness. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the effect of socialization and family factors. Monthly prevalence of HED, binge drinking and drunkenness was 11.2%, 30.9% and 25.6%, respectively. The main factors positively associated with HED were: frequently going out for fun in the evenings, high proportion of friends who drink or get drunk, early onset of alcohol use, low perceived risk of drinking, truancy, illegal drug use, and amount of money spent for personal needs. Family factors were weakly associated with outcomes. Socialization in leisure environments with friends who drink excessively is an important predictor of adolescent excessive drinking in Spain. Thus, prevention must also focus on the community level, limiting alcohol access, building socialization environments without alcohol, and increasing adolescents' risk perception of drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On June 8, 1692, a popular uprising left Mexico City in ruins. The colonial government blamed the violence on pulque, an indigenous alcohol made from the fermented juice of the maguey. Not all pulque, however, was considered equal. While ostensibly pure pulque blanco (white pulque) was seen as medicinal, pulque mezclado (mixed pulque), which contained certain additives, was condemned as a threat to political stability. This essay takes this often-overlooked distinction as a point of departure for examining the political and social significance of pulque by way of the grid of intelligibility that gave it meaning. For colonial elites, the mixing of pulque had a magnetizing effect on the social world, drawing the urban poor together in the space of the pulqueria (pulque tavern) and making possible multiple forms of contact-from solidarity to sex. But it also had epistemological implications: the study of mixed pulque offered elites a language for talking about race mixing (mestizaje), while simultaneously constituting pulque consumers as a seditious collective subject-a plebe (plebeian masses) defined, like pulque, by mixing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the 21st European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) held July 26-29, 2010 sponsored by the University of Bonn in Germany is presented. Topics include the history of drugs and alcohol in modern South Asia, reproductive tourism in India, and emerging middle class in India. The conference featured several experts and researchers including Konrad Klaus of Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies, Indian historian Sudhir Chandra, and chairman Sukhdeo Thorat.

Objectives. We examined whether the geographic density of alcohol retailers was greater in geographic areas with higher levels of demographic characteristics that predict health disparities. Methods. We obtained the locations of all alcohol retailers in the continental United States and created a map depicting alcohol retail outlet density at the US Census tract level. US Census data provided tract-level measures of poverty, education, crowding, and race/ethnicity. We used multiple linear regression to assess relationships between these variables and retail alcohol density. Results. In urban areas, retail alcohol density had significant nonlinear relationships with Black race, Latino ethnicity, poverty, and education, with slopes increasing substantially throughout the highest quartile for each predictor. In high-proportion Latino communities, retail alcohol density was twice as high as the median density. Retail alcohol density had little or no relationship with the demographic factors of interest in suburban, large town, or rural census tracts. Conclusions. Greater density of alcohol retailers was associated with higher levels of poverty and with higher proportions of Blacks and Latinos in urban census tracts. These disparities could contribute to higher morbidity in these geographic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Substance Use & Misuse is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Anthropological research on alcohol use and misuse has largely focused on the symbolic meaning of alcohol in ritual settings and its role in the everyday lives of indigenous populations. Much has been written on the role of alcohol as a social lubricant, a vehicle for anxiety relief, a marker of ethnic identity and social status and, in some cases, a part of everyday resistance practices deployed by subordinated populations. Less attention has been given to how the excessive consumption of alcohol is perceived amongst the people themselves, and their own ways of trying to make sense of alcohol-related problems within a rapidly changing social and economic environment. This article considers these issues by looking at a particular group of low-caste/class boatmen in the city of Banaras, and how they articulate alcohol use and abuse. It suggests that perceptions, consumption and broader cultural classification of alcohol can only be appreciated by considering how specific community structures, conflicts and everyday practice are interlaced with culturally constituted notions of power and danger in Hindu society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first Celebrate Safely Youth Forum was conducted by a collection of agencies on the Central Coast of NSW in 2009. Attended by almost 100 young people from local high schools, this forum engaged young people from the perspective that the majority of them do not consume alcohol at harmful levels. In addition to providing important safety information, the event was designed to illicit and support practical, localised strategies (micro-interventions) for promoting safe celebration. Longer term follow-up revealed that participants took their strategies back to their schools and implemented them in a range of creative ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors discuss method which could be used to reduce adolescents' exposure to alcohol advertising and promotion during televised sports. They are critical of a lack of apparent concern about the issue of underage drinking which has been seen within the U.S. government and the alcoholic beverage industry. Also discussed are the public health issues that are associated with the consumption of alcohol among adolescents and other groups.

