Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Alcohol policy'

The thesis aims: - to analyse the extent of alcohol-related problems in Hungary, - to assess available policy options to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related problems - to understand Hungarian policy making in the alcohol field - to prepare recommendations for alcohol policy that are relevant to the Hungarian situation It consists of eight chapters. Chapters follow the aims by first introducing the target and the place of the study (Chapter 1), second providing evidence about the extent of alcohol related problems in Hungary and in comparison to other countries (Chapter 2), third summarising policy means to influence the incidence of alcohol related problems based on experiences of other countries and locate alcohol policy in the broader policy context (Chapter 3), then presenting the framework and the methods used for the analysis (Chapter 4), analysing the policy environment by looking at the legislative background (Chapter 5), the organisational structure and major alcohol policy movements of the past decades (Chapter 6), characteristics of public policy making in general and public health and alcohol policy making in particular (Chapter 7), and the current situation of alcohol policy through actors - their understanding, interests, influence, relation to each other and to specific alcohol policy instruments - (Chapter 8), finally summarising the findings and preparing feasible policy recommendations for Hungary (Chapter 9).

The thesis draws on historical and social policy perspectives to examine the factors influencing development and change in alcohol treatment policy between 1950 and 1990. The study uses data from primary and secondary documentation and from taped interviews. Three themes are highlighted as particularly relevant to an examination of policy trends. The first of these is the emergence and evolution of a `policy community'. Spearheaded by psychiatrists in the 1960s, the `policy community' broadened to include other professional groups and the voluntary sector by the 1990s. The second theme concerns the role of research in influencing the nature and direction of treatment policy. The study indicates increasing use of research as the rationale for policy and illustrates the move towards a `contractor' relationship between research workers and policy makers. The final theme deals with the influence on policy of ideological frames and changing conceptualisations of the alcohol problem. Two major shifts were important for treatment, the re-discovery of the disease concept of alcoholism in the 1950s and the emergence of a new public health model of alcohol problems in the 1970s. Within these broad themes, the study includes an examination of tensions - between different professional perspectives, between government departments with differing responsibilities, between different ideologies - and of moves to secure consensus in the formulation and implementation of treatment policy. The final chapter addresses shifts in thinking from the re-emergence of a `disease' model of alcoholism in the 1950s, to a `consumptionist' (population-based) model in the 1970s, towards a `harm reduction' approach to alcohol problems management in the 1990s. The thesis concludes that over the past forty years competing paradigms of the alcohol problem have emerged and gained policy salience within particular historical-social contexts in the search for policy consensus to manage the problematic aspects of alcohol consumption.

The purpose of this dissertation is to study the Europeanization of Swedish alcohol policy from 1995-2006. It analyses the development of Swedish and European alcohol policy and answers the following research questions: How has alcohol policy developed on the national and the EU level during this period? What are the Swedish alcohol policy initiatives on the EU level? What does the interplay between Swedish and European policy processes look like? Of interest for this dissertation is also how the Swedish view on alcohol policy has been received on EU level. The dissertation comprises four related articles and an introductory chapter. In the articles official documents and interviews are analyzed in the context of the literature on Europeanization, using the concepts framing, narrative and new modes of governance. Article I explores the history of negotiations between Sweden and the EU on the traveller’s allowances question. Article II and III analyse how Swedish authorities, first through research and later through formal policy-making during the Swedish Presidency, tried to reframe alcohol on the EU-level. Finally, the fourth article is a comparative analysis of the Nordic retail monopolies, analyzing how the monopolies have developed and reacted to national and international pressures on their activities. The dissertation shows that Swedish authorities have influenced the EU level by putting alcohol on the agenda, and offered pressure and economic support to make sure that alcohol as a public health question has become and been kept as a prioritized question. This development is, however, nested inside the changing scope and emphasis of the EU. The emergence of a European alcohol policy as a public health-oriented process has been made possible through a new focus on the EU level, with increased cooperation between member states and a trend toward harmonization of policy and frames when it comes to alcohol.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2010.
At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: In press. Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Submitted. Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Includes abstract.
Includes bibliographical references.
Throughout the world drunk drivers are responsible for numerous accidents resulting in the injury or death of many drivers, passengers, cyclists, and/or pedestrians. South Africa experiences very high rates of injuries and deaths from road accidents. Young people, especially students and their peers, represent a high risk group because of their inexperience on the roads, and the exacerbation of this risk when alcohol limits are exceeded. In order to determine students’ and their peers’ perceptions and cognisance of their degree of intoxication, and to assess their knowledge, attitudes and practices, survey data and measures of breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) were collected from 229 young adults over nine evenings at a single pub frequented by students and their peers in a South African university city.

Alcohol is an important economic and cultural commodity. It also represents a significant public health problem. Alcohol is the third greatest risk factor for the global disease burden even though half of the global population abstain. Currently alcohol control strategies are inadequate and unable to combat the health, social and economic problems caused by a legal drug that has become more widely available, more affordable and promoted aggressively. This thesis considers how alcohol control policy is governed, developed and implemented at global, European, UK and Scottish policy levels with specific focus on the role of the alcohol industry in this area. Contemporary modes of governance are increasingly characterised by a multi-agency partnership approach where unelected stakeholders, including corporate partners, contribute to the development and implementation of policy and of action out with policy. The research investigates the role of the alcohol industry within discourses and action in efforts to reduce alcohol related harm. It aims to identify alcohol industry action at global, European, UK and Scottish levels of authority in order to offer an overview of the extent of action and in turn its influence on policy discourses. The research provides an analysis of the alcohol industry as a political operator. The alcohol industry engages with, and in some respects is, a stakeholder active within public health policy circles in relation to alcohol control. This engagement spans science, research, corporate social responsibility, philanthropy, lobbying and direct engagement within official policy circles. The thesis uses the alcohol industry as a case study that highlights a need for research on how influence is wielded by corporate interests within policy circles. There is acknowledgement in various theoretical accounts on governance that changing modes of governance have resulted in the creation of a space for non-state actors within policy circles. However, thereafter, the role of corporate actors is habitually underestimated and even overlooked all together. The argument presented here is that the role of powerful economic interests is rapidly gaining significance as a factor in policy making. This must be explored further in order to ascertain the extent of the influence and the ways in which economic actors exert influence. Methodologically the research examines policy documents, and industry communications as well as adopting an investigative approach to the strategies and agendas of a variety of policy stakeholders. The outcome is a narrative derived from a synthesis of existing sources that explores the area of alcohol control policy which focuses on the involvement of corporate stakeholders with a clear conflict of interest within the process of developing health policy in relation to alcohol. The results indicate that the influence of corporate actors represents a significant and growing threat to the development and implementation of effective evidence based alcohol control policy. Overall the research is intended to make a contribution to academic and public debates on governance and to support public health efforts to reduce alcohol related harm. It attempts to explore the accumulation of corporate action over multiple levels of authority and to describe and evaluate the effects of this accumulative action on public health policy in relation to alcohol.

