Government dietary guidelines must be be reasonable and science-based. Imagine you’re at a friend’s party. You finish nursing your first beer and casually reach for a second. Everyone immediately stops and stares. Your friends start whispering to themselves, wondering if they should stage an intervention. Ridiculous and unjustified, right? Wrong! At least according to a …
Mississippi Mississippi is a dry state and was so long before National Prohibition began in 1920. And it was also the first state to ratify National Prohibition. Upon Repeal in 1933, it kept its own state-wide prohibition. Later, it “reaffirmed prohibition.” Thus Mississippi has a very long and strong temperance tradition. However, local governments do have local …
What should alcohol policy for youth be in the U.S.? This is a heated subject. Here the National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) gives its views. I. Alcohol Policy for Youth NYRA believes U.S. youth alcohol policy should recognize the inevitability of alcohol consumption among youth. Therefore, it should seek to reduce the harm of that alcohol use. …
How can we reduce alcohol-related problems. One important way is to teach safe alcohol drinking to young people. I. Goal: Fewer Alcohol Problems Many societies and groups have successfully prevented alcohol problems. That is, they widely and daily drink. Yet they have few alcohol problems. We can use their techniques both in our families and …
Is drinking in pregnancy beneficial to the children born? Could light drinking actually help children? If so, should pregnant women drink a little? The Research Researchers used a nationally representative sample of infants born in the UK. The infants were part of the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study. That project followed the health of children born …
A recovering alcoholic explains why dry county alcohol-related crash rates are higher than in wet counties. Dear Dr. Hanson: Just a note. Thank you for writing the article noting the effect of dry counties on alcohol-related traffic accidents. (Dry Counties Have Higher DWI Fatality Rates.) As a long-term recovered alcoholic living in an Arkansas …
A Pennsylvania man was being treated for irregular heartbeat. He described his drinking behaviors, presumably in confidence, to doctors treating him. As a result he lost his driver’s license. The toxicology report from the hospital showed he had no alcohol in his system. So, tell and lose license! PennDOT The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) …
In “The perils of drinking in America,” reporter Simon Calder of the Belfast Telegraph alerts readers traveling to the U.S. what to expect. He explains that the U.S. has created a tangle of confusing laws designed to deter drinking, especially among young people. For example, 48-year-old Rachel Ally was required to prove she was 21 …
Hosting office parties can be a mine field of potential problems. These can be social, professional, or legal. Therefoere, it’s wise to plan office parties very carefully. Here are few tips to help avoid problems and have a successful office party. Tips Be very clear. Be clear about the workplace substance abuse policy. It should address …
Frank Ward has lived in Sweden for decades. He has seen the the Swedish experience with alcohol up close. Here he reflects on the changes he has witnessed over time.1 He points out that “During my lifetime I have followed one nation’s progress from near-prohibition to a more liberal, tolerant approach. When I arrived in Stockholm …
