Sobering thoughts

Alcohol has been an important component of many societies for thousands of years – yet of all the drugs available in the UK, alcohol is responsible for more damage and homicides than all the other drugs put together.

In fact, the Government is now in discussions with the drinks industry about putting warnings on alcohol and in places where it is sold in a bid to try to hit home the message about drinking sensibly.

The Prime Minister recently called binge drinking "the new British disease".

And there are many statistics to back up claims that it really is a problem that is creating one big hangover for this country.

A new rather sobering survey showed that alcohol consumption in the UK has doubled in the last 50 years, with young people here drinking more than in almost every other European country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) would class a whopping 8.2million of our adult population as hazardous drinkers and we are ranked 22nd out of 185 countries in alcohol consumption per head.

Consequently, the Government is making moves to try to call time on the current binge-drinking culture that has evolved and hit home the health hazards that can be linked to over-drinking.

New warnings – similar to those seen on cigarette packets – could soon be seen on the sides of bottles of alcohol, making it harder for people wanting a tipple to ignore the dangers of over indulging!

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint confirmed the move to introduce warning labels could cover pubs, off-licences and supermarkets and could be introduced within two years.

About 80 per cent of beer packaging already carries a message asking people to drink sensibly, but the new measures plan to go even further – combining information on units with a message such as "don't do drunk" and warnings about health consequences.

Caroline Flint said: "Nobody is saying you can't have a drink, but you know, think about how you're drinking and its consequences."

British Beer and Pub Association spokesman Mark Hastings said the industry had been in talks with the Government over the introduction of a standardised message to appear on all bottles and cans.

He added: "This is about standardising it across all alcoholic drinks packaging. We fully support anything that helps people make better, informed decisions about their drinking to ensure that they don't drink to excess."

But before you dismiss the binge drinking culture as something that is simply limited to drunken teenage lads, downing pint after pint on a Friday night, it could be time to take a sober look at how much alcohol you're consuming, whether it's a few glasses of wine after work, or a relaxed pub lunch.

Twenty-eight-year-old Sarah Hall, from Springwell, admitted that although she didn't drink every day, on most weekends she and her friends exceeded the recommended safe limit.

She said: "I go out with my friends most Friday and Saturday nights, and always have a drink in the house while getting ready to meet my friends for about 7pm.

"Most of the time I drink alcopops or vodka and will easily have about 12 drinks throughout the night before doing the same again on a Saturday.

"I reckon I drink about the same as most of my friends and although we all have a good time, we're not really drunk on that amount.

"I think people just see it as a sociable thing – a way to relax and have fun at the end of the week."

Father-of-two Darren Robson, of Fulwell added: "Now that I have kids I don't get out to the pub as much – probably about once every two weeks – but I regularly drink in the house.

"It's much more acceptable now to have a drink at home and most nights I will share a bottle of wine with my wife or else have a couple of bottles of lager. At the weekend, we tend to drink a bit more and can easily get through three bottles of wine between us and I will probably have a couple of bottles of lager too.

"It's just part of our culture now and I think as people are increasingly leading stressful, busy lives they need to unwind at the end of the day and alcohol helps them to do that."

But Kevan Martin, chairman of Sunderland-based North East Regional Alcohol Forum believes that a couple of social drinks at the end of the day can often lead to further problems down the line.

Spending years in the building trade, Kevan would often finish the day having a couple of pints in the pub and playing darts – little realising that he was slowly building a dependency on alcohol.

He admits that for about 20 years he was an alcoholic but when his life hit "rock bottom", managed to find the strength to turn it around and stop drinking.

Kevan hasn't touched a drop for seven years now and devotes much of his time to helping others who are addicted to alcohol kick the habit.

He said: "The amount we are now drinking is getting steadily worse. We've gone from a society where 25 years ago we drank a couple of pints, maybe once or twice a week, to drinking regularly – and not only pints, but spirits and shots – and in larger quantities.

"People are not really going out now for a social drink – they're going out to get hammered. And they think the only consequences they have to deal with are a hangover the next day, without giving a thought to the long-term effects – to their health, career and family.

"The problem with alcohol is that it is legal and nobody really warns you that it is dangerous and yet the long-term effects and dependency creep up on you. It's only when people try to cut down or stop that it really dawns on them.

"And the problem is not just isolated to teenagers and pubs – older people are also drinking regularly and heavily within their homes, often up to seven nights a week.

"The knock-on effect of this over 20 to 30 years is going to be devastating. Currently, we only have the facilities to treat one in 102 people needing help and that is going to get steadily worse in time.

"I welcome moves to start to put warnings on to the side of bottles, it's a start but I really think the government has to go a lot further than that.

"Alcohol kills, it can cause mental health problems and that message has to be driven home to people. Alcohol is a legal but lethal timebomb.

"There also has to be a network of support in place to help people stop drinking. An alcoholic is often a lonely, solitary person who might only have about half an hour contact with people a day, when they go to the off licence to stock up.

"Through the North East Regional Alcohol Forum, we encourage people to get off their bums and get busy – change their lifestyles, get back out into the world."

And the group's ground-breaking work has led to a link up with Sunderland Royal, under a new pioneering scheme whereby counsellors will be on call to go into the hospital and speak to people with alcohol-related problems.

Alcohol is to blame for more than half of admissions to Sunderland's A&E ward, while more than a quarter of injuries treated by casualty staff on weekends are drink-related.

The mentoring service will work alongside new drop-in centres that the North East Regional Alcohol Forum is setting up within Sunderland.

More worrying in the long term is the fact that the national debate about alcohol consumption has barely scratched the surface of the complex and growing relationship many have grown up to regard as a bit of "Dutch courage", or indeed something to take for "medicinal purposes".

And there is the rub. How many people are using a binge, a drop, or a steady flow of alcohol to medicate themselves? A closer look at the relationship between alcohol and mental health suggests excessive drinking is better described as a symptom than a disease.

At the severe end of the spectrum, co-existing alcohol problems and mental ill-health are very common. People with severe and enduring mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are at least three times as likely to be alcohol dependant as the rest of the population.

The idea that they often use alcohol, with its pharmacological properties, to medicate distressing symptoms is widely understood by mental health workers – despite the fact it mostly worsens the symptoms it is intended to beat or feelings it is supposed to numb.

A research report just published by the Mental Health Foundation, was commissioned to explore why our drinking habits are developing as they are.

The Cheers? report revealed that 77 per cent of drinkers said alcohol made them feel relaxed, and 63 per cent said it made them feel happy. Approximately one-third of drinkers report that alcohol makes them feel less anxious, less depressed and more able to forget problems.

This is consistent with the theory that many use alcohol to medicate stress, anxiety and depression. The research showed that those drinking to deal with difficult feelings and emotions are most likely to be young, male, single, in full-time work, believe they drink too much, and also believe they would find it difficult to give up.

There is also plenty of evidence to show that people who drink high volumes of alcohol are vulnerable to mental ill-health. Regular drinking is thought to change the chemistry of the brain and deplete the neurotransmitters it needs to prevent anxiety and depression naturally.

According to the WHO, enough evidence exists to assume alcohol contributes to depression.

Many will have suffered the anxiety and low mood that can come on with an ordinary hangover. In fact while we're still drunk, we often experience amplification of feelings we might have been trying to numb – this is because alcohol depresses the central nervous system, removing inhibitions. A sobering additional finding cited in the report is that 70 per cent of men who kill themselves have drunk alcohol before doing so.

As a nation, we are growing a sophisticated understanding of our physical health. But our relationship with alcohol testifies to a phenomenal ignorance about how we can and should look after our mental health, and cope with difficult emotions.

As concern about alcohol misuse grows, so must Government policy and guidance, as well as advice about tackling problem alcohol use in health services, schools and families.

#So just how much can you drink safely?

Alcohol is a sedative hypnotic drug that depresses the central nervous system.

Most of the adults in the UK drink alcohol moderately and on a social basis, but about one in five men and one in seven women drink regularly more than the Department of Health suggest is strictly safe for good health.