Should the power to address the socio-cultural and political issue of alcohol consumption and regulation lay in that of the legislators or, the legislated? I propose that when alcohol legislation and regulation - The Botswana Alcohol Tax Levy are formed without invested cooperation from the general population, often the policy is non-sustainable and subject to change. The sustainability of the policy is primarily measured on its efficiency and effectiveness at addressing alcohol consumption and abuse. The failure to both reduce alcohol consumption and fund alcohol preventative care brings forth the conversations regarding needed change. My analysis provides the local and global implications alcohol consumption and regulation has had in Botswana, the United States, and the United Kingdom with an in-depth Policy Analysis Matrix directly discussing the Botswana Alcohol Tax Levy. The Tax Levy and other regulations created by the government have often overlooked the ground-level realities of the social issues regarding alcohol consumption, at the expense of the general populace overall health. The traditions and cultural heritage of alcohol, in regards to the Botswana people, cannot be under-mined. From my analysis, most of the issues arising from legislation stem from the discrepancies found between European Western Developmental practices and Botswana Traditional practices and law. The analysis highlights that the current position the government is taking in regards to alcohol consumption and regulation is ill informed. The current Alcohol Tax Levy neither lessens the consumption patterns of the population. Nor, does the Levy help to alleviate the current social problems excessive alcohol consumption is having in Botswana.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Political Science, 1985.
MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY.
Bibliography: leaves 671-718.
by Maria Helena De Castro Santos.
Ph.D.

The WHO has reported that alcohol consumption worldwide has been increasing over the years and, as such, different rationales have emerged in dealing with the problem, whether that be using the market solution or a more government-controlled model. Europe hosts a diverse plethora of nations with differing policy rates. As such, this paper studies 28 different EU and EU-affiliated countries throughout the years 2008-2018, with the main focus being on alcohol consumption per capita and policy ratings. Through a random effects model the study found that, on average, nations with strict policies enjoy lower consumption values. However, nations with medium policies had the highest consumption rates in the dataset, no matter their geographical and cultural alignment.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
Introduction: Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy can result to birth defects, which may be developmental, intellectual and physical. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a term used to describe an array of disorders related to alcohol consumption during pregnancy. FASD is a severe public health problem globally, with South Africa having the highest prevalence (29 to 290 per 1000 live births). What makes the FASD problem severe in the country is rife of maternal risk factors and widespread binge drinking during pregnancy. There is no policy specifically addressing FASD despite being pervasive in South Africa. Government programmes to prevent and manage FASD remain limited and fragmental across relevant departments. Herein, we aimed to conduct a multi-method study with a modified Delphi approach to developing a guideline to inform the development of a comprehensive and multi-sectoral policy for the prevention and management of FASD. Method and analysis: We used a modified version of the World Health Organization’s approach to guideline development in three phases. In phase 1, we conducted four different studies to design the initial guideline prototype. The studies include an in-depth interview with policymakers and a focus group with relevant service providers on policy requirements for FASD, a document review of policies on FASD and a scoping review of various interventions employed for the prevention and management of FASD. The second phase involved using the initially developed guideline prototype to engage with the local and international experts on FASD for improvement on the content. In the third phase, we refined the prototype using a modified Delphi approach. Framework method and content analysis were used to analyse the qualitative data while the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was used to analyse the quantitative data.

The thesis analyses the formation of state alcohol policy in contemporary Russia, with particular emphasis on the initiative to reduce consumption initiated by President Medvedev in 2009. The analysis is based on qualitative data gathered from a range of sources: semi-structured interviews conducted during fieldwork in Russia; interviews or extended discussions of alcohol policy already in the public domain; government documents and other official publications; contemporary media articles and opinion polls. I apply a constructivist sociological methodology which views ‘social problems’ as not simply objective states of affairs, but rather the result of competition between different groups in society to establish their interpretation of ‘the problem’ as the dominant discourse. I describe how from the mid-2000s, a small but influential anti-alcohol movement emerged comprised of members of a ‘civil society elite’. This new elite was successful in gaining cultural authority over the definition of the ‘alcohol problem’, and thus setting the anti-alcohol agenda. I interpret changes in alcohol policy in the 1990s and 2000s in the context of broader political and socio-economic trends. I apply the concept of sistema, the informal network-based system of governance in Russia, to explain how state-sponsored vodka interests have affected the development of anti-alcohol policy over the period 2009-2012. The development and passage of the major 2011 law on alcohol is described in detail, including the crucial role played by rival vodka and beer industry lobbyists. The thesis concludes by evaluating to what extent alcohol policy under President Medvedev 2009-2012 can properly be described as an ‘anti-alcohol campaign’. I conclude that while the initiatives cannot be dismissed as mere ‘simulation’ of anti-alcohol policy as some respondents suggested, the word ‘campaign’ gives a false sense of coherence to policies that were pushed by a variety of competing policy actors pursuing their own sectoral interests.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how some college students become alcohol abusers and how, if at all, colleges can reduce such behavior. I will begin with a brief overview of the positive and negative economic impacts of alcohol consumption in the United States. Underage drinking is responsible for a significant portion of the negative impact, so the remainder of this thesis will focus on the negative role that alcohol plays during one of the most transformative times in young adults' lives: college. I will provide a review of the research that examines various risk factors for alcohol abuse in the college setting, the alcohol-related negative consequences, and an examination of explanations for why students consume alcohol. I will conclude with examples of three different actions that university administrators can take to reduce alcohol abuse.