The article highlights the sociological research on alcohol and teenagers's relationships using a theoretical approach inspired by the actor-network theory (ANT) in Denmark. The author states that the central feature of ANT is to search for relationships or networks between things relevant to the phenomenon. In addition, the study proposes ways of including materiality in sociological analyses of alcohol and explores ways of using focus group interview material in ANT-inspired analysis. Moreover, the study investigates how the actants brought out by young people in the focus groups themselves constitute different forms of agency.

Aims Using terms of justification such as ‘corporate social responsibility’ and ‘partnerships with the public health community’, the alcoholic beverage industry (mainly large producers, trade associations and ‘social aspects’ organizations) funds a variety of scientific activities that involve or overlap with the work of independent scientists. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the ethical, professional and scientific challenges that have emerged from industry involvement in alcohol science. Method Source material came from an extensive review of organizational websites, newspaper articles, journal papers, letters to the editor, editorials, books, book chapters and unpublished documents. Results Industry involvement in alcohol science was identified in seven areas: (i) sponsorship of research funding organizations; (ii) direct financing of university-based scientists and centers; (iii) studies conducted through contract research organizations; (iv) research conducted by trade organizations and social aspects/public relations organizations; (v) efforts to influence public perceptions of research, research findings and alcohol policies; (vi) publication of scientific documents and support of scientific journals; and (vii) sponsorship of scientific conferences and presentations at conferences. Conclusion While industry involvement in research activities is increasing, it constitutes currently a rather small direct investment in scientific research, one that is unlikely to contribute to alcohol science, lead to scientific breakthroughs or reduce the burden of alcohol-related illness. At best, the scientific activities funded by the alcoholic beverage industry provide financial support and small consulting fees for basic and behavioral scientists engaged in alcohol research; at worst, the industry's scientific activities confuse public discussion of health issues and policy options, raise questions about the objectivity of industry-supported alcohol scientists and provide industry with a convenient way to demonstrate ‘corporate responsibility’ in its attempts to avoid taxation and regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Adicciones is the property of Sociedad Cientifica Espanola de Estudios sobre el Alcohol and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: To examine the association between drink driving and the patterns and locations of usual drinking among New Zealand adolescents. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from a nationally representative youth health survey, the sampling frame for which was all New Zealand secondary schools with more than 50 students enrolled in years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18 years) in 2001. The analysis was restricted to the 3408 survey respondents aged 15 years or older who were current drinkers and drivers. Results: In total, 17.3% of participants reported drink driving in the previous month. Drink driving was significantly associated with frequent (at least weekly) alcohol use, binge drinking and usually drinking away from home, that is in cars, outdoors, at bars or nightclubs, at parties, at school and at work. Students' perception that parents and schools care about them, parental monitoring, and high academic achievement was associated with a reduced risk of drink driving while having friends who drink alcohol increased this risk. These associations were similar among boys and girls. Conclusion: The findings support calls to address how and where young people drink, and indicate the potential gains to be made with family- and school-based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Europe is the heaviest-drinking region in the world, more than 2.5 times the rest of the world's average. The Commission's conclusion The cornerstone for the European Commission's action to decrease the alcohol-related harm of this consumption and the main emphasis for its work is the Alcohol and Health Forum, with its Task Forces on Marketing Communication and Youth-Specific Aspects of Alcohol. The Forum, which was launched in June 2007, aims to provide a common platform for all interested stakeholders. Forum members are invited to make commitments to reduce alcohol-related harm, in the form of a monitored and evaluated action plan. By 29 February 2008, 79 commitments have been provided by the members of the Forum. Appraisal of the initiative Taking into account the limited information available, the proposed commitments indicate few evidence-based approaches. A large majority of the summaries do not, or only slightly, address the relevance of their commitment and give no evidence of why their proposed action is important in reducing alcohol-related harm. Even fewer commitments mention indicators of effectiveness of the proposed actions or propose to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed actions. Conclusion While most economic operators in the Forum have resources to undertake actions