The “Alcohol policy reform in Australia: What can we learn from the evidence?” is a scholarly article presented in the Medical Journal of Australia. The article’s main intention is to analyze the World Health Organisation policy target areas, and research by Cobiac and colleagues which I’ll refer to as the ‘Cobiac Report’, and how these measures would effective, in relation to the government new ‘Alco-pops’ tax. The report was published in 2009 by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. The report argues that the recommendations by the World Health Organisation and Cobiac would be an effective policy reform to reduce alcohol related harm in Australia. The report is outlines that the most effective way to reduce alcohol related harm would be (in order of effectiveness) “volumetric taxation (ie, equalising alcohol excise rates according to alcohol content), advertising controls, mass media campaigns, brief intervention by primary care practitioners, residential treatment for alcohol dependence, licensing controls, increasing the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years, and random breath testing (RBT).” The report outlines the lack of quality data on alcohol and its related harm is an immediate issue, when considering adopting legislation. The report’s focus is the effectiveness of the outlined arguments, whilst considering the cost effectiveness of the implementation of the policies. The reports running theme is that the policies have to implemented together, or in the broad context of social reform in relation to drinking. It is unreasonable for any of the arguments to be reasonably sound as standalone arguments, or when the policies are implemented without further alcohol education. ... ... middle of paper ... ...ions possible. The articles arguments are for the most part sound, the claims are reasonable and the evidence is for the most part sound and strengthens the arguments. Many areas of the journal article need further clarification, simply referencing ‘The Cobiac Report’, a report autherod by one of the articles authors, weakens the overall strength. So whilst the arguments are strong, referring to more research would better support it. This is a Catch-22 however, because the report outlines that there is a distinct lack of Australian data on alcohol related harm data. Works Cited ————————————————————————————————— Previte, J. and Fry, M. Talking Policy: RTD taxation versus social marketing outcomes In-text: (Previte and Fry, 2009) Bibliography: Previte, J. and Fry, M. 2009. Talking Policy: RTD taxation versus social marketing outcomes. [report].
Prohibition not only failed in its promise to curb the social problem created by alcohol. It actually promoted s...
Gender, age and socioeconomic status are predisposing factors to regular binge drinking, and the burden of alcohol abuse is approximately six times higher in males (World Health Organization, 2003). Charles, Valenti & Miller (2011) discovered in a sample of adults aged 19 years and over, 15% of participants were regular binge drinkers and almost one-third of patients aged 18-24 years were regular binge drinkers. Patients from an English speaking background were twice as likely to binge drink regularly as those from non-English speaking backgrounds (Charles, Valenti, & Miller, 2011). Remote populations were more likely to be binge drinkers than those from major cities or regional areas (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008). The percentage of Australians who reported consuming risky levels of alcohol has increased from 8% in 1995 to 13% in 2004-05 (Teesson et al., 2010). This demonstrates that there has been an increase in the percentage of binge drinking over time, or ...
Bibliography: Ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au, (2002). 01. What is Australia's "drug budget"? The policy mix of illicit drug-related governement spending in Australia | Resource | NDARC - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. [online] Available at: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/01-what-australias-drug-budget-policy-mix-illicit-drug-related-governement-spending [Accessed 2 Apr. 2014].
For decades, certain people have been contemplating on how to go about the issue of underage drinking; people of the government, parents, and other individuals concerned in global affairs. The problem is, the issue of underage drinking and the nationwide ineffectiveness of the drinking age law of twenty-one isn't debated and discussed as much and as aggressively as it should be. And the main components of discussion ought to be the matter of binge drinking among teenagers and college students, drinking issues and statistics in foreign countries, and finally, possible solutions for this problem. The main point is that the states of our country can only attempt to enforce the law rather than try approaching the problem in any other way. So for that reason, states should be allowed to figure out and experiment on possible ways to solve this matter on their own without government interference.
The National Minimum Age Drinking Act was signed into law on July 17, 1984. This law was carried out at the federal level and forced all states to raise the minimum drinking to 21 or face cuts in federal-aid cuts in their highway funding. I believe this law must be repelled and that the drinking age should be lowered to 18. We must decriminalize the notion of underage drinking because why must 18 through 20 year olds be treated like children but charged as adults?
Every society has its own views on how the consumption of alcohol should be handled and regulated. Their differences create a trickle effect of how it is used, and is distinctive to that culture or society. Many cultures drinking habits go hand in hand with religion, and social customs. Drinking alcohol is in many cases a part of extensive learned tradition, where people pride themselves with their ability to hold their liquor. In countries where alcohol is part of the “norm”, the outcomes of drinking habits or the effects of alcohol are much different, “A population that drinks daily may have a high rate of cirrhosis and other medical problems but few accidents, fights, homicides, or other violent alcohol-associated conflicts; a population with predominantly binge drinking shows the opposite complex of drinking problems”#. It has been observed that cultures with rich traditions and acceptance of alcohol use tend to deal less with the typical alcohol related problems, compared to the cultures who treat alcohol as an escape or something that will make them better in the eyes of others. In these societies, like the U.S. alcohol hasn’t always been present and grown to be...