Educational Administration
Ed.D.
Through an examination of first year college students at a large, urban, public university, this study explored one university's use of alcohol course survey data from an online alcohol prevention program to determine whether it would increase the power of a predictive model for first year student retention. At a time when fiscal and human resources are both scarce and in high demand, institutions require policy and prevention strategies that promise to make a positive difference in the health, safety and academic persistence of its students. Using available data on 4,121 first year students this research identified key variables that, when combined with student attitudes about alcohol use, identify the significant predictors of first year college retention enabling university leaders to design more impactful strategies for intervention including a student-centered policy framework with an aim toward reducing harmful behaviors on campus.
Temple University--Theses

This thesis uses data from Kenya to contribute to the literature on tobacco and alcohol control policies in low and middle-income countries. The thesis uses the two most recent household and budget surveys (2005/6 and 2015/16), to examine some of the effects of the tobacco and alcohol control policies that were implemented in Kenya between 2005 and 2015. Chapter 2 considers the impact of consumption and taxation of tobacco and alcohol on household spending patterns. An instrumental variable approach is used in the estimation of the difference in spending patterns, between tobacco-consuming (alcohol-consuming) households and households that do not consume tobacco (alcohol). Following the precedent of some other studies, the adult sex ratio is used as an instrumental variable for the tobacco and alcohol consumption status of households. However, the adult sex ratio may not meet the exclusion restriction. In order to address this concern, I change the specification of the instrumental variable and relax the exclusion restriction. As a result, the upper and lower bounds of the difference in expenditure shares between households that consumed tobacco (alcohol) and the households that did not consume tobacco (alcohol) are estimated. A natural experiment involving tobacco and alcohol taxes occurred during the data collection period of one of the household surveys: the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol was increased during the data collection phase. A matched difference-in-differences (MDID) technique is used to estimate the implication of a tobacco (alcohol) tax increase on household spending patterns. The pseudo-panel generated from MDID also provided a new way of controlling for possible endogeneity arising from time-invariant unobservable variables. Therefore, MDID is used as a new approach, for comparing household spending patterns of tobacco-consuming (alcohol-consuming) households with those of households that do not consume tobacco (alcohol). The price and non-price tobacco-control policies that were implemented between 2005/6 and 2015/16 contributed to a decrease in household tobacco use prevalence. However, alcohol-control policies implemented over the same period did not successfully reduce the overall prevalence of alcohol consumption among Kenyan households. Tobacco- and alcohol-consuming households were found to spend less on education, energy, rent, healthcare, and food items. MDID results confirmed that tobacco and alcohol consuming households had lower expenditure shares on items necessary for human capital development. The increase in tobacco taxes did not have an impact on household spending patterns among tobacco-consuming households. However, an increase in taxes on alcohol led to further crowding out of expenditure on fruits. Chapter 3 uses the risk of child malnutrition in Kenya, to examine the effectiveness of tobacco and alcohol control policies, in reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption prevalence among vulnerable households. Past studies in this literature did not explicitly control for cluster/village level factors that may affect child nutrition. A multilevel/mixed effects logit and general equations estimation logit model are used to estimate the difference in the risk of child malnutrition, between households that consumed tobacco and alcohol and those that did not consume the two goods. The two models account for the possibility of correlation in nutritional outcomes for children living in the same cluster/village. The two methods also allowed for the inclusion of contextual effects that could inform public health policy in Kenya. In 2005/6 the odds of long-term child malnutrition were higher for children living in tobacco and alcohol consuming households in rural Kenya. The tobacco and alcohol control policies implemented between 2005/6 and 2015/16 were more effective in reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption prevalence among the poorest rural households. As a result, the decrease in child malnutrition prevalence was greater among households that consumed tobacco and alcohol. In 2015/16 the risk of child malnutrition in tobacco and alcohol consuming households was similar to that of non-consuming households. The results from chapter 3 indicate that tobacco and alcohol control policies that were implemented in Kenya over the ten-year period, contributed to the reduction in consumption of the two goods among the poorest rural households. Therefore, very poor households invested resources, which could have been used for tobacco/alcohol consumption, on human capital development. Chapter 2 and chapter 3 provide evidence on some of the opportunity costs associated with tobacco/alcohol consumption as well as potential benefits that may arise from controlling consumption of the two goods. Subsequently, Chapter 4 focuses on the price elasticity of demand for tobacco and alcohol products. Tax-induced price increases is one of the most effective policy tools for controlling the demand for the two goods. The effectiveness of price policy in controlling demand for tobacco and alcohol may be hindered by among other things, the consumption of informally produced alcohol and noncigarette tobacco products as well as other stimulants. Majority of the relatively few studies done on African countries were on South Africa and most of them estimated the price elasticity of demand for cigarettes and formally produced alcohol products. Further, I am not aware of any peer-reviewed study that has estimated the price elasticity of demand for alcohol and tobacco products in Kenya. Household survey data is used to estimate the own-price and expenditure elasticities (as proxies for income elasticities) of demand for tobacco and alcohol products in Kenya. The responsiveness of the demand for informally produced alcohol as well as non-cigarette tobacco products to changes in prices of cigarettes and formally produced beers is also estimated. This thesis also estimates the responsiveness of demand for khat to changes in the price of cigarettes and formally produced beers. Khat is a stimulant mostly consumed in Arabia and the Horn of Africa. One of the concerns about the use of taxes as a measure to control tobacco and alcohol consumption is the possible regressive nature of tobacco and alcohol taxes. Therefore, chapter 4 also examines the impact of price and non-price tobacco- and alcohol-control policies on the regressivity/progressivity of household tobacco and alcohol burdens (budget shares). Tobacco-control policies implemented between 2005/6 and 2015/16, contributed to a reduction in the regressivity of household tobacco budget shares. The changing profile of tobacco consuming households as well as economic growth over the period may have also contributed to the increase in the estimated price elasticity of demand for cigarettes. Over the ten-year period, the estimated price elasticity of demand for cigarettes increased from -0.63 to -0.42. Khat and snuff tobacco were found to be complements for cigarettes. Khat and informally produced spirits were found to be substitutes for formally produced beers. Further, the demand for formally produced beers was found to be price elastic. The alcohol-control policies that were implemented over the ten-year period, contributed to a reduction in the regressivity of overall alcohol budget shares. However, over the ten-year period, there was a rapid increase in demand for spirits in Kenya.

