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Burnham announces 20% business rate cut for pubs: The UK’s new PM Andy Burnham today announced a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues in England from next April. Read more
Nigeria’s alcohol regulator on Wednesday launched a nationwide enforcement operation to remove all alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets, marking the full implementation of the federal government’s ban on the products. The crackdown reportedly happened across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Read more
Oasis index: Deutsche Bank unveiled the latest edition of its “Oasis index” earlier this month, tracking the price of a pack of cigarettes and five beers in a pub. Melbourne was reckoned to pose the biggest threat to the fab five’s wallets and Moscow, Cairo, Rio and Shanghai the least. Read more
“Aberdeen [football club] have become the first club in Scotland to secure a permanent licence for the sale of alcohol at selected home matches. The ground-breaking new scheme will be in operation with immediate effect for Aberdeen’s first home match…” Read more
“Airports should stop serving alcohol to passengers before ‘11am or 12pm’ to prevent ‘misbehaviour’ on flights, according to Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary” Read more
Updated: German railways alcohol ban to curb violence: Germany’s Deutsche Bahn railway plans to enforce a ban on alcohol at all 5,400 train stations in Germany by October 15th, 2026 in an effort to curb violence. Read more
Previously
“Tiktok will strictly enforce age checks to block under-18s from buying or even viewing alcohol on Tiktok Shop,” says a City AM report. The Times reported on Sunday that Tiktok had begun a pilot selling alcohol Read more
Use of GLP-1s was associated with a 26% lower risk of alcohol-related hospital admission than other diabetes medicines and a 32% lower risk of alcohol-related hospital admission than other obesity medicines, according to a study published in BMJ. AR has warned that such hope giving narratives around GLP-1s can divert attention from effective action, as they do with nolos. Read more
“Across France, multiple municipalities are introducing local restrictions on drinking alcohol on beaches, especially in summer months.” Fines can be as much as €150. Read more
“Croatian retailers are strongly pushing back against the recently introduced night-time alcohol sales ban…” They say they are unfairly targeted while bars, restaurants and nightclubs are unaffected. Read more
“[Australia’s] Treasury Wine Estates has joined forces with long-term partner Social Soup to launch House of Winefluence, Australia and New Zealand’s first wine creator community.” It plans to draw on the agency’s stable of 200 creators to generate upwards of 1,000 pieces of content in a year. Read more
“The premiers of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories [of Canada] will not join a pledge to change rules around direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, saying their communities make their own choices over alcohol restrictions.” Read more
“[Australia’s] Treasury Wine Estates has joined forces with long-term partner Social Soup to launch House of Winefluence, Australia and New Zealand’s first wine creator community.” It plans to draw on the agency’s stable of 200 creators to generate upwards of 1,000 pieces of content in a year. Read more
“The premiers of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories [of Canada] will not join a pledge to change rules around direct-to-consumer alcohol sales, saying their communities make their own choices over alcohol restrictions.” Read more
“Ripple Suicide Prevention [an NGO in Bradford, England] is calling for a three-month ‘detox’ following the end of the World Cup, warning that a short break from drinking will not allow enough time for recovery.” Read more
There was a ceremonial signing of what’s been nicknamed the “Grandparents’ Happy Hour” bill this week. It allows nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Minnesota to “serve alcohol to residents and their guests for special events without a licence, as long as the state is notified beforehand”. Read more
“Funded by a $3.1m grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute, the team is working to identify the most effective social media message strategies for raising awareness about the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk among women ages 18 to 25.” Read more
Progress on alcohol inadequate and uneven, says WHO report: There has been “inadequate, uneven progress” in the implementation of the WHO’s flagship SAFER alcohol harm reduction initiative, especially in low- and middle-income countries, a WHO report on cancer said last week, with “accelerated efforts” needed to reach 2030 targets. Read more
Alcohol industry and Reform concoct a Burnham threat to pubs: Alcohol industry representatives and Reform have used Manchester’s WHO-inspired alcohol-harm strategy to suggest UK PM-in-waiting Andy Burnham poses a threat to pubs, ignoring evidence and mathematics to the contrary. Read more
UK government holds off on alcohol interlock interfaces: The UK government’s decision last week not to require alcohol interlock interfaces as standard on new vehicles “feels like an opportunity missed “, said the RAC car rescue service. Requiring the interfaces would have made it easier to fit alcohol interlocks on the vehicles of repeat drunk drivers. Read more
WHO softens guidance on alcohol and cognitive impairment: “To reduce the risk of cognitive decline and/or dementia specifically, interventions aimed at reducing or ceasing hazardous and harmful drinking (including providing support to people with alcohol dependence) may be offered to adults with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment,” says the second version of guidance from the World Health Organization. Read on