Robinson, David. From Drinking to Alcoholism: A Social Commentary. London: John Wiley and Sons, 1976.
Ethan Nadelman first states that the “Global War on Drugs can be Won.” Needless to say, the “Drug-Free World” and “Alcohol-Free World” are viewed as completely different realistic goals in which one could achieve. Drug-Free World would be a lot harder task for one to accomplish due to the number of addicts who are incapable of stopping, even if it continues to kill their bodies. Drug use has been a bigger problem than alcohol use, mainly because it is harming the human bodies of all races with dangerous diseases. Alcohol, on the other hand, may cause a bit of damage to the body (in severe cases, alcohol poisoning), but not merely as the damage brought upon by the drug usage. Therefore, a Drug-Free World may be a harder goal to achieve than an Alcohol-Free World. Also, politician are on the verge of eliminating drugs from the Earth, despite the fact that majority of the people are spending their money on drugs rather than quitting. When the manufacturing of illegal drugs terminate, the percentage of people sent to jail may decrease substantially. In add...
This article is aimed towards a large study to estimate the global burden of disease attributable to alcohol. The article tries to identify the relationships between average volume consumption, patterns of drinking, disease, and injury outcomes. The article also gives many numbers to back up its points.
The debate of whether the minimum legal drinking age should be lowered or not has been around for many years even since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 raised the MLDA to age 21. Prior to that, the government has t...
Wechsler, H., Nelson T., & Weitzman, E. (February 2000). From Knowledge to Action. Change [On-line], Available: www2.gasou.edu/library/ (Galileo)(EBSCOhost)(Search=Alcohol Abuse).
It is unfortunate that many people within our society and worldwide suffers from the affects of alcohol addiction. There are many issues associated with this addiction and many times it’s not only the victim that deals with the addiction but also the people in close association with the individual. Alcohol addiction can afflict anyone and knows no limits of its damage that it can do to a person’s life or the people in their lives. Most importantly are the ones whom seek help for their addiction as it becomes a lifelong healing period for them. It has become clear that constant consumption of alcohol leads to addiction. It has also become clearer with the laws and policies that have been drawn up to combat drunk drivers that it is not a normal thing to do anymore as was thought to be normal in the late 60’s and early 70’s. This is not normal behaviour and it becomes clearer as the laws for drinking and driving is enforced by law enforcement officers. It is a duty for addiction workers to help in the aid of these problems and its laws and policies that help in putting a stop to some of the problems that arise from this addiction.
Alcohol consumption is prevalent in our society; people drink while at parties, sporting events, and at dinner. Drinking is socially acceptable and legal, so there is no surprised that many drink. However, individuals can be deemed deviant if they exceed a certain level of drinking. The deviant receives the label of an alcoholic; to distinguish their behavior is outside the normal values of our society. “Nearly one-third of the US population will meet criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence within their lifetime” (Young, 2011). Alcoholism is considered deviant because the person drinks excessively and frequently disregarding the safety of themselves and others. Society stigmatizes these individual as clinically ill; their behavior is a result of disease which needs to be addressed and treated, in order to provide safety for the public. Alcoholism not only affects the public’s safety however it influences how the individual interacts with others, their ability to perform on the job, and has considerable health related risk. These behaviors and attitudes fuel the drive to treat alcoholics; in hopes that their behavior will go into remission since once an alcoholic always an alcoholic.
Alcohol abuse is the most common problem, nowadays. In fact, majority of people drink alcohol repeatedly to the point where they have difficulty to stop. Statistics show that, as much as, “40% of college students report drinking five or more drinks in one episode” (Walters & Baer, 2006). Alcohol has become more popular over the years as advertisements, simultaneously with commercials of it, filled the media. It also is easily accessible and cheap in comparison to other psychoactive substances. On the other hand, alcohol safety awareness programs are barely noticeable. My research will present how alcohol and its abuse gets into people’s lives and how it influences their physical and mental health, as well as, social existence.
... Alcoholism is a serious problem in today's society. It is extremely important that the public, including the large groups of users and abusers of alcohol, gain as much knowledge as possible about the symptoms and effects of alcoholism if we ever want to see the reduction of statics involving fatalities, injuries, diseases caused from the use and abuse of alcohol. Education and realization of the effects alcoholism can have on the different aspects of a person's life are the best ways that we can help control the number of alcoholics in the United States.