Tobacco and alcohol are responsible for an estimated 12.5% of global deaths, a percentage which is set to rise. Evidence shows that tobacco and alcohol industry marketing influences smoking and drinking initiation and prevalence, and although tobacco marketing is increasingly regulated (including through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a legally binding global treaty) controls on alcohol marketing remain more limited. There are three novel strands to this thesis. First, systematic reviews examining how the tobacco and alcohol industries have attempted to influence marketing regulations, and the development of two new taxonomies for tactic and argument categorisation. Second, a statistical analysis of the tobacco and alcohol marketing environments across a diverse range of countries, including the extent of any geographic or urban/rural differences. And third, an assessment of tobacco and alcohol industry compliance with national marketing regulations. Substantial commonalities between tobacco and alcohol industry activity were identified, suggesting that alcohol policy may benefit from reproducing efforts in tobacco control aimed at excluding industry from policy discussions. Additionally, data analysis showed that there were high levels of tobacco marketing despite FCTC ratification, and that exposure to alcohol marketing was even higher. Tobacco marketing was greatest whereas alcohol marketing was lowest in lower income countries, and both were significantly more common in urban communities. All FCTC-ratified countries had some tobacco marketing bans in place, whereas few countries had any comprehensive bans on alcohol marketing. Compliance was often poor, and exposure to tobacco marketing was commonly higher within countries with a full or partial ban compared to those without, whereas all forms of alcohol marketing were lower in countries with a full ban or some restrictions. The high levels of tobacco and alcohol marketing, and the generally low levels of compliance, highlight the urgent need for countries to implement and enforce comprehensive marketing controls, and supports calls for an FCTC-equivalent for alcohol.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of alcohol consumption in the world. It is important to study public opinion of alcohol regulatory policies as it plays a crucial role in the success of policy measures. There is a dearth of research on public opinion of alcohol policies in developing countries. This study is the first to explore public opinion of older and young adults on alcohol policy in South Africa. In addition, the drinking behavior of young adults was also investigated along with its relationship with policy support. Methods: The study sample consisted of 1728 young (n=513) and older adults (n=1215). Demographic details and opinion on 15 policy measures (Yes/No) were recorded for both groups. The survey of young adults included additional questions on drinking patterns. Univariate analysis of opinion on policy measures was performed for each group and compared using chi-square tests. Logistic regression was used to find the relationship between policy support levels and demographic factors and drinking behavior of young adults. Results: Complete data were recorded for 567 older adults and 402 younger adults. The majority of the participants (75-80 percent) agreed on restricted availability, increased pricing and greater enforcement measures. In contrast, only 65% of the participants were in favor of increased restrictions on alcohol marketing. Older adults were more supportive of earlier closing times of bars, a raise in minimum purchasing age, as well as an increase in pricing and taxes of alcohol (p<0.001). Females and employed participants were found to be more likely to support alcohol policy measures. Drinking patterns and behavior of young adults significantly predicted most policy measures after controlling for demographic factors. For example, policies on restricted alcohol availability, increase in taxes, and raids were supported by participants who reported that they mostly drank at big events. In contrast, these policies were opposed by those who drink alcohol every day and almost every day along with those who drink during street bashes Support for restrictions on the purchase age of alcohol was not predicted by drinking patterns of young adults Conclusion: It is important to increase the understanding and support of vulnerable groups, especially males and young adults, for policy measures. The relationship between drinking patterns and policy support levels indicates that regular tracking of drinking behavior is necessary for the success of these policies. The results support previous findings indicating that young people are more likely to resist alcohol regulations.

Since the mid 1990s, alcohol policy in Sweden has undergone major changes and the restrictive policy instruments have been weakened. Alternative and compensatory preventive measures have been sought and the workplace is repeatedly referred to as an important and appropriate arena for prevention. Universal methods, such as disseminating information and education programs, are seen as crucial in order for individuals to be able to make informed choices about their alcohol consumption. The overall purpose of this thesis is to analyze the prerequisites for and the possibilities and barriers associated with alcohol education programs at workplaces. The first paper investigates the general interest in alcohol prevention at workplaces where no interventions had been undertaken. The second paper is an effect study which investigates the effects of a short alcohol education program provided to those employed at a company in Stockholm. In the third paper, the effects of a day-long alcohol education program provided to all persons employed by a municipality are studied. The fourth paper is an interview study, in which the aim is to analyze how the participants in alcohol education programs view their participation and the content and legitimacy of the intervention. The findings suggest that interest in prevention at workplaces is low among employers. In addition, there are difficulties linked to implementation and evaluation, and in achieving and registering any substantial effects. The effect studies noted a significant increase in alcohol-related knowledge and that binge drinking decreased among those who drank the most. The employees found the education programs interesting and valuable but mostly for others, i.e. those who drink too much. Taken together, the studies suggest that it is not reasonable to believe that workplace-based prevention will become a common and effective measure or that it will compensate for the weakened alcohol policy in Sweden.

At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Submitted.

Alkohol har sedan länge varit starkt förknippat med sjöfarten. Detta fick oss intresserade och vi valde att fördjupa oss i ämnet. I vårt examensarbete har vi valt att fokusera på huruvida rederiernas alkoholpolicy efterföljs ombord på fartygen.

För att få en uppfattning så använde vi oss av metodtriangulering. Vi utförde en enkätundersökning bland skolans nautiska elever angående den rådande alkoholkulturen till sjöss, därefter intervjuades de tre rederier som nämnts mest i enkätundersökningen för att få deras kommentarer på resultatet.