#So what is a safe level?

According to the Department of Health, this is up to two to three units of alcohol a day for women and up to three to four units of alcohol a day for men – these daily benchmarks apply whether you drink every day, once or twice a week, or occasionally.

A single unit is 10ml of pure alcohol and counting units of alcohol can help keep track of the amount you drink.

So how many units are there in your favourite tipple?

A 175ml glass of red or white wine – about two units.

A pint of ordinary strength lager (Heineken, Carling, Fosters) – two units.

A pint of strong lager (Stella Artois, Kronenbourg 1664) – three units.

A pint of bitter (John Smith's, Boddingtons) – two units.

A pint of ordinary strength cider (Dry Blackthorn, Strongbow) – two units.

A pub measure of spirits – one unit.

An alcopop (eg Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Breezer, WKD) – around one-and-a-half units.

#Meanwhile, the effects of alcohol are very dependent on the amount consumed, and can include:

slurred speech;

a loss of co-ordination;

unsteady when standing or walking;

impaired attention and judgment;

sleep.

Relatively low doses relax the user, make them more talkative and animated, while increasingly larger doses lead to unco-ordinated movement, impaired decision making and sedation. The depressive effects of alcohol are the reason that it is always best to avoid alcohol when driving and never exceed the limit.

#Your body needs at least 48 hours to recover from a binge, and steady drinking leads to permanent physical changes.

These include:

Brain – reduces brain tissue, depriving the brain of vitamins, most commonly thiamine, one of the B vitamins, a lack of which can lead to mental disturbance.

The heart – pumping action is weakened, which can result in heart failure.

The liver – two-thirds of the cases of cirrhosis of the liver diagnosed in the UK are caused by alcohol.

The stomach – irritation leading to sickness and pain.

Cosmetic – the skin appears flushed as blood vessels near the surface widen. There is often a serious weight gain.

Sunderland Today

Students should beware of signs of alcoholism

Lois F., a part-time employee of Alcoholics Anonymous in New York, said she knew she had an alcohol problem when her roommate moved out.

"She pretty much just moved out [without warning]," Lois said. "I knew my drinking was making it hard for her to stay sober, but I wasn't expecting it."

Lois said she suffered from side effects from drinking, such as blackouts, that made it difficult for her to keep friends and affected her job.

"I was a teacher at the time, but I knew I wasn't doing a top job, particularly days on when I was very hung over," Lois said. "I would do anything to keep the kids quiet all day."

Lois said she recognized her problem and went to Alcoholics Anonymous. She has been sober for almost 34 years.

Although policies at Truman regulate punishment for alcohol use on campus, no simple policy can regulate the signs of alcohol dependency or prescribe how to confront a roommate or friend with an alcohol dependency problem.

Several resources are available for those who want to try, however.

Watch for Signs

Brenda Higgins, director of the Student Health Center, said that if a student fears his or her friend or roommate is struggling with alcohol, he or she should look for specific characteristics.

"[Look for] changes in behavior, declines in performance [or] destructive behaviors," Higgins said.

Higgins said especially with college-aged students, there always are possibilities of problems resulting from alcohol abuse.

According to the Department of Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention at Colorado State University, characteristics of students with alcohol problems include drinking until passing out, drinking before classes, missing classes, not studying, switching peer groups and having a family history of chemical dependency.

"It's really hard [to introduce the idea of alcoholism]," Higgins said. "People aren't always ready or interested in hearing from us about this issue. If they're here [at the health center] for a completely unrelated issue, and we bring up the issue of drinking, they may not want to deal with that."

She said students come into the health center with gastritis, which is an inflammation of the stomach, as a result of the irritation alcohol causes to the digestive tract.

The health center might not even mention alcohol abuse on the first visit, Higgins said. She said that if there is any discussion about alcohol, it usually occurs during the follow-up visit.

Higgins said students don't have to discuss drinking habits at the health center.

"If they say, 'No,' then really all we can do is say, 'OK, when you're ready, know that we're here,'" Higgins said. "We're not here to lecture you, and I'm not here to be your mom. I'm here to help you when you need help and direct you to resources that can help you."

Prepare for the Confrontation

Phil Jorn, a counselor for the University Counseling Services, said it is normal for students to be afraid to address alcohol abuse issues, but students should get support if they are concerned about a roommate or friend.

"I think it's appropriate to step in when it's affecting your life," Jorn said. "Being able to have an accurate assessment of how is this person's drinking affecting their life and being able to present that to the person is the first thing I'd want to do."

Students should try and talk to their roommate or friend first and see how that works out, Jorn said. He said that if the roommate puts up a wall, he or she should consider talking to a student adviser.

"You want to confront the person and challenge them," Jorn said. "But you also want to provide support for them."

Jorn said he understands it is much harder for students who live off campus to confront a roommate or friend because they do not have the easy accessibility to the resources the University offers. He said that if a concerned student is living with more than one person, it might be beneficial to discuss the problem with the other roommates so everyone has a similar understanding of the problem before the actual confrontation occurs. It is much more difficult for a student to deny the problem if the same argument is coming from more than one person, he said.

But students also need to be careful of being too direct because a direct confrontation might result in putting up a wall, Jorn said.

"You want to be able to present your concerns in an objective way," Jorn said. "If you present it in an objective way, then you are able to present it in more of a dialogue as opposed to if you go into that situation, and you're being judgmental."

Jorn said he is aware that even after confronting a roommate in an objective manner, the alcohol problem might not be solved.

"Consider contacting the student's parents," he said. "Not as a way to discipline the student but as a way to help challenge them to get treatment to make some change."

He said this does not always work because sometimes the family members have alcohol problems themselves.

The University has significantly less power to regulate drinking if the student is living off campus, Jorn said. He said unfortunately a lot of times students' hands are tied in terms of what they can do because they are not living on University property.

"The next thing I'd want to do is know about the resources," Jorn said. "You want to follow up with the resources where this person can get help."

Jorn said offering resources will empower the person to be able to take control of the situation. He said that if the person is willing to receive treatment, going with him or her to the counseling services or health center could be beneficial.

"If you can't give that support, then try and find someone else who can," Jorn said.

Having someone to lean on in this difficult time makes the treatment much easier, he said.

An Overall Difficult Situation

Brian Krylowicz, director of counseling services, said confronting a friend or roommate about alcohol abuse can be a challenging situation.

"It's such a challenge because when you're trying to get anyone to change their behavior, you can't do it," he said. "You just have to create an environment and encourage it."

He said the best time to talk to someone about his or her alcohol problem is after a natural learning moment, like failing a test or sleeping through an important class.

"There is never going to be a moment where you go, 'You know, now is a good time to bring up my roommate's alcohol problem,'" he said.

Krylowicz said there is no perfect time or 10 words to say to fix a roommate or friend's alcohol problem. The primary concern should be creating a safe environment for discussion and making sure both parties are sober.

He said alcohol abusers trying to get help usually have to make changes in their social lives, which makes things more difficult.

"The problem at the college level is that for people to change their drinking patterns, they have to change who they hang out with," Krylowicz said.

Krylowicz said alcohol abuse is a problem at Truman, and problems related to alcohol abuse do exist.

"If you look at stats, you compare us to other schools, alcohol is less of a problem at Truman than you would say most of the universities," he said. "But within context of that, is alcohol a problem on campus? Yeah."

He said he would love for Truman to start an Alcoholics Anonymous group strictly for college-aged students. Krylowicz said he would like to incorporate all the colleges in Kirksville, not just Truman, to offer more support for college students with alcohol problems.

Despite all of the effort a student might put into helping a friend or a roommate with an alcohol problem, sometimes there is nothing left for a helping student to do except throw in the towel.

Krylowicz said that at some point, students just have to take care of themselves and leave the situation in any way possible.

However, Higgins said a student's efforts to help a friend or roommate might pay off in the long run.