which could be highly effective, they commit principally to educational programmes which have been found to be mainly ineffective. This, and the neglect of existing legislation, do not give reason for optimism on the impact of the proposed commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several lines of evidence suggest that the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence among women has increased in recent decades, but has not risen significantly for men. Early age at onset of drinking (AOD) is strongly correlated with risk for alcohol dependence and there is evidence that mean AOD has also decreased, particularly for women. The present report sought to confirm the trends in AOD and to determine the extent to which they might account for secular trends in alcohol dependence. Methods: Repeated cross-sectional analyses of data from 2 large, national epidemiological surveys were conducted to enable estimates of cross-cohort differences while controlling for age-related factors. Regression analyses were used to compute risk for alcohol dependence associated with birth cohort membership, before and after inclusion of AOD as a covariate. Results: Both men and women born between 1944 and 1963 had earlier ages of onset for drinking than did the earliest birth cohort analyzed (1934–43). However, the net decrease in AOD was twice as large for women (3.2 years) than that for men (1.6 years). After adjusting for AOD, differences in lifetime prevalence between different birth cohorts of women were rendered nonsignificant, indicating that AOD accounts for a substantial portion of change in the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence. Conclusions: These results suggest that a decrease in AOD accounts for much of the increase in lifetime alcohol dependence among women. AOD is likely to be an indicator of dynamic, and therefore modifiable risk behaviors impacting risk for alcohol dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite recent research examining youth access to alcohol, the extent to which relative ease of access to alcohol from various sources translates into the use of these sources is not known. Methods: Patterns of adolescent alcohol access in California were studied using a hierarchical analysis of self-reported and archival measures. A survey of 30 youths age 14 to 16 in each of 50 zip codes selected to maximize variability in median household income and off-premise outlet densities was conducted. Results: (1) Both actual use of and perceived ease of access to formal sources were positively associated with off-premise outlet density (a measure of formal access). (2) Actual use of informal sources was negatively associated with outlet densities. (3) Perceived and realized informal access were associated positively with deviance and negatively with conventionality. (4) Deviance was associated with increased perceived and realized access from both formal and social sources, whereas conventionality was only associated with realized and perceived informal access. Conclusions: Correlates of perceived and actual alcohol access differ somewhat, and the differences between informal and formal access (both perceived and actual) are many, creating a complex picture of the patterns of underage access to alcohol. Youth drinking is affected by opportunities and constraints. Specifically, as one form of access becomes constrained, youth appear to circumvent restrictions by relying on other modes of access. Thus interventions targeting formal alcohol access by youth may result in a shift to reliance on social sources. This complex problem requires a multi-faceted intervention approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research that utilizes a case-series method to synthesize the current alcohol issues across 18 countries. The study focuses on how different nation states respond to alcohol-related problems. It presents various insights concerning the role of different historical, social and cultural factors on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Moreover, the research focuses solely on the immediate causes and consequences of alcohol consumption, particularly in genetic and biomedical field.

Aims To describe trends of responses to the Cut-down, Annoyed, Guilt, Eye-opener (CAGE) questionnaire during a period of declining alcohol consumption, in a country with no temperance history. Design Two random-sample surveys, conducted in 1991 and 2005, respectively. Setting The adult population of Ile-de-France. Participants A total of 1183 subjects in 1991 and 5382 subjects in 2005. Measurements Responses to CAGE questions, obtained by face-to-face interviews in 1991 and by telephone in 2005. Results were standardized on the 2005 population structure. Findings The proportion of subjects giving at least two positive answers has increased by 4.2 times; the biggest increase was observed for the Guilt question (4.8 times) and the smallest for the Eye-opener question (2.6 times). Several increases were higher for women than for men: 12.9 times versus 3.3 times for two or more positive answers, 9.8 times versus 3.8 times for the Guilt question. Increases did not vary consistently by age. Conclusion These paradoxical trends do not support the use of CAGE in general population surveys. They confirm previous reports suggesting that CAGE was sensitive to community temperance level. They might reflect the emergence of a temperance movement in France, with stronger impact among women. This movement might be responsible for the fall in alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]