Resultatet av vårt arbete visar att alkoholpolicyn inte efterföljs till fullo, då 70 % av eleverna uppfattat att policyn brutits en eller flera gånger. Detta trots att rederierna i de intervjuer som genomförts, upplever det som detta. En generell uppfattning bland eleverna visar att flertalet är emot att besättningsmedlemmar dricker sig berusade ombord. De anser dock att det bör vara accepterat med öl eller vin i samband med måltid.

For many years alcohol have been strongly associated with shipping. This got us interested and therefore we chose to find out more about this subject. In our thesis we have chose to focus on how the shipping companies' policy about alcohol is followed onboard.

To get an understanding we created a questionnaire about the alcohol culture onboard, that was answered by the merchant academy's nautical students. Thereafter we interviewed the three companies that were most represented in the questionnaire to get their opinion about the result.

The result of our thesis shows that the alcohol policy isn't followed onboard even if the shipping companies have this opinion. It is stated by 70 percent of the students that they once or more got the opinion that the policy was broken. The general opinion among the students is that they are against heavy drinking onboard, but that the crewmembers that aren't on duty should be allowed drinking beer or wine when having dinner.

In this thesis I evaluate the impact of an experiment with free sales of strong beer in two Swedish counties that took place in the 1960s. I do this by studying adult earnings of persons in utero during the experiment. My data includes date and place of birth and allows me to evaluate the impact of the experiment using a difference-in differences methodology, comparing earnings across cohorts and counties. Since the availability of alcohol increased most heavily for persons under the age of 21, and male fetuses are less physiologically robust than female fetuses, I choose to study persons born by mothers younger than 21 separately and also estimate the impact of the experiment separately for men and women. I find that persons born by mothers under the age of 21 during the experiment have lower average earnings than persons born before the experiment, and that the impact is larger on men. My results indicate that the experiment has led to adverse effects on adult earnings, probably caused by the prenatal alcohol exposure’s negative impact on fetal development. This means that alcohol consumption have long-term consequences that represent large costs to society. Since these costs are generally disregarded when evaluating the cost of alcohol consumption, society’s cost of alcohol is probably higher than usually estimated.

Excessive college student drinking is a complex problem associated with a range of consequences including deaths, injuries, damage, health risks, legal difficulties, and academic problems. State governing boards, trustees and executives have enacted policies aimed at reducing the negative effects of excessive drinking. This study examined influences on university staff members responsible for implementation of alcohol-control policies. Deeper understanding of factors influencing alcohol-control policy implementation may help leaders improve policy making, implementation and attainment of policy objectives.

This mixed methods study utilized a sequential transformative mixed methods strategy with a quantitative survey, sequenced first, informing the prioritized qualitative multiple case study. Research was conducted at two public universities selected from a single state. In the quantitative phase students (n=1,252) completed a survey measuring student support for 33 alcohol-control measures. Staff (n=27) responsible for policy implementation completed a survey estimating student support for alcohol-control measures. Survey data informed development of the case study interview protocol. In the qualitative phase ten interviews were conducted at each case study site.

The study’s theoretical and conceptual model was based upon Pressman and Wildavsky’s (1973) implementation framework and Kotter’s (1996) eight-stage process for leading change. Findings from the quantitative phase of the study revealed strong levels of support for alcohol-control policies at both campuses while staff members generally underestimated student support for alcohol-control policies. The key findings that emerged after coding case study data included the influences of: (a) executive leadership; (b) leadership transitions and policy saliency; (c) cognition and sensemaking; and, (d) anchoring changes in culture. Student support for alcohol-control policies was found to have no direct influence on staff members responsible for implementation of alcohol control policies.

Accurate estimation of alcohol price elasticity is important for policy analysis – e.g.., determining optimal taxes and projecting revenues generated from proposed tax changes. Several approaches to specifying and estimating the price elasticity of demand for alcohol can be found in the literature. There are two keys to policy-relevant specification and estimation of alcohol price elasticity. First, the underlying demand model should take account of alcohol consumption decisions at the extensive margin – i.e., individuals’ decisions to drink or not – because the price of alcohol may impact the drinking initiation decision and one’s decision to drink is likely to be structurally different from how much they drink if they decide to do so (the intensive margin). Secondly, the modeling of alcohol demand elasticity should yield both theoretical and empirical results that are causally interpretable. The elasticity estimates obtained from the existing two-part model takes into account the extensive margin, but are not causally interpretable.

The elasticity estimates obtained using aggregate-level models, however, are causally interpretable, but do not explicitly take into account the extensive margin. There currently exists no specification and estimation method for alcohol price elasticity that both accommodates the extensive margin and is causally interpretable. I explore additional sources of bias in the extant approaches to elasticity specification and estimation: 1) the use of logged (vs. nominal) alcohol prices; and 2) implementation of unnecessarily restrictive assumptions underlying the conventional two-part model. I propose a new approach to elasticity specification and estimation that covers the two key requirements for policy relevance and remedies all such biases. I find evidence of substantial divergence between the new and extant methods using both simulated and the real data. Such differences are profound when placed in the context of alcohol tax revenue generation.