"Realize that the first time you talk to somebody, they may be defensive," she said. "Let it go. It may make an impact sometime when you don't even know about it. It may be five years down the road when that person has graduated from college, and they're still having drinking problems. So sometimes people don't even know that they've really helped someone, but they really have."

Index

Counselling for drunken A&E yobs

Alcohol gurus are being drafted in to a hospital emergency department in a bid to steer drunken yobs away from a life of booze.
The scheme, the first of its kind in the country, will see counsellors on-call go into Sunderland Royal Hospital to speak to violent drunks as they are sobering up.
It is hoped that the experts, trained by the North East Regional Alcohol Forum (Neraf), can help curb the city's shocking drink problem.
Alcohol is to blame for more than half of admissions to Sunderland's A&E ward, and more than a quarter of injuries treated by casualty staff on weekends are drink-related.
Health workers also say that 51,000 people in Sunderland drink at dangerous levels.
But Kevin Martin, chairman of Neraf, said the unique project could help tackle health problems and weekend crime rates.
Mr Martin, 45, a recovering addict who has been dry for six years, said: "We will go to the hospital when they have a client for us. It might be that somebody regularly goes into A&E for fighting.
"We are going in hoping we can say to this person, 'This is all down to your alcohol problem' and that they will accept that and ask for help.
"We're the first people in the country doing this. This is unique because it's the only scheme that has been constructed by people who have had alcohol problems.
"Sunderland is ahead of the rest of the North East when it comes to tackling alcohol problems and we're really grateful to the primary care trust for the funding and help we've received."
The mentoring service at the hospital will work alongside new drop-in centres that Neraf is setting up.
They will work alongside a raft of new measures being introduced by city health chiefs to combat Wearside's drink problem.
A spokesperson for Sunderland TPCT said today: "We are one of the few primary care trusts in the country to have developed an alcohol strategy that incorporates a detailed action plan for the treatment of alcohol-related health problems.
"This plan includes extra investment for new treatment services that will be introduced across the next six months."
The plans come as tough police operations to clamp down on violence on Friday and Saturday nights have helped to almost halve the number of attacks in Sunderland city centre.
Operation Actual – based at five hot spots in the city centre, resulted in assaults falling from 79 to just 39 in the past few weeks.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We know that alcohol misuse has a devastating effect on millions of lives each year.
"That is why we are working with the drinks industry, police and health professionals to increase awareness of the dangers of excessive drinking and make the sensible drinking message easier to understand – the central focus of our Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy."

More funding needed to tackle problems claims centre's boss

Staff at the Huntercombe Centre, a 34-bed drug and alcohol treatment centre in Grangetown, said more money is needed to treat people with alcohol problems.
The centre, the only one of its kind in the region, has 14 detoxification beds with a team of dedicated medical and nursing staff and counsellors, who provide both group and individual therapy.
A clinical psychologist and occupational therapist also works with clients in both the detoxification and rehabilitation units and supports the core staff team.
Mick Davies, general manager at The Huntercombe Centre, said: "Funds attributed for specialist treatment and effective aftercare support are poor.
"We spend £95million on alcohol-harm treatment in this country, but as Alcohol Concern has pointed out, Smirnoff Vodka spent two-and-a-half times as much just to re-brand itself recently.
"Furthermore, in the most recent UK Alcohol Treatment Trial, results showed that for every £1 invested in treating people with alcohol problems the public purse saves £5, so why are we not seeing significant changes in Government policy which will benefit us all?"
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We are working hard to get more people into treatment and are already spending an estimated £217million a year on alcohol treatment.
"An estimated 63,000 people are receiving treatment from specialist services – with even more getting support from their GPs.
"And an additional £15million has been committed for 2007/08."

Drink-related patients

At peak times, about one in four of A&E attendances in Sunderland are related to alcohol on a typical Saturday night.
About half of patients come directly from their home, the remainder are from public houses or picked up in the street.
More than 40 per cent arrive at A&E by ambulance.
44 per cent of men in Sunderland drink more than 21 units of alcohol a week compared to the UK average of 30 per cent.
19 per cent of women in Sunderland drink more than 14 units a week compared to the UK average of 16 per cent.
About 51,000 people in Sunderland are regarded as harmful or hazardous drinkers, which is linked to health problems, crime or antisocial behaviour.

Sunderland Today

Withdrawal can be a deadly part of recovery

Alcoholism is an addiction that can be difficult to recover from. From the start, kicking the habit carries the risk of being fatal. However, others experience relatively mild symptoms.

“Everything gears up when people quit drinking,” Barb Meek, a certified nurse practitioner at Fountain Center, said. “People can have heart attacks or strokes just because of withdrawal.”

Sudden reduction or quitting long-term alcohol use can produce a defined cluster of symptoms called acute alcohol withdrawal.

Symptoms of acute withdrawal can begin as early as six hours after declining from drinking. Initial symptoms include tremor, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness and nausea.

In mildly alcohol-dependent persons, these symptoms may subside without treatment after a few days. More serious cases can have withdrawal symptoms including fever, rapid breathing, tremor and profuse sweating which occurs in about 10 percent of patients.

Seizures can occur in more than 5 percent of untreated patients.

Another severe complication associated with withdrawal is delirium tremens. DTs is characterized by hallucinations, mental confusion and disorientation. The mortality rate among patients with DTs is 5 to 25 percent.

After acute withdrawal has subsided, a further protracted withdrawal may follow with persistent alterations in physiology, mood and behavior that may motivate a patient to relapse to heavy drinking.

The type of treatment patients receive depends on the severity of alcoholism and the resources that are available in the community. Treatment may include detoxification, taking doctor-prescribed medications to help prevent a return to drinking once drinking has stopped and individual or group counseling.

Because the support of family members is important to the recovery process, many programs also offer brief marital counseling and family therapy as part of the treatment process. Programs may also link individuals with vital community resources, such as legal assistance, job training, childcare, and parenting classes.

Although there is an extensive array of professional alcohol treatment services, peer-led, voluntary fellowship groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous continue to be the most widely accessed resource for people with alcohol problems.

AA revolves around the 12-step method of recovery.

There are multiple other forms of intervention including cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement therapy. Some heavy drinkers choose to quit drinking on their own, however it is not recommended due to serious complications associated with withdrawal.

The Albert Lea Tribune

Profits and fears in drinking boom

With more and more people around the world drinking more and more alcohol, the huge multinational drinks companies are expanding, seeking fresh markets - and the target is the developing world.

In countries like Kenya, alcohol is being sold as part of a lifestyle - new and fashionable in places were once it was a dark secret.

In a bar in the capital Nairobi, a crowd of young people knocking back their drinks seem not dissimilar to a crowd in Manchester or anywhere else.

"I'm drinking Eraser - it erases memory," says one drinker.

"Tomorrow, I won't remember what happened - I won't remember this interview. So you'd better send me tape."

Binge drinking

These people are fashionably dressed, and part of a new elite.

They drink the premium alcohol brands as part of a Western lifestyle these young Africans now enjoy.

"I think we have evolved from our parents, from the Africa where young people could not go to places if they were not of a certain age," another drinker explained.

"Nowadays, as long as you work, you're over 18 and you're responsible, you can go wherever you want.

"It's basically your responsibility."

However, campaigner David Ogot - a recovering alcoholic who knows at first hand about alcohol and addiction - tells BBC World Service's Alcohol programme that attitudes towards drinking had transformed in recent years - just as they have in the UK, where there has been a massive increase in so-called "binge drinking."

"In my time, when we drank, we drank to have fun - we frowned upon this falling-down kind of drunk," says Mr Ogot.

"But today, if you didn't drink and puke and fight and then black out at the end, then you didn't have fun.

"That's the way they're drinking... that's the deal nowadays. Drinking to get drunk."

Kenya Breweries - a highly profitable company on the outskirts of Nairobi, and home of some of the country's best-known brands - stresses that it does not want people binge drinking, or even getting drunk.

