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In this issue: Alcohol policies are “smart investments”; Youth harm; UK licensing review panned; Alcohol a productivity problem; Alcohol-free ads ambiguous; Industry-biased bot. Plus Trump’s impact; Alcohol and gender violence; Understanding “hangxiety”
Notices
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News
Alcohol policies are “smart investments”: “Strong alcohol policies are among the smartest investments you can make,” said the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer this month.
Bid to quantify youth alcohol harm: The WHO’s EU-backed programme to reduce alcohol harm today launched an effort to quantify the burden alcohol places on young people to inform better alcohol policy.
Experts pan UK licensing review: The UK government’s current plans for alcohol licensing reflect the views of industry advocates. This “regulatory capture should be resisted by anyone with an interest in fair and effective governance” say its critics.
Alcohol a productivity problem: “When nearly half of young professionals are calling in sick after workplace drinking, it’s not just a hangover, it’s a productivity crisis,” says the UK’s left-leaning IPPR think-tank, calling for minimum pricing and tax rises.
Alcohol-free ads often ambiguous: “The trial [of AI analysis] found a higher rate of potential issues among alcohol-free product ads–around 48%–largely because of missing or unclear ABV information,” said the UK’s ad self-regulator, something especially problematic with spin off from an alcohol brand.
Bot to refer patients to alcohol industry: “Patients who engage with the [AI Surgery Assist] chatbot and mention alcohol concerns… will automatically be signposted to [alcohol industry funded] Drinkaware’s information and self-help tools.”
Feature
Assessing Trump’s impact on alcohol harm: The Trump administration has taken a chainsaw to efforts to reduce alcohol harm. Here Mike Marshall, CEO of the US Alcohol Policy Alliance, helps make sense of the bewildering news flow.
Opinion–Alcohol must be part of gender violence plan: It is impossible to address the high level of men’s violence in Australia without tackling alcohol use head on, write Anne-Marie Laslett, Cassandra Hopkins and Ingrid Wilson.
Understanding “hangxiety”: “People prone to anxiety or low mood, or those who drink to cope with stress, experience hangxiety more intensely – not because hangovers create new problems, but because alcohol temporarily dulls negative emotions,” write Rebecca Rothman and Blair Aitken.
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