A contribuição dos problemas ligados ao álcool para a carga de doenças em África tem sido amplamente negligenciada. Devido a rápidas mudanças no contexto de vários países e a novas evidências científicas relativas a doenças atribuíveis ao álcool, tais como HIV e a incidência de TB, os problemas e carga da doença em África relacionados com o consumo de álcool podem ser maiores do que o que foi previamente estimado. Ao mesmo tempo existe pouca informação sob a forma como os países estão a gerir o consumo de álcool e as consequências ligadas a esse consumo, o que sugere que uma avaliação das políticas nacionais é necessária nesta região. O objetivo geral desta tese é o de rever as evidências relacionadas com o consumo de álcool em África e analisar as políticas do álcool existentes, contribuindo assim para a melhoria das decisões políticas relacionadas com esse consumo na região. Em particular, a tese concentra-se nos quatro objetivos específicos seguintes: I) estimar a mortalidade e morbilidade atribuídas ao álcool em África; II) identificar os fatores que podem afetar a magnitude e os padrões de consumo de álcool em África; III) avaliar as respostas políticas nacionais relacionadas com o consumo de álcool em 46 países e sua eficácia para reduzir os malefícios relacionados com esse consumo; IV) documentar as diferentes etapas e atores envolvidos no desenvolvimento de uma política relativa ao consumo de álcool num país Africano (Malawi). A investigação utilizou diferentes tipos de métodos. Os resultados mostram que o consumo de álcool tem um grande impacto sobre a carga de doença e mortalidade nos países africanos, com o álcool sendo responsável, em 2012, por 6.4% de todas as mortes e 4.7% de todos os DALYs na Região (estudo I). A nossa análise identificou sete fatores que estão intimamente ligados a possíveis mudanças no consumo de álcool em África. Impulsionada em grande parte pela globalização, a convergência potencial desses fatores é suscetível de se associar a um crescimento contínuo no consumo de álcool bem como ao aumento da morbilidade e mortalidade relacionada ao álcool em todo o continente (estudo II). Os países têm vindo a utilizar diferentes tipos de medidas de política para controlar o consumo de álcool. A avaliação dos níveis atuais de restrição das políticas existentes, mostra que os países atingiram uma pontuação média de 44,1 de 100 pontos possíveis, variando entre 9,1 (São Tomé e Príncipe) e 75,0 pontos (Argélia). De acordo com nossos resultados, os níveis de restrição das políticas existentes estão negativamente correlacionados com o consumo de álcool em consumidores atuais (rs = -.353, p = 0,005) (Estudo III). O estudo IV reflete as dificuldades e complexidade dos processos políticos e sociais na elaboração de políticas de álcool no Malawi. Apesar da influência da indústria do álcool no estabelecimento da agenda politica e no processo de consulta, o nosso estudo demonstra que as organizações da sociedade civil, quando devidamente financiadas e apoiadas, podem desempenhar um papel importante e decisivo na evolução da política do governo com vista a defesa do interesse público. As frações de mortalidade e morbilidade atribuídas ao álcool em muitos países africanos são consideráveis e, portanto, o álcool não pode ser deixado de fora das agendas de saúde e desenvolvimento desses países. Os governos africanos precisam de ter um papel mais ativo na proteção da saúde da população. Embora os países tenham adotado algum tipo de medidas de políticas para controlar o consumo de álcool, os nossos resultados mostram que há uma necessidade de uma resposta política mais forte para reduzir a carga relacionada com o consumo de álcool no continente. Finalmente, devido às dificuldades inerentes ao desenvolvimento de políticas do álcool, os governos devem considerar fortemente o aumento da participação das organizações da sociedade civil para apoiar uma direção no sentido da defesa do interesse público.
Alcohol-related problems and burden of disease in Africa has been largely neglected. Due to the rapidly changing context in several countries and new scientific evidences of alcohol-attributablediseases, such as HIV and TB incidence, alcohol-related problems and burden of disease in Africa might be higher than what has previously been estimated.At the same time there is little information on the extent to which African countries are addressing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm, which suggests that evaluations of national alcohol policies are needed in this region.The overall aim of this thesis is to reviewevidence about alcohol consumption and analyse alcohol-related policies in Africa, thus contributingto the improvement of alcohol-related policy decisions in this region. In particular the thesis concentrates on followingfour objectives: I) estimate alcohol-attributablemortality and morbidityin Africa; II) identifyfactors that might affect magnitude and patterns of alcohol consumption in Africa; III)evaluatenational alcohol policy responses in 46 countries and their effectiveness to reduce alcohol-related harm; IV) document the different stages and actors involved in the development of alcohol policy in one African country (Malawi).The research used different type of methods. Our results show thatalcohol consumption has a large impact on burden of disease and mortality in African countries, withalcohol being responsible, in 2012, for 6.4% of all deaths and 4.7% of all DALYs in the Region(study I). Our analysis identified seven factors which are closely tied to potential changes in alcohol consumption in Africa. Driven largely by globalization, a potential convergence of these factors is likely to be associated with continued growth in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality across the continent(study II).Countries have been using different types of policy measuresto control alcohol consumption. When evaluating current policy restrictiveness, countries attained a mean score of 44.1 of 100 points possible, ranging from 9.1 (Sao Tomé and Principe) to 75.0 (Algeria). According to our results, actual policy restrictiveness scores were negatively correlated with and APC among drinkers (rs = -.353, p = 0.005) (Study III). Study IV reflects the difficulties and complexityof alcohol policy development in Malawi. Despite the influence of the alcohol industry in the agenda-settingand consultative process, when adequately resourced and supported, civil society organizations were found toplay an ximportant and decisiverole in steering policy developments in a sound public-interest direction. Alcohol-attributable fractions of mortality and morbidity in many African countries are considerable and therefore alcohol cannot be left out of countries health and development agendas. African governments need to take a more active role in protecting the public’s health. Although countries have adopted some type of policy measures to control alcohol consumption, our results show that there is a need for a strongerpolicy response to reduce alcohol-related burden in the continent. Finally, due to the inherent difficulties in alcohol policydevelopment, governments should strongly consider increasing the involvement of civil society organisations to support sound public-interest direction.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe analizuojama šiuolaikinė Lietuvos alkoholio kontrolės politika. Stengdamasi atskleisti ir įvertinti Lietuvos alkoholio kontrolės politikos problemas, autorė atliko viešosios nuomonės tyrimą-apklausą, mokslinės literatūros analizę bei naudojo kitus mokslinius metodus. Darbe ne tik atskleidžiamas nepakankamas alkoholio kontrolės įgyvendinimas Lietuvoje, bet ir pateikiamos rekomendacijos, kaip jį pagerinti taikant efektyvias mokslu pagrįstas bei pasaulyje naudojamas alkoholio kontrolės priemones. Lietuvos gyventojai (apklausos rezultatų duomenimis) ir alkoholio kontrolės srities ekspertai alkoholio politiką šalyje vertina vidutiniškai. Daugelis Lietuvos gyventojų bei ekspertų pritartų griežtesnei alkoholio kontrolės politikai. Vienas iš didžiausių trukdžių įrodymais grįstai alkoholio politikai vystyti – aktyvi alkoholio pramonės įtaka šalyje.
Master's thesis analyzes the contemporary Alcohol Control Policy of Lithuania. Author of the work conducted a public opinion survey-interview, used the analysis of scientific literature and other methods of research to disclose and evaluate the issues of the Lithuanian Alcohol Control Policy. The paper not only reveals the lack of implementation of alcohol control in Lithuania, but also provides guidance on how to improve it with/adapting the effective science-based and used globally alcohol control measures. Lithuanian residents (survey data) and alcohol-control experts have an average view of this policy. Many of them support the stronger alcohol control policy. One of the major constraints on evidence-based alcohol policy development – strong influence of the alcohol industry in the country.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The present study stems from a concern with the possible occurrence of alcohol abuse on a university campus. The major focus is an exploration of the drinking habits of mostly undergraduate students. An adequate understanding of the above would simplify the task of the university authorities of formulating a relevant alcohol policy and action plan. The survey involves a self-completion questionnaire. The data analysis concentrated on Pearson's correlations and chisquare tests. Significant relationships between the level of alcohol use on the one hand and gender, residence, language, other substance abuse, sport participation, religion, moral values, and sexual activity on the other hand was found. Finally a profile of high-risk, heavier drinking students are provided.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huidige studie spruit uit 'n besorgdheid oor die voorkoms van alkohol misbruik op 'n universiteitskampus. Die primêre fokus is 'n verkenning van die drinkgewoontes van hoofsaaklik voorgraadse studente. 'n Omvattende begrip van bogenoemde sal die taak vergemaklik van die universiteitsowerhede om 'n toepaslike alkoholbeleid en -aksieplan te formuleer. Die ondersoekende studie behels 'n selfvoltooings vraelys. Die data-analise fokus op Pearson se korrelasies en chi-kwadraat toetse. Beduidende verbande is gevind tussen vlak van alkohol gebruik aan die een kant en geslag, verblyf, taal, ander substansgebruik, sportdeelname, godsdiens, morele waardes en seksuele aktiwiteit aan die ander kant. Laastens word 'n profiel van die hoë risiko, swaarder drinkende studente verstrek.