Controlled by British-based Diageo, the world's biggest drinks company, Kenya Breweries argues that it is proud of what it does

"At the end of the day, there is one realisation that we need to appreciate - that alcohol, taken in the right quantities and with the right people, is actually very good and very positive for society," says director of external affairs Ken Karuki.

"Unfortunately, that is one element that not many people are very comfortable to repeat.

"We know for a fact that alcohol is positive if used in the right way - when you think about it, alcohol has been in the world since Biblical times.

"Therefore, we are very proud of the role that we play in society, in getting people to come together, to meet, to socialise."

Campaign

Mr Karuki says he feels the negative part of drinking is being "amplified" and denies accusations that the company's marketing - including a competition to win a house by finding a lucky bottle top - encourages people to drink too much.

"The promotion was designed to reward consumers who have been loyal to the brand," he says.

"We did not encourage excessive consumption of alcohol."

James Kaghuti, appointed by the Kenyan president to head the National Agency For the Campaign Against Drug Abuse - and whose brief includes alcohol - is furious with the campaign.

"You are not advertising milk or chocolate, you are advertising substances of addiction," he says.

Drinks companies are cynically targeting Kenya's young people, he insists, pointing to how his surveys show alcohol abuse by young Kenyans is increasing massively.

"Last year, by volume, we increased drinking by 16%. It's phenomenal.

"Imagine that happening in the UK. It is down to excessive promotion, and it's very sad."

For some, this is an indication of how the global alcohol industry is now under attack, as the tobacco industry has been for decades.

For these multi-billion dollar multinational companies, this is a key moment.

And Kenya Breweries' head of external affairs Ken Karuki has the company's defence ready.

"We have run a very extensive responsible drinking programme, and in that programme we give consumers the do's and don'ts of responsible drinking," he says.

"We encourage them to consume responsibly. We do not advocate for consumers to go over the limit, we do not advocate them to drink excessively, we do not advocate them to drink and drive.

"We have clearly laid that out."

BBC World Service in Nairobi

Too many using drink for 'medicinal purposes'

Too many people are relying on alcohol to cope with stress and anxiety, warns a report published today.

According to research from the Mental Health Foundation, a large number of people now "self medicate" with alcohol to make themselves feel better. But the report claims that this can result in mental health problems.

A poll of more than 1,000 people by MHF found reliance on alcohol was widespread, with 88% of people saying they would find it difficult to give it up.

The predominant motivation for wanting a drink was to relax, but 40% of people said they drank to feel less anxious, 26% said it helped them feel less depressed and nearly one third said it helped them forget their problems.

The report by MHF, entitled Cheers?, warns that using alcohol to deal with feelings of stress, anxiety and depression can lead to excessive drinking which increases vulnerability to a range of mental health problems - because regular drinking changes the chemistry of the brain.

Alcohol depletes the neurotransmitters that the brain needs to prevent anxiety and depression naturally, they said.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the foundation, said, "The research confirms our worries that people are drinking to cope with emotions and situations they can't otherwise manage, to deal with feelings of anxiety and depression.

"Drinking alcohol is a very common and accepted way of coping - our culture allows us to use alcohol for 'medicinal purposes' or 'Dutch courage' from an early age.

"But using alcohol to deal with anxiety and depression doesn't work, as alcohol can weaken the neurotransmitters that the brain needs to reduce anxiety and depressive thoughts. This is why lots of people feel low when they have a hangover."

In Wales, a person dies every day due to alcohol-related problems and recent figures show binge drinking is higher in the UK than anywhere else in Western Europe.

But Lisa Morgan, who runs workshops which help people tackle their relationship with alcohol, said it's not just the binge drinkers in city centres on Saturday nights who are at risk of becoming reliant on the drug.

Miss Morgan, who spent much of her career working for United Distillers and whose family lives in Wales, said a large number of people now use alcohol to unwind and make themselves feel better, but that this is a relatively new phenomenon, and one which she says has been fuelled by a combination of clever marketing and the low cost of alcohol.

She said, "Drink marketing has been very good at positioning alcohol as a "leave your worries behind you" sort of product.

"In the old days people would say, "sit down and have a nice cup of tea", but now they'll say "have a glass of wine" instead, and because wine is cheaper, it's quite reasonable to drink a bottle every evening. As a result women are drinking much more than they used to.

"A lot of people say they drink to relax and that might be after a day at work or a long journey with the kids. It's become much more acceptable and wine has crept in as mum's little treat.

"She'll open a bottle when cooking and then, before she knows it, it's gone."

Miss Morgan, who is running a workshop entitled The Glass Half Full in Cardiff in June, said the key to tackling your reliance on alcohol is to uncover the motivation behind it.

Here's what you should be drinking

The recommended alcohol intake for men is three to four units a day and for women two to three.

Two to three alcohol-free days a week are also recommended.

But what is a unit?

One unit is about 8g of pure alcohol. This is equal to:

A small glass of wine;

Half-a-pint of beer;

One pub measure of spirits (25ml).

But alcohol content can vary. Wine is now served in larger glasses and a large glass of wine could be 3.25 units.

Cans of beer are usually about 1.5 units

Western Mail

Parent to Parent ~ Dangers of binge drinking

The dangers of binge drinking have been hitting the headlines recently, with fears expressed by health professionals that young drinkers are storing up future health problems.

And as the evenings lighten, the sight of groups of young people gathered on street corners or outside supermarkets drinking is a common one. In fact, go to any park, in any town in the morning and the chances are they will be littered with beer cans and plastic cider bottles - remnants of a session the night before by youngsters too young to be served in a pub.

As the Chronicle reported in February, hundreds of children in the region are in treatment to tackle alcohol problems. Shockingly, even some 11-year-olds are receiving help to beat their addictions.

For many parents, it's the thought of their children getting involved in dangerous situations while under the influence that's one of the most worrying aspects of it. With so many mixed messages around, it is important children and young people find out about the facts and the risks from their parents - their ultimate role models.

One concerned caller told our helpline: "I know she drinks too much. I really worry about her. Thank goodness she has good friends who always watch out for her. I insist that she never comes home on her own."

Although binge drinking is undoubtedly a problem, we do need to keep it in context and remember that not all teenagers will binge drink.

There is also some good work going on in schools to increase awareness of the dangers of alcohol abuse and to promote responsible behaviour.

Try to talk openly about what you see as the potential dangers - from health and safety - in a practical way so they don't tune out.

Even young children are aware of alcohol and its effects and parents can talk to younger children, answer their questions and introduce the topic without overwhelming them with information and scare tactics.

Remember, your own behaviour will influence them. Be honest about the reasons why you, or people in general, like drinking, as well as the negatives of alcohol.

If you fear your child is drinking a lot, don't panic. Accusing, arguing or threatening won't help. Wait until you are calm and they are sober before talking about your concerns and try to encourage them to tell you what's happening.

It's important you have support for yourself as well as your child - whether it is a friend or family member you can confide in or a support service like ourselves at Parentline Plus.

Call the Parentline Plus 24-hour free, confidential helpline on 0808 800 2222. Alternatively, e-mail parentsupport@parentlineplus.org.uk or for more information about the service, log on to the website www.parentlineplus.org.uk

The Evening Chronicle

They drink to forget they drink

Three young men in their twenties go on a binge, quarrel, two douse the third with a can of petrol and throw a match. We read ever so many times of such incidents. So much for what alcohol can do. That is the curse of drink. Today's youth, most of them, have become slave to that curse.

Voices are, now and then, raised against drink though how much they are heard is in question . At the same time those who have been, and are, in power do not seem to be keen on prohibition. And, sad to say, social workers too do not seem to devote much attenation to this evil.