“Authorities in Uganda’s Rubirizi District have enacted sweeping, draconian regulations prohibiting the daylight consumption and sale of alcohol, launching an aggressive administrative crackdown designed to neutralise surging crime rates, domestic violence, and systemic youth unemployment. ” Read more
“Diageo’s ‘House of Zero’… will be at festivals such as British Summer Time, creating awareness and trial opportunities, as well as signaling that non-alc versions of Diageo’s famous brands are available around the festival site…” It will also expose festivalgoers to alcohol brands. Read more
Male mice get cocky on alcohol: A low dose of alcohol induces a “rapid, transient, and highly selective upward shift in social hierarchy: it promotes dominance behaviour exclusively in mid-ranking animals, enabling them to stably outcompete their immediate superior.” Read more
“A laser-based technology being developed at Adelaide University [and the University of St Andrews] could soon help authorities detect deadly counterfeit alcohol, expose wine fraud and even identify dangerous chemicals inside sealed bottles – all without opening them.” Read more
“The [Estonian] Ministry of Social Affairs is weighing whether to introduce fees for alcohol sales permits, which are currently issued free of charge, in an effort to limit the record number of sales outlets.” Read more
Call for full giveaway consent [full release]: Companies can deliver alcohol products as giveaways without consent in the UK, ignoring the preferences of a wide range of people who prefer to avoid alcohol. Samantha Morgan’s Not Everyone Drinks campaign aims to change this. Comment/share
Nearly 30% of World Cup player awards done minus alcohol branding: UPDATED: 29 of the 102 World Cup player of the match awards so far have been made without beer branding, including awards to two prominent non-Muslim players, three to Kylian Mbappé and one to Virgil van Dijk. But FIFA still appears to discriminate against non-religious players. Read more; Comment
On July 28 Google Ads will “update its Alcohol policy to expand the approved geographic locations for the sale and informational promotion of alcoholic beverages”. It involves the alcohol ad market in 29 African and European countries. Read more
Days with an alcohol-induced blackout were associated with young adults experiencing significantly more positive and negative alcohol-related consequences compared to days without one, found a new study. Read more
People with disabilities are less likely to drink alcohol than people without disabilities, but have strikingly higher rates of diagnosed alcohol use disorder, found a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health. Read more
“A popular Croatian resort on Tuesday became the country’s first town to ban overnight alcohol sales in shops to prevent rowdy public drinking that has sparked friction between tourists and locals.” Read more
“Baby boomers are the generation cutting back most on alcohol consumption, outstripping Gen Z’s abstinence, as moderation takes hold at every level of society,” said the alcohol industry research firm IWSR. Read more
Brewer call for wider definition of evidence-free nolo beer: The UK’s British Beer and Pub Association wants a rule change to allow brewers to apply the description “alcohol-free” to beers containing 0.5% alcohol, ten times the current limit. The alcohol industry advocate says the current upper limit is constraining growth in the nolo sector. AR points out there is currently no firm evidence nolo are helping to reduce alcohol consumption or harm. Read more
“Nearly half of pedestrian deaths in New York State involved substance use by the pedestrian. Public safety campaigns that traditionally emphasise drinking and driving should also address the dangers of walking while impaired.” Read more
“TUI Airways has announced it will discontinue complimentary alcoholic beverages for economy travellers on long-haul routes starting November 1st, 2026.” Read more
“Integrated tobacco and alcohol control policies to decrease exposure, initiation, and usage, and particularly higher taxation, are essential to reducing the dual burden of substance use in Cambodia.” Read more
“We found substantial genetic and neurobiological overlap between problematic alcohol use and anxiety disorders, highlighting reciprocal, causal relationships between the traits, with differentially expressed genes enriched in addiction- and anxiety-relevant brain regions.” Read more
Video report: “Nigeria is struggling to enforce a ban on small alcohol sachets introduced to curb underage drinking. Six months after the ban went into effect, cheap high-potency spirits remain widely available across the country.” Read more
“The [Korean] government is pushing a plan to mandate putting a drinking warning message or image on the front of alcoholic beverage containers starting in November.” Read more
“Fewer than 25% of countries had both a written national alcohol policy and a formal implementation plan by 2019, while 40% had no national plan at all,” according to an update to the Alcohol Preparedness Index. Read more
“The monthly binge-drinking rate among [Korean] women in their 30s rose from 33.8% in 2015 to 42.1% in 2024. The increase of 8.3% points marked the largest rise across all age and gender groups.” The equivalent figures for men fell from 69.6% to 57.2%. Read more
“In the Nenets Autonomous Okrug [of Russia], annual consumption rose from 16 litres of pure alcohol per adult in 2019 to 35 litres in 2024. Chukotka saw a similar increase, from 14 to 29 litres, while consumption in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast climbed from 19 to 25 litres.” Read more
“The young people who are ‘romanticising’ their hangovers on TikTok and Instagram… are flaunting their dark eye circles and raging headaches as the aftereffects of a good time, broadcasting their bad decisions to the world with a glowy sheen,” says a Guardian feature. Read more