Introduction: The majority of the European population live in urban areas (UAs). Policy making in urban areas is complex and the use of summary and aggregate measures for public health are important tools. Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) are important for national and international comparison. However, DALYs have not been calculated at urban level. Alcohol is an important European urban public health problem. Therefore the aim of this study was to calculate urban level DALYs attributable to alcohol consumption in Europe(AA-DALYs) and years of life lost (AA-YLL). This work was one of the deliverables of the European Urban Health Indicator System Part II (EURO-URHIS 2), a European Commission funded project. Methodology Design: This is a cross sectional study with four components to be able to calculate comparable DALYs. The boundary study determined the denominator to ensure comparability and facilitate identification of the UAs to be included in the study. The systematic review and national level DALY calculations were used to develop the methodology for calculating AA-DALYs, including AA-YLL. The main methodology was to calculate AA-DALYs and AA-YLL were calculated for comparison between UAs, but also to measure the relationship between alcohol policy strength (measured using the Alcohol Policy Index) and harms to health. Results: It was possible to calculate urban level AA-DALY and AA-YLL for males and females and for different age groups in 20 different UAs. There was no association at either national (p=0.15) or urban level with AA-DALYs and AA-YLL and API score. Clustering of the countries by European region may have influenced the lack of association as well as the need for further refinements of the API to include enforcement. Mean male (female) AA-YLL was 12.75 (3.23) per 1000 population (p<0.0001). Mean male (female) AA-DALYs was 18.85 (3.88) per 1000 population (p<0.0001). There were significant differences between mean male and female AA-DALYs and AA-YLL which were not present when the protective indicators were removed from the calculation. The mean effect size between all ages and the 15-79 year age groups were significant for AA-DALYs and AA-YLLs (p<0.0001).Conclusions: Comparable AA-DALYs and AA-YLL can be calculated at urban level. National level DALYs mask the intra-national differences observed within cities. AA-DALYs and AA-YLL can be used as a summary measure to help policy makers determine the outcomes of their alcohol policy strategies in cities of Europe. Morbidity data availability undermines AA-DALY estimates, but AA-YLL estimates were based on robust data on causes of death at the urban level. Future work will replicate this method for more risk factors for YLL.

In 2007 South Carolina funded 15 regional coordinators to work with local law enforcement agencies and alcohol and drug commissions to create 16 community alcohol enforcement teams to improve enforcement of underage drinking laws. Previous researchers have suggested that collaborative leadership is needed for effective teams, yet little is known about the factors that serve as barriers to and facilitators of, collaborative leadership in alcohol enforcement teams. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of coordinators involved in leading the alcohol enforcement teams in South Carolina. The theoretical framework used was Cameron, Quinn, DeGraff, and Thankor's conceptualization of the competing values framework. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 12 alcohol team coordinators. These data were inductively coded and then subjected to a modified Van Manen and Vagle analysis. Key findings indicate strong support for the idea that existence of positive community relationships and supportive champions from community partners were crucial to building and maintaining successful teams. These findings were consistent with the theoretical framework. Recommendations include implementing leadership and collaboration training for the coordinators and team members. These findings have implications for positive social change by increasing awareness among policy makers about collaborative leadership factors, which in turn could lead to policies that generate more effectual teams, improve enforcement of underage drinking laws, and consequently, result in safer communities.