Counsellors and doctors who treat addicts said that in Tamilnadu a number of youngsters had turned habitual drinkers only after prohibition was scrapped when the DMK began its rule. 'Earlier, people would drink on the sly, or may be, go to nearby Pondy. But now the rot has set in, and it is too late to go back,' they said

The next best thing is to check drinking. Educate the people. Tell them that even if liquor is available, not to buy it. Or, advise moderation to those who drink heavily and those who will not stop. They may cut down if they realise what they'd be in for if they turn addicts. 'Take smoking. Many have stopped. It is a great deal due to the ban on smoking in public places,' said a counsellor.

It is a pity no one backs those who cry foul on drink. For that matter if at all they try to protest in public they may end up being arrested on charges of blocking traffic. Today protests for laudable causes have little value.

'What is worrying is how many have become addicts, some so bad they are beyond redemption. Many in the prime of life, say in their thirties', said a spokesman of Nandini Voice for the Deprived, a social service organisation at Adyar, that has been doing much for the downtrodden. It has been doing quite a lot to wean youth from the curse of drink.

'Most hotels in Chennai have bars and at no time are they empty. If it is opening time you can find one or two nursing a drink. One may be a straggler, but surely the other will be a regular, And he's going to be there till nearly closing time.' That was what one counsellor told this writer.

An addict will drink till it harms him. If he still does not (or cannot) stop it means he has become an addict. Moreover, he will not know he is already suffering from addiction. He thinks drinking is normal, the effects on his life do not worry him.

Denial is a fundamental obstruction to the treatment of addiction. If the would-be-patient cannot accept the fact that he is suffering, he will reject all efforts to correct the behavioural defect. Implicit in this conception is the idea that the person who suffers the ill effects of his excessive drinking would stop the habit if he could. The fact that he can't stop makes it addiction. He drinks to forget he drinks

Drinking socially and even beyond normal amounts sems to have become a regular part of life. Some individuals, however, go beyond just drinking to the path of alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease, although the textbook wording separates alcoholism into abuse and dependence. Alcoholism is largely psychological and it is usually diagnosed using a questionaire to help detect alcohol abuse.

If heavy dependency continues for long the alcoholic may , contract cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, heart disease, hypertension or worse. . Moreover, withdrawal can cause severe biophysical reactions. If you suspect a friend of alcoholism talk to him about the problem or try and get help from a doctor. Treating alcoholism usually involves going to a detox programe and attending support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. While battling alcoholism is a long road, alcohol abuse can be overcome with the possibility to live a normal life.

Increased tolerance against intoxication. The more we drink, the more our system gets used to alcohol. Our system would adapt itself correspondingly, and develop a certain level of immunity against inebriation. A high level of this particular resistance therefore, would point to a high level of habitual alcohol intake.

Alcohol abuse may not mean alcoholism. But alcoholics experience the many effects of alcohol abuse. It is akin to AIDS where advertisements are galore and propaganda multi-pronged at a cost of several crores. Life is to enjoy, so enjoy, as much as you want. But, use condoms. Sorry it looks so, in this land of one-man-one-wife. And, the government is yet to consider a scheme for free supply of condoms. Tasmac figures can at best be an indication for a commercial department but the turnover of the illicit trade, officials themselves say. is far above government salles. The poor and the lowly as well as the addict are invisible patrons as they willingly pay.

Chennai News Today

Survey reveals reliance on booze

Too many people "self medicate" with alcohol to make themselves feel better, a study says.

Research from the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) found that 88% of people would find it difficult to give up alcohol completely while 77% said it made them feel relaxed.

Almost two thirds (63%) of more than 1,000 people questioned said alcohol made them feel happy, 51% felt less inhibited and 41% felt more confident while drinking.

Almost half (44%) felt booze made then "able to fit in socially", 40% felt less anxious and 31% felt they could make friends more easily.

The poll, accompanied by a MHF report into alcohol and mental health called Cheers?, follows recent research which showed that Britons are the biggest binge drinkers in Europe.

The authors of Cheers? said evidence showed that many adults in the UK are using alcohol to deal with feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. But they warned that excessive drinking increases vulnerability to a range of mental health problems - because regular drinking changes the chemistry of the brain.

Alcohol depletes the neurotransmitters that the brain needs to prevent anxiety and depression naturally, they said. They also argued that while the physical impact of alcohol is reflected in Government policy, not enough is being done about the link to mental health.

Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the foundation, said: "The research confirms our worries that people are drinking to cope with emotions and situations they can't otherwise manage, to deal with feelings of anxiety and depression.

"Drinking alcohol is a very common and accepted way of coping - our culture allows us to use alcohol for 'medicinal purposes' or 'dutch courage' from an early age. But using alcohol to deal with anxiety and depression doesn't work as alcohol can weaken the neurotransmitters that the brain needs to reduce anxiety and depressive thoughts. This is why lots of people feel low when they have a hangover."

The foundation believes that health warnings should be introduced on packaging for alcoholic drinks, with the warning: "Excessive use of alcohol can damage your mental health."

This is London

Health warnings set for alcoholic drinks in UK

Alcoholic drinks on sale in Britain may have to carry health warnings within two years, said the government’s public health minister, testing the water as a consultation period with the drinks industry draws to a close.

UK public health minister Caroline Flint told BBC News on Thursday that cigarette packet-style health warnings could be introduced for alcoholic drinks on labels, shops and bars.

Her comments hint at government thinking on the subject, less than a month before its deadline for feedback from the drinks industry over a range of regulatory issues, including health warnings on labels.

Concerns have grown in Britain about the potential health effects of the country's binge-drinking culture.

Britons are Western Europe's biggest binge drinkers, consuming more alcohol each time they go out than any other nation, according to a report released this week by market research group Datamonitor.

World Health Organisation figures estimate that 600,000 Europeans die every year from alcohol-related problems and that this costs European Union members €200bn annually.

Britain's Food Standards Agency was last year asked by the European Commission to gather opinions on warning labels from the UK alcoholic drinks industry.

The Commission requested the same in other member states, as part of a discussion paper on labelling, after France, Sweden and Finland announced they planned to introduce health warning labels for pregnant women on alcoholic drinks.

A report published by the French government last autumn said health warning labels on alcoholic drinks may help change attitudes to drinking in France. It said beer and wine were considered more like water than alcohol in some regions.

Commission officials rejected pre-emptive plans for warning labels by individual member states as a danger to the free movement of goods through the EU.

But, it said: “Warning labels could be an effective means to inform consumers of alcoholic beverages about risks associated with inappropriate consumption of alcohol.”

On possible health warnings for drinks, it has advised national governments and industry to consider a range of issues, such as whether warnings should be mandatory or voluntary, who should draw up the message and what particular health issues it should address.

Mixed messages have emerged from the drinks industry.

The British Beer and Pub Association said this week it welcomed a standard message on all alcoholic drinks that would help people to monitor their drinking habits.

European brewing association, Brewers of Europe, said last year, however, said there was no evidence that health warning labels on alcoholic drinks would make people cut down.

“In the absence of evidence that health warning labels are effective in reducing alcohol-related harm, regulators and industry should concentrate their efforts on other, more effective approaches that encourage behavioural changes and promote responsible consumption,” it said.

The European Commission is expected to comment on warning labels for drinks when it publishes its EU Alcohol Strategy this year.

beverage daily

Health warnings for drinks cans

The government is in discussions with the drinks industry about putting warnings on alcohol and in places where it is sold.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint confirmed the move could cover pubs, off-licences and supermarkets.

She told the BBC Six O'Clock News the warnings, similar to those seen on cigarette packets, could be introduced within two years.

The industry said it fully supported moves to ensure people drank sensibly.

About 80% of beer packaging already carries a message asking people to drink sensibly.

But the new measures could go even further, combining information on units with a message such as "don't do drunk" and potentially warnings about health consequences.

The idea was first raised in a Public Health White Paper at the end of 2004.

Ms Flint said she believed the drinks industry was "receptive" to the move, adding: "I think its finding the right sort of warning and obviously its going to depend on the bottle itself and obviously, as I said, when people receive a drink in a glass you got to have it at the point of sale.

"So I think information about both unit measurements but also about a sensible drinking message is something that the industry are engaging with us and that's important."

