Full Description
Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity is a collaborative effort by an international group of addiction scientists to improve the linkages between addiction science and alcohol policy. It presents, in a comprehensive, practical, and readily accessible form, the accumulated scientific knowledge on alcohol research that has a direct relevance to the development of alcohol policy on local, national, and international levels. It provides an objective basis on which to build relevant policies globally and informs policy makers who have direct responsibility for public health and social welfare. By locating alcohol policy primarily within the realm of public health, this book draws attention to the growing tendency for governments, both national and local, to consider alcohol misuse as a major determinant of ill health, and to organize societal responses accordingly.
The scope of the book is comprehensive and global. The authors describe the conceptual basis for a rational alcohol policy and present new epidemiological data on the global dimensions of alcohol misuse. The core of the book is a critical review of the cumulative scientific evidence in seven general areas of alcohol policy: pricing and taxation, regulating the physical availability of alcohol, modifying the environment in which drinking occurs, drinking-driving countermeasures, marketing restrictions, primary prevention programs in schools and other settings, and treatment and early intervention services. The final chapters discuss the current state of alcohol policy in different parts of the world and describe the need for a new approach to alcohol policy that is evidence-based, global, and coordinated.
A valuable resource for those involved in addiction science and drug policy, as well as those in the wider fields of public health, health policy, epidemiology, and practising clinicians.
Contents
1: Setting the Policy Agenda
2: Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity
3: Alcohol Consumption Trends and Patterns of Drinking
4: The Burden of Alcohol Consumption
5: The Alcohol Industry: A Nexus of Considerable Influence
6: Overview of Strategies and Interventions to Prevent and Reduce Alcohol-Related Harm
7: Controlling Affordability: Pricing and Taxation Strategies
8: Regulating the Physical Availability of Alcohol
9: Restrictions on Marketing
10: Education and Persuasion Strategies
11: Drinking and Driving Prevention and Countermeasures
12: Modifying the Drinking Context: Reducing Harm in the Licensed Drinking Environment and Other Contexts
13: Treatment and Early Intervention Services
14: The Policy Process: Multiple Stakeholders, Multiple Agendas
15: Economic Interests, Public Health Priorities and the Global Governance of Alcohol
16: Alcohol Policies: A Consumer's Guide
Bibliography
Glossary
Online Appendix 1: Guidelines Used for Rating Strategies and Interventions Evaluated in Chapters 7-13
Online Appendix 2: Supplement to Chapter 12: Tables A12.1 to A12.4
