Alcohol Review - Issue 46, January 28th 2022

This week:?US pandemic alcohol problem surge confirmed; Australia fights UK tax reform; Nigeria implements sachet ban; Party-loving PM no big drinker; Move to make spiking illegal; WHO exec board adopts action plan

Notices?Events, products and services

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???Sea Arch, alcohol-free spirit

US pandemic surge in alcohol problems confirmed

Alcohol-related problems increased 49% for women and 69% for men in the the pandemic, but the reason remains unclear, says research by RAND Corporation.

RAND’s relatively benign statistics come on top of CDC data showing a 26%?surge?in alcohol-induced deaths in 2020, and a forecast rise of 22% on pre-pandemic levels in 2021.

The rise in men was 47% in 25-44-year-old men and 44% rise in women 35-44,?Alcohol Review?analysis?found (see chart). Overall roughly twice the number of American men died alcohol-induced deaths than women. But the 2020 rise was higher in women, at 26.4%, compared to 25.3% in men.

The death rise was highest among people of more than once race, where deaths rose 52%. Native Americans and Asians saw rises of 34% and 32%, and African Americans, 28%. The rise was 25% in white people, who made up 85% of the dead.

The US alcohol death toll has had little attention or analysis. But?research?on similarly high lockdown alcohol death rates in the UK suggests the explanation lies in a polarisation in drinking, with more heavier drinkers reaching lethal amounts. ■

Australia is fighting a proposed UK reform which would raise tax on beverages with higher alcohol content. It is unlikely to be alone

Nigeria implemented a ban on small alcohol sachet and bottles thought to fuel many alcohol problems

Party-loving UK PM not a big drinker

Boris Johnson drank alcohol sparingly, said a former Johnson colleague and biographer Sonia Purnell in a video interview with Joe. Staying relatively sober was a way to get one over on inebriated colleagues, his prime objective, she said. But his strategy did not stop him from using hangovers as an excuse for under-performance the following day. And he also never got a round in at the pub, she complained. ■

There was the first reading of a bill to make spiking people with alcohol and drugs illegal in the UK

"The idea of a health benefit from low to moderate alcohol consumption is the biggest myth since we were told smoking was good for us," said a researcher on alcohol and heart health

The number of annual alcohol-specific deaths in Northern Ireland rose 4.5% higher in 2020, the highest on record, but below the 19% seen in the rest of the UK

A new framework to identify people previously overlooked for alcohol use disorder focuses on 13 risk factors, such as impulsive behavior, reward sensitivity, and punishment sensitivity

The WHO executive board adopted a draft action plan to implement a global strategy o

Notices Live comedy, politics of alcohol, reducing alcohol stigma in minority communities, alcohol and human rights...

??Sea Arch, alcohol-free spirit

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