On a recent visit to Stockton in the north east, Ms Flint said she came across a beer mat showing the number of units in different drinks.

"So it was there on the bar, people could see that as they were waiting to be served with their drink," she added.

Consequences

"Nobody is saying you can't have a drink, but you know, think about how you're drinking and its consequences."

The interview comes as the BBC reveals results of a survey of 54 casualty units across the UK.

Of those, 37 said the number of alcohol-related patients they were seeing had increased in the past five years, and 25 departments said they had treated children as young as 11 and 12 for binge drinking.

British Beer and Pub Association spokesman Mark Hastings said the industry had been in talks with government for several months over the introduction of a standardised message to appear on all bottles and cans.

"This is about standardising it across all alcoholic drinks packaging.

"We fully support anything that helps people make better, informed decisions about their drinking to ensure that they don't drink to excess."

BBC News

Gallegos says staying sober will be challenge

Houston state Sen. Mario Gallegos said Tuesday that he's not sure he can remain sober even though he completed a monthlong residential alcohol rehabilitation program.

"I think I can, but to be truthful with you, I don't know until I come to that point," Gallegos said. "There's going to be times when it's going to be difficult."

But the Democratic lawmaker said he is a changed man and on the road to recovery after spending 40 days in a Florida treatment center.

"I'm a better person for it. I'm definitely a better husband, a better father, a better grandfather for it," said Gallegos, who is married and has three adult children.

He plans to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a month in Houston and continue the light exercise program he began while in treatment.

Gallegos, who was elected to the Senate in 1994 after serving two terms in the state House of Representatives, said several constituents have contacted him asking for help with their addictions since he announced in early March that he is an alcoholic.

"Regardless of who you are, if you have this addiction, you've got to deal with it, or something's going to happen to you," said Gallegos, who was re-elected to another four-year term in 2004.

Carol Chanco, a social worker at Baylor College of Medicine's Menninger Clinic who treats alcoholics, said Gallegos' lack of confidence about future sobriety is a healthy response.

"It's better if somebody says that and they're a little fearful because they're aware of how high-risk it is and how fragile sobriety can be," Chanco said. "You worry more about the patients who say I got it licked, never again, anything's fine."

Gallegos, 55, started drinking at age 18 when he became a firefighter, and the problem escalated while he worked in Texas politics, he said. His family and colleagues encouraged him to go into rehab, where he spent most days at group therapy sessions, learning to fight the urge to drink, he said.

Houston Chronicle

Alcoholics Anonymous restarts on campus

Alcoholics Anonymous is raising its profile on the SMU campus after an extended period of absence.

“The goal is to have a listed group that meets regularly on site at SMU that will continue to grow and hopefully provide additional days and times for meeting choice,” said Jan McCutchin, coordinator of alcohol drug and abuse prevention at the SMU Memorial Health Center, in an e-mail interview.

According to McCutchin, one of the advantages to the on campus meetings is that they are open, which means attendees do not have to admit they are alcoholics in order to participate. Meetings often include speakers who share their experiences with alcohol and recovery.

“You can come and hear what we say, and see if it’ll work for you,” said the anonymous student who spearheaded the program on campus. A first-year transfer student, her alcohol abuse began in high school. “I really didn’t think I had a problem,” she said. “I had people telling me I had problems, and I didn’t believe them.”

After graduating from an outpatient program, a counselor introduced her to McCutchin, and they worked together to get A.A. back at SMU.

A.A. was on campus for more than eight years with weekly meetings at the Canterbury House until a fire and construction on Daniel Street disrupted the meetings. According to McCutchin, the meetings were moved to the Neuhoff Catholic Center but were not as popular since many members moved to other meetings like the Preston Group at Preston Center.

The program focuses on taking each day at a time, abstaining from the first drink to promote complete sobriety.

The student hopes to make the meetings SMU-based, targeting faculty, staff and students. However, other members of the community are welcome to attend. McCutchin said part of the program’s appeal will be the support students will receive from people making the same changes in behavior as them. She anticipates local membership will help the program extend into the summer.

According to McCutchin, the Center for Drug Abuse and Alcohol Prevention has pulled funds to start up the meetings and has made grant applications to provide for start-up costs, which cover books, literature and coffee equipment. After initial funds are in place, A.A. is responsible for financially maintaining itself. Membership dues or fees are nonexistent, and A.A. does not seek or accept funds from nonmembers.

Senior art major Corrie Clark said, “I think it’s a good idea for them to come back on campus…because there’s a greater availability, people are more likely to go.”

Meetings are held on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the third floor of the Neuhoff Catholic Center. A comfortable setting, the room is complete with two sofas, table and chairs, TV and a fireplace. The anonymous student described the meetings as welcoming, “like a family community” where attendees can speak or simply listen without being judged.

Sober for six months, A.A. meetings are a part of the student’s everyday regimen. “For me, that’s a very important part of my life…I don’t want to go to where I was before,” she said.

smudailycampus

Cell phone aids recovery process for alcoholics

Cell phones are becoming valuable tools for recovering alcoholics to stay sober, new research shows.

A study of Alcoholics Anonymous members indicates that while face-to-face interaction is still the predominant means for recovery-related communication in the AA program— since emphasis is placed on regular attendance—cell phones are becoming helpful in the recovery process.

“It is clear from these data that mobile phone use has not replaced face-to-face or landline telephone interaction in these recovery support networks, but rather it provides an important supplemental means for connecting with others in the program,” said Scott Campbell, assistant professor and Pohs Fellow of Telecommunications in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan. His co-author of the study, Michael Kelley, is an associate professor of psychology at Hawaii Pacific University.

The study, which appears in the May issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research, explored the role of cell phones within social networks of Alcoholics Anonymous. A sample of 123 cell phone owners and non-owners were asked their perceptions and uses of the technology.

Participants in the study reported that more than two-thirds of their total cell phone use involved recovery-related communication. The technology is ideal because individuals can reach one another at times and places where access was previously not available. “They are taking advantage of these relatively new opportunities in ways that are useful to both their own recovery and the recovery of others,” the authors said.

Participants reported that face-to-face communication and cell phone use were the top methods of communication for recovery purposes, followed by use of the landline telephone and the Internet.

Most cell phone owners in the study—89 percent—thought the technology to be helpful in the recovery process. The participants especially used the cell phone for expressive purposes, such as talking about personal issues, but also found it very helpful for instrumental purposes, such as making arrangements with others for recovery-related meetings, the research showed.

The study included responses from a minority segment of AA members who did not own cell phones, but still believed the technology would be a useful resource for addiction recovery. When asked why they didn’t own a cell phone, 81 percent said it was due to financial reasons.

The researchers said the findings indicate the cell phone might be a helpful tool for other recovery-related support networks. However, additional research is needed to understand the potentially negative consequences of cell phone ownership and use in addiction recovery, Campbell and Kelley warned. For example, pagers and cell phones have notoriously been used to buy and sell controlled substances.

Journal of Applied Communication Research

Does AA really improve the chance of recovery?

Q: My friend told me that people who attend AA have a better chance of recovery than those who do not. Is this true?

A: This is a difficult question to answer as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is outside of the professional community, and in general, the AA organization stays away from formal, professional research. However, there was a recent study that studied people who entered professional treatment. Subjects were studied for five years and broken down into low, medium and high attendees of AA meetings. There was also a group that initially attended a lot of meetings, but over time, their attendance decreased.

Researchers found that five years later, the rates of abstinence during the last 30 days varied across the groups: High attendees had rates of abstinence of 79 percent; medium attendees had rates of abstinence of 73 percent; those with a declining attendance had a rate of 62 percent; and those with a low rate of attendance had a rate of abstinence of 43 percent.

So clearly, higher attendance was associated with greater rates of abstinence. However, it must be remembered that this was a correlational study, meaning that there was an association between AA and rates of abstinence, but this doesn't prove that AA was responsible for the outcome. Another interpretation is that people who are highly motivated to stay abstinent attend AA, and those that aren't do not attend.