“The German government plans to raise the tax on alcoholic spirits by 20% from the beginning of next year with the aim of bringing in additional annual revenue of €455m ($520m) for the federal budget, according to legislation drafted by the Finance Ministry.” Read more; Comment/share
Estonia’s Prevention Council on July 6th published a framework document outlining Estonia’s alcohol policy through 2035 which calls for increased excise tax on alcohol and shortening the hours of retail sale. Read more; Comment/share
An initiative compensating retailers in Ohio for not promoting harmful products has had some success. “The programme includes four levels — bronze, silver, gold and platinum — with rewards ranging from $2,700 to $7,200 for store improvements.” Qualifying steps include removing storefront ads and restricting alcohol sales hours. Read more; Comment/share
UPDATED: Will WHO-guided “Manchesterism” or Burnham’s alcohol industry ties prevail? Decisive steps to tackle alcohol harm seem increasingly unlikely under Burnham, who has political ties to alcohol industry champions and a pub-loving political persona. But the policy blueprint set by Greater Manchester’s WHO-guided alcohol harm strategy also offers an alternative. Read more; Comment/share
“Alcohol sales on average rise with temperature up to just over 32 degrees Celsius, after which the positive effect becomes smaller, researchers from the University of California, ETH Zurich and North Carolina State University found.” Read more, Comment/share
“Since the state of Utah passed a law lowering its legal blood alcohol concentration for driving in 2017, the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths has declined compared to its neighbouring states, which have a higher threshold for driving under the influence.” Read more, Comment/share
“A famous Leeds pub crawl is turning ‘tea-total’ this weekend as fundraisers hold a booze-free take on the Otley Run,” known as the name the “O’tea’ly Run”. Read more, Comment/share
Dismantling the youth addiction economy: Social media, vapes, gambling, dating sites and porn all now add to the mix of products which can undermine young people’s lives. And alcohol is still in the mix. Regulation and opportunities to make real friends are the way to put it right, explains Joe Woof, co-lead of the Addiction Economy project at NGO SocietyInside. Watch full video; Comment/share
“The week she died, and she was very sick that week, we found she’d had 18 bottles of wine delivered.” A mother describes the fate of her 38-year-old daughter. She is petitioning here for “doorstep intoxication checks, and the regulatory accountability of online delivery”. Read on; Comment/share
AR discussed the topic of home delivery in an interview with Richard Piper of Alcohol Change UK, which is campaigning against rapid delivery.
“In almost half of all fatal electric scooter crashes in Sweden, the rider has been under the influence of alcohol. These fatal crashes occur mainly in the evenings or through the night, and in all cases, no helmet has been worn.” Read more; Comment/share
“Among [Americans] who have cut back [on alcohol], the most common reason is a reduced desire to drink.” 50% gave this as a reason, while 35% of respondents cited health concerns, while one in five said they can no longer afford it, found a YouGov poll. Read more; Comment/share
“An anti-inflammatory molecule, already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat autoimmune diseases, reduces excessive alcohol consumption in alcohol-dependent female mice,” said Scripps Research. Dependent male showed no significant change. Read more; Comment/share
“BuzzBallz… has been described as the ‘new darling’ of the UK alcohol category as it has rocketed into the Top 100,” with the volume sold increasing over nine times. Critics say the product’s childish branding targets young people. Read more; Comment/share
“Alcoholic beverages—and, more surprisingly, musical instruments—have now reportedly been listed as prohibited imports [in Syria].” This follows an attempt to restrict alcohol sales in Damascus in March. Read more; Comment/share
“Alcohol Forum Ireland has marked a new chapter in its long-standing work by rebranding as Well Ireland after 22 years.” Read more, comment/share
Tackling alcohol distress [full video]: Simon Bratt, a senior lecturer at Liverpool Hope University and author of the Layered Care substack, explains why mental health and alcohol services need to be integrated to be effective in tackling problematic drinking.
“Poland plans to raise 18bn zloty ($4.8bn) over the next decade from higher excise duty on alcohol as the government is searching for new sources of funding for the strained public healthcare system, according to the Finance Ministry.” (See draft) Read more; Comment
“Croatian lawmakers have approved new powers allowing municipalities to restrict nighttime alcohol sales in shops, in a policy shift aimed at tackling tourism-related public disorder in key destinations.” Read more; Comment
“Mexico City will ban alcohol sales in some of its busiest neighbourhoods during Wednesday’s Mexico-Czech Republic World Cup match, after celebrations last week led to public drinking and litter along the capital’s main avenue.” Read more; Comment
“Among polydrug users [in Ireland], 72% reported using cocaine in addition to alcohol last year, up from 42% in 2017. Almost one-third of treatments for problem alcohol use last year involved the patient also using an additional drug.” Read more; Comment
Kenya to slash spirits tax 84%: To the disappointment of alcohol harm experts Kenya’s government is poised to slash tax on spirits by 84%, cutting it from 500 shillings ($3.9) per litre to 80 shillings. Read more; Comment
Alcohol Review – Issue 124, June 19th 2026: Ireland guidance report; UK delivery promise; Sachet enforcement plan; Kenyan tax slashed. AR interviews on alcohol brain impact, deliveries, nolos, tackling youth addictions and alcohol distress. Read more; Comment ■