Join now for early access content, to disseminate your work at AR2026 and AR2027 and support dedicated alcohol harm journalism. Read testimonials.
Watch sessions on AI and alcohol harm insights + AR Extra sessions on alcohol and violence and heart health, and more.
Receive the monthly highlights newsletter (latest issue)
How the digital world amplifies alcohol harms: The digital world is bringing new, more powerful marketing methods. Jem Roberts from the Institute Of Alcohol Studies discusses how they can lead to alcohol harms and the potential for tackling these harms, as explored in the NGO’s new video explainer. Watch; Repost
“Rwanda has ordered the immediate recall of dozens of alcoholic beverages from the market and shut down eight manufacturing facilities…” The regulator ordered the withdrawal of all alcoholic beverages produced by the affected companies. Read more
“Former rugby league player turned BookTok influencer Luke Bateman has alleged to an [Australian] parliamentary inquiry he was supplied with drugs by gambling company promoters at the height of his spiralling addiction.” Read more
A quarter of children diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder were found to have rare chromosomal differences at considerably higher rates than the general population, according to a new study. Read more
“No one wants to be the Minister that put up the price of a pint so there is no appetite to go near alcohol at all,” an anonymous source reportedly told the Irish Sun well ahead of Ireland’s October 7th Budget, while suggesting tax on cigarettes will rise. Read more
Previously
UK ad industry itself finds frequent alcohol youth depiction breaches: More than one in eight online alcohol ads potentially breach UK ad industry’s own guidelines on depicting people appearing to be under 25. Read more
“42% of the [24 UK] MPs interviewed had been offered an alcoholic drink at a work meeting or event on a weekly basis during the previous six months; … 22% had concerns about a colleague’s drinking,” says a Guardian story on a new report from the Institute Of Alcohol Studies. Read more
“The Sober Irish Atlas–a free interactive guide on where to enjoy the best non-alcoholic drinks in bars across Belfast–is helping to make sure that the Fleadh’s non-drinkers enjoy all the craic, without the hangover.” Read more
The next phase of Nigeria’s enforcement exercise on banned alcohol sachets will focus on removing them from the marketplace, according to an interview with an official, who said arrests and product seizures have already been carried out in Enugu, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi and Anambra states. Read more
Portugal’s government has authorised the sale and consumption of “low-alcohol beverages” at tonight’s Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup match between FC Porto and Torreense as part of a pilot. The match is a yearly face-off between the winners of the top-tier league and cup competitions. Read more
“The US Department of Veterans Affairs announced [on Thursday] a new clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist used to treat diabetes, as treatment for alcohol use disorder.” Read more
“Given that sleep-related difficulties are so widespread, please know that you are not alone. Effective strategies exist, and using alcohol or cannabis to sleep is counterproductive,” concludes an opinion piece in Time magazine. Read more
23% of Poles now say they do not drink at all, according to a new survey, up from 16% in 2019, according to a new survey. Support for alcohol-free social gatherings reached 97% among 18-24s. Read more
“We are considering consequences for those who continue to violate the [sachet] ban despite the several warnings and the grace period granted to them,” said the head of Nigeria’s enforcement agency for alcohol laws, which said this week it found three factories illegally producing sachets. Read more
Consuming energy drinks and alcohol together is no more harmful than drinking alcohol alone, according to studies financially linked to energy drink company Red Bull, found a new collaborative investigation using AI. Most independent research reaches the opposite conclusion. Read more
“Findings indicated higher lifetime alcohol consumption, at a level that has been historically regarded as low risk for adverse functional consequences, was associated with poorer performance on established clinical and research measures of manual dexterity, complex motor coordination and motor speed, and static postural stability,” according to a new study. Read more
AR For more on the possible risks of low levels of alcohol drinking to the brain, you can watch an interview with one of the authors of this paper, Professor Timothy Durazzo.
“Asked … if he has managed to bring his drinking under control without going fully sober, Ross [Kemp] replied: “I like to think so, yeah, but who knows?” Kemp played a hard man in a UK soap. Read more
Alcohol Review – Issue 125, July 30th 2026
Progress “inadequate”, says WHO cancer report; Auckland policy encouraging; Nigeria sachet crackdown shows large-scale lawbreaking; Pubs host World Cup violence; Kenya slashes spirits tax; Poland, Germany tax rises. Interview on alcohol giveaway consent Read more ■