Regardless of the cause of the greater rates of abstinence among people who are high attendees, a suggestion to someone who wishes to quit drinking to check out AA is a wise decision.

Eagle-Tribune

Out Of It In Africa

A Jilted boyfriend got so drunk he ended up in Africa after stealing £1,000 from his former lover, a court heard yesterday.

Recovering alcoholic Andrew Rodda was teetotal for a year before splitting with Kimberley Oates.

Speaking outside court, the aquarium worker, 25, said: "I can vaguely remember flying to Tunisia. It was a package tour and Thomas Cook springs to mind, but I can't be sure."

Rodda, from Camborne, Cornwall, pleaded guilty before Truro magistrates to theft. He was sentenced to an 18-month community order and ordered to pay the money back at £20 a week, with £35 costs.

A watchdog that can handle its drink

The Portman Group's work making drinks companies accountable shows that self-regulation can be to everybody's benefit, writes Stefan Stern

Does business just have to sit back and wait for government to hit it with more legislation? Or is it possible to get organised, and seek to enlighten administrators on what might in practice actually benefit consumers, business and the wider community?

The Portman Group is an encouraging example of what business can do to fend off the worst excesses of legislative zeal. For all those industries, such as food, that wonder nervously what might emerge next from Whitehall - traffic-light health warnings on packaging, anyone? - a quick look at the Portman Group story will give pause for thought.

It all began in 1989. Alcopops were the new naughty kids on the block and, thanks to the inimitable genius of Fleet Street sub-editors, we had also just entered the era of the "lager lout". Even the supposedly business-friendly Tory government felt under pressure to wade in and legislate hard against the drinks companies and the way they marketed their products.

It was at this point that a group of leading drinks companies got together and decided that it was in their own self-interest to try to promote responsible drinking, to co-operate with government rather than fight battles they were bound ultimately to lose.

The Portman Group was established to fight the drinks industry's corner in a constructive way, helping to prevent the misuse of alcohol, encouraging "responsible" marketing and offering guidance on alcohol-related issues such as health. It has the effective power to direct companies to withdraw products if their marketing breaches Portman Group guidelines - it's self-regulation in action.

The group's first chief executive was John Rae, the urbane former headmaster of Westminster School. Since 1996 it has been run by Jean Coussins. She says: "When I was appointed, I was told that my job was to have a bloody good row with the drinks companies on a regular basis and after one year, at my appraisal, they told me I was doing very well! I took that as a compliment.

"My job is to have a go at them when they put their foot in it, and to do that publicly, as long as I am able to come up with constructive solutions to help them get it right. We criticise in public. I have no problems biting the hand that feeds me."

The industry (or at least the 60 per cent of producers who are members) funds The Portman Group annually to the tune of £2m, but the group maintains operational independence. Coussins cannot afford to be a soft touch. She is quick to intervene when products are being labelled or marketed irresponsibly.

She was in any case a somewhat unlikely convert to the private sector. Her previous job was head of social policy at the Commission for Racial Equality. "A lot of people said when I came here, 'What a crazy move. What's a nice equal-opportunities girl like you doing in the murky waters of the private-sector world?'

''But for me it was a perfectly logical move. I had done a lot of work with the private sector on corporate citizenship, as it was called then. But the fact that this was an industry initiative appealed to me. It avoids the legislative route."

Coussins, however, is not just another glib supporter of "corporate social responsibility", or CSR. "I'm sceptical about the label CSR if it just means companies ticking boxes," she says. "It's not just about using recycled paper, being quite nice to your employees and giving a bit to local charities. The Portman Group has been a trailblazer in this area. It's an expression of CSR that really means something about commercial products."

Ten years on from joining the group, Coussins is preparing to launch the next stage in its evolution: the Drink Aware Trust. The trust is due to be officially blessed by government as part of its "alcohol harm reduction" strategy. It will have a much bigger budget of £5m, and will operate as an educational charity separate from its Portman Group parent, which will become a smaller operation focusing specifically on branding and marketing issues.

Drink Aware is already being promoted by the drinks companies on labels and advertisements. Coussins estimates that existing advertising represents £150m of above-the-line spending. But the ambitious long-term goal of Drink Aware is to try to change the UK's problematic drinking culture.

"I'm very optimistic and realistic," Coussins says. "We've got a good model of success to emulate - the drink-drive campaign. A generation ago, nobody used to think of drink-driving as criminal or anti-social. Now everybody does. And most people would not dream of drink-driving."

She believes that a combination of public education, law enforcement and harsh penalties can turn the culture around, saying: "I don't see why, in a generation's time, we can't have changed attitudes on the public health benefits and the non-acceptability of drunkenness in public. It seems realistic to me and not a nanny-state approach, because it's got a huge public consensus behind it already."

But what about all the horrible images of falling down drunk teenagers in city centres on Friday and Saturday nights, with irresponsible bar owners offering absurd deals on spirits that seem to encourage binge drinking? Isn't there a long way to go before that culture of fast, excessive drinking can be changed?

Coussins agrees the current situation is challenging. "Public tolerance of alcohol-related disorder is at its limits," she says. "But a lot of pub companies support our campaigns - for example, the designated driver campaign 'I'll be Des'.

''The biggest take-up of that campaign was by the on-trade. Pubs already do support our campaigns, but we want on and off-trade to support it."

There is another big player here, of course - already in the spotlight on so many issues. "Supermarkets are also brand owners as well as retailers," Coussins says. "They have to do their bit too. They have a significant market share and we want them on board."

Self-regulation can work. Ten years ago, in the wake of alcopops, the call was for statutory marketing controls. The industry responded effectively. So much so, Coussins says, that she was invited last September to speak about self-regulation at the EU summit in Edinburgh.

But there is still a battle to be fought at the point of sale, as Coussins admits. "When The Portman Group came together the producers owned over half the pubs and virtually all the off-licence chains.

"But over the past seven or eight years there has been a complete restructuring in the industry, with a separation between producers and retailers. There is much less that our producers can do to influence behaviour down the supply chain."

Barman, over to you.

The Portman Group's guidelines

The alcoholic nature of a drink should be communicated on its packaging with absolute clarity. A drink, its packaging and any promotional material or activity should not in any direct or indirect way:
# Have the alcoholic strength, relatively high alcohol content or the intoxicating effect as a dominant theme

# Suggest any association with bravado or with violent, aggressive, dangerous or anti-social behaviour

# Suggest any association with, acceptance of or allusion to illicit drugs

# Suggest any association with sexual success

# Suggest that consumption of the drink can lead to social success or popularity

# Encourage illegal, irresponsible or immoderate consumption, such as binge drinking, drunkenness or drink-driving

# Have a particular appeal to under-18s

# Incorporate images of people who are, or look as if they are, under 25 years of age, unless there is no suggestion that they have just consumed, are consuming or are about to consume alcohol

# Suggest that the product can enhance mental or physical capabilities

Telegraph

Online alcoholism groups supplement AA meetings

Some call it "staying cyber." Playing off "staying sober," the unofficial motto of alcoholics, it's the growing trend of Internet sites that offer services to problem drinkers. A Google search of "online alcoholics" produced more than 80 screens of related sites. One group even is called "Staying Cyber."

Today "The Big Book," Alcoholics Anonymous's guiding text, is available in its entirety online.

But just how effective is an online version of a program for which face-to-face fellowship is one of its bedrock principles?

Some people in Gainesville who work with alcoholics say online programs have limited value. While anything that helps an alcoholic avoid taking a drink is a good thing, they say, the online programs simply can't provide the element many alcoholics feel is the key to sobriety - interpersonal contact with others recovering from the disease of alcoholism.

"I've treated thousands of people for alcoholism, and there's a real magic and power in the room (of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings) that you need to witness," said Scott Teitelbaum, co-medical director of the Florida Recovery Center at Shands at Vista in Gainesville.

"You can see it in the eyes of recovering people," he said. "That's something you can't get on a computer."

The national AA group was slow to embrace the online structure, but eventually did, said "Glen," a member of the public-information committee of the Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous. The organization was formed in about 1994 to serve all online AA groups.

Glen said he speaks not for AA, but only as an individual and a recovering alcoholic. Although hard numbers are impossible to track, he estimated the number of people who visit online alcoholics sites as at least 1.5 million.

"The advantage of online, I think, is that people come in sooner and identify their problem sooner," said Glen, who first started visiting Internet sites in 1997. "I think many people come to us long before they go into a room and say they have a problem."

He said one of the chief functions of the Internet sites is to get alcoholics together to communicate. That's done through e-mails, chat rooms and other online forums. Glen said, however, that AA emphasizes that visitors to online sites need to go to face-to-face meetings because all the help they need isn't available on the Internet.

"Hiding behind the computer screen is a bad thing," he said.

Nonetheless, he said, he estimates that about 5 percent of people use only the online groups to stay sober.

"But most use it to supplement their participation in the AA program," Glen said.

"Ed," a member of one of Gainesville's AA groups, said he was "a drunk" for 43 of his 65 years. He's been sober the last six, and he said he knows he couldn't have stopped drinking without the fellowship he found at AA meetings.

"I've heard of the online (groups), and anything productive that helps an alcoholic not to drink has my vote," he said. "However, it is my absolute conviction that attending meetings in person and having a personal sponsor is the most workable combination to help an alcoholic not to drink.

"One of the maladies of our disease is that we are constantly looking for cop-outs to drink 'safely,' but that will never happen for an alcoholic," Ed said. "There is a craving when we have one drink in our body. And when you get to that point where the pendulum swings and the 'what-ifs' start happening, you can call another alcoholic and he can talk you through it."

Ed said only occasionally are the online alcoholism sites mentioned during AA meetings he attends. He called himself something of a technological "dinosaur" and, although he has a computer, he doesn't use it for support in staying sober.

"Our basic principle is to totally change the person, and that demands a lot of eye-to-eye, personal contact," he said. "In the company of other AA members, there seems to be a broad understanding when you share your experiences."

Beth Shubert, a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in Gainesville, has worked with alcoholics for 30 years. She agreed with Ed that the personal interaction is indispensable in the treatment of alcoholism.

She said the online chat rooms and other forums offered by online alcoholism groups can't offer the kind of personal contact found in in-person meetings.

"I've known people who ended up in chat rooms and they said they felt really uncomfortable," Shubert said. "The basic program of AA is personal contact that is based on anonymity. And online, you're not always anonymous. And there's no way of screening people online to know if you're dealing with someone who is truly an alcoholic or in recovery."

But wouldn't an online service be useful to people who are very uncomfortable standing in front of others and baring their souls?

"We're not looking to make it comfortable," Shubert said. "Being uncomfortable is part of what has to happen to begin recovery.

"I know the chat rooms are out there," she said. "But the last person I asked about them, who had 14 years of sobriety, said the chat rooms were very unsatisfying. The only thing I've seen work in all my many years of treating alcoholism is people having been involved in that spiritual connection you only get in meetings and with a sponsor."

Teitelbaum said one of the ways of overcoming any anxiety - including sharing your experience with alcoholism with others in a closed meeting - is through exposure therapy. When you expose yourself to the source of your anxiety, he said, you can come to terms with it.

He said he doesn't want to suggest that online alcoholism groups are useless.

"They're a good augmentation for people who can't always get to a meeting," Teitelbaum said. "But I think in and of itself it is inadequate."

The Gainesville Sun

Events will honor A.A.'s Sister Ignatia

Cleveland open house, street renaming today; chapel to be restored

Four decades after her death, Sister Ignatia will be remembered in ceremonies in Cleveland today.

The Irish-born member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, who worked with alcoholics at Akron's St. Thomas Hospital in the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous, died 40 years ago today.

Her work with alcoholics will be honored with the secondary renaming of a portion of East 22nd Street between Orange and Superior avenues in the vicinity of Rosary Hall at St. Vincent Charity Hospital.

That section of the street will continue to be called East 22nd, but a secondary sign will be displayed, designating the street as ``Sister Ignatia Way.''

Sister Ignatia went to work at St. Vincent in 1952 after working for nearly two decades at Akron's St. Thomas.

At St. Vincent, she opened Rosary Hall Solarium, an inpatient alcohol treatment program. An estimated 53,000 people have been treated at Rosary Hall since 1952.

``Sister Ignatia demonstrated the humility that alcoholics and addicts need if they are to obtain recovery,'' said Don Davies, executive director of Rosary Hall.

The world's first inpatient alcohol treatment program was opened at St. Thomas in 1939 by Sister Ignatia, who had come to Akron in 1934.

She worked closely with both of A.A.'s founders -- Dr. Robert Smith and stockbroker Bill Wilson, both of Akron.

``We are still observing the 40th anniversary of her death because people still revere Sister Ignatia and they remember her through her work and through the help they have received and passed on to others,'' said Fairlawn resident Mary C. Darrah, who wrote the biography Sister Ignatia -- The Angel of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Dani McCann, a spokeswoman for Summa Health System, of which St. Thomas is part, said work is expected to get under way this spring to restore the hospital's chapel to the way it looked when Sister Ignatia served there.

The goal is to have the chapel restored by Founders Day weekend (June 9-11), McCann said. A Sister Ignatia Heritage Center will be established in the chapel area.

Founders Day marks the founding of A.A. in Akron on June 10, 1935, by Smith and Wilson. Events are held at the University of Akron.

Beacon Journal

Police take action on alcohol related crime

The misuse of alcohol imposes huge costs on New Zealand, conservatively estimated in the billions of dollars each year said Assistant Commissioner Howard Broad announcing the launch of the Police Alcohol Action Plan.

"Overseas studies suggest that between 50 - 70 per cent of all police work is associated in some way with dealing with alcohol-fuelled incidents," said Mr Broad.

"The increase in the number of licenses issued, and the lowering of the drinking age have added to the situation and has lead to Police obtaining more robust intelligence and research data on which to base more effective policing strategies."

New Zealand's binge-drinking culture, the problems caused when people make poor choices after they've drunk too much, impact on general duties, criminal investigation, road policing and communications centre staff, plus many others in the organisation.

Alcohol misuse is a genuinely cross-cutting issue for Police.

Its sheer scale has resulted in the development of a specific Alcohol Action Plan.

The aim of the Plan is to improve Police's ability to prevent ad reduce alcohol-related harm with the objectives of:

• minimising alcohol-related crime and crashes;

• tailoring responses for special events and population groups;

• developing and supporting our workforce;

• investing in research and evaluation.

Similar initiatives are underway in Australian states with a big push being made in this area in the UK.

Police have established a process - Alco-link - for the collection, collation and analysis of alcohol-related intelligence information.

"This is an important tool for decision making and the deployment of police resources to deal with alcohol-related crime."

In the last six months of 2005 the extent of alcohol-related crime was measured with 47,119 alleged offenders having consumed alcohol prior to committing an offence = 258 offenders a day = 1 offender every 5.6 minutes.

"We're not talking about people who've had just one or two drinks."

The study of the last place where offenders consumed alcohol shows that of the 56% who took their last drinks in a private home, 71% were deemed to be moderately or extremely affected by alcohol, of the 29% who had their last drinks on licensed premises - 76% and of the 14% who had their last drinks in a public place such as a park, club or on the street, 96% were deemed to be moderately or extremely affected by alcohol.

In the last six months of 2005, 18% of all licensed premises in New Zealand featured one or more times in the alco-link research.

"Our intelligence clearly indicates that the consumption of alcohol in homes and public places has a greater impact on alcohol-related crime than licensed premises alone.

This should be of real concern to society and the way we regard the consumption of alcohol and the downstream effects this has on our rates of crime," said Assistant Commissioner Broad.

New Zealand Police