Europos šalys neša sunkią socialinę ir ekonominę su alkoholio vartojimu susijusių problemų naštą. Įvairios ligos, jaunų žmonių mirtys, nusikaltimai, autoavarijos – tai yra tipiškos alkoholio vartojimo pasekmės, kurios, atsižvelgiant į paskutinius tyrimus ir publikacijas žiniasklaidoje, padidėjo. Tad svarbu, kad valstybės vykdytų griežtesnę alkoholio kontrolę. Tyrimo tikslas: išanalizuoti alkoholio kontrolės politiką ir įgyvendinimą Lietuvoje ir Švedijoje, apžvelgiant ir pristatant pagrindines alkoholio politikos priemones, palyginti Lietuvos ir Švedijos alkoholio reguliavimo politikos priemones tarpusavyje. Šiame darbe nuspręsta Švedijos alkoholio reguliavimo politiką pasirinkti kaip gerosios praktikos pavyzdį. Švedijoje griežtos alkoholio gamybos bei prekybos ribojimo istorinės tradicijos susiformavo gan anksti. Tyrimo metodai: Šiame darbe bus naudojami keli tyrimo metodai. Teorinėje dalyje vyrauja aprašomasis analitinis metodas. Be kiekybinės ir kokybinės pirminių ir antrinių duomenų analizės, nuspręsta taikyti ir lyginamąją analizę. Tyrime atliktas kokybinis alkoholio ekspertų Lietuvoje ir Švedijoje struktūruotas interviu, iš viso buvo apklausti šeši asmenys. Darbą sudaro keturios pagrindinės dalys. Pirmoje dalyje teoriškai įtvirtinamas konceptualus darbo pagrindas analizuojant pagrindines politinio reguliavimo teorijas susijusias su alkoholio reguliavimu. Antroje darbo dalyje analizuojamos svarbiausios Lietuvos alkoholio politikos reguliavimo priemonės. Trečioje dalyje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
Problem of investigation: Europe countries carries a heavy social and economic burden of alcohol related problems. Various diseases, dying too young, crimes, car accidents – these are the typical consequences of alcohol consumption that according to the latest investigations and publications in media have increased. So countries should make more restrictive alcohol control policy. Purpose of investigation – to analyze Lithuania and Sweden alcohol control policy and to compare their implements. In this investigation Sweden alcohol control policy was choose as a good practice example. Sweden has historically pursued a restrictive alcohol policy with the overall purpose of limiting total consumption and with the alcohol related harms in society. For the analysis of investigation were used primary sources such as interviews. Were interviewed six people, who are specialist in Lithuania and Sweden alcohol control policy. Also were used previous research on alcohol policy, news articles, EU documents, Swedish and Lithuanian alcohol policy-related documents, WHO reports and web pages. Master Thesis is made from four main parts. In first part is analyzing policy regulation theories, which are used in alcohol regulation. In second part is analyzing Lithuania alcohol regulation implements. The third part of Thesis analyzing Sweden alcohol control regulation implements. The fourth part is comparison of Lithuania and Sweden alcohol policies and their implements. Justify these... [to full text]

Take even a cursory glance at literature dedicated to discussing crime and justice policy and you are likely to stumble upon claims that policy innovations have travelled overseas and disembarked in the United Kingdom (UK). The significant problem with the majority of such claims, however, is that they are rarely substantiated by systematically conducted research. Instead, they are commonly based on hunches and assumptions that seemingly derive from an understanding that policy responses in the UK and elsewhere look rather similar. Moreover, the small number of empirical studies that have been published in this sphere primarily fix their gaze at the national level, thus neglecting to examine if, why, when, and how subnational agents seek to import crime control initiatives from subnational jurisdictions in a different country. Positioned firmly at the nexus between social policy, political science, and criminology, this thesis seeks to respond to this lacuna by examining the occurrence and realities of the phenomenon of ‘international-subnational’ crime and justice policy transfer with respect to the UK. Adopting a qualitative case study design that is exploratory in nature, it meticulously reconstructs the (in)formal events that led to the development and implementation of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime’s (MOPAC) Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) Pilot by triangulating evidence obtained from three sources: elite interviews, documentary materials, and unstructured naturalistic observation. In addition to making a series of empirical, methodological, and theoretical contributions to existing academic knowledge, this thesis also bridges the gap between social scientific enquiry and public policy-making by identifying empirically grounded ‘lessons’ for policy practitioners and by forwarding a number of policy recommendations.

Using paired samples t-tests, this study examines attitudes toward government intervention to decrease the consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and sugar to improve public health in Sweden. The effects of the four sociodemographic variables gender, age, education, and income on attitudes toward health policies are tested using Ordinary Least Squares and ordered probit regressions. The research is performed using cross-sectional data which is supplied by a national survey. The results show that tobacco should be regulated the most, followed by alcohol and lastly sugar. According to the respondents, tobacco and alcohol consumption need clear societal restrictions while individuals should be responsible for their sugar consumption. This implies that tobacco and alcohol restrictions introduced by the government should be effective and should, therefore, reduce the consumption and subsequently decrease a country’s economic costs. The opposite is true for sugar policy. Women, younger people, highly educated people, and people with higher incomes are positively related to support toward tobacco restrictions. Women, younger people, and highly educated people show more support for alcohol restrictions. Lastly, respondents with higher levels of education are more supportive of sugar restrictions.

Hazardous drinking in the elderly has become an important public health problem due to the ageing of the population and the fact that alcohol-related consequences are magnified in this age group. However, to date, few studies examine hazardous drinking in people aged 50 years or older and the factors associated with alcohol use. The aim of this thesis is to quantify hazardous drinking in people aged 50 years or older in Europe, according to gender and country, and to analyze the possible individual and contextual factors related to such consumption. Throughout the thesis, the source of information was the European project SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), which includes data from different European countries. This thesis consists of five articles that attempt to respond to the different specific objectives. The results suggest that the prevalence of hazardous drinking in people aged 50 years or older is around 22%, with variations between countries. These variations can be explained by individual factors, such as age or gender, and various contextual factors, such as alcohol advertising restrictions and the unemployment rate. Finally, one of the contextual aspects that may have had more impact in recent years is the economic crisis. We found that, in people aged 50 to 64 years, the incidence of hazardous drinking was greater in those who lost their jobs. However, from 2006 to 2013 there has been a decrease in hazardous drinking and also in the average amount of alcohol consumed in people aged 50 to 64 years in Europe.
El consum de risc d'alcohol en la gent gran s'ha convertit en un important problema de salut pública degut a l’envelliment de la població i al fet que les conseqüències adverses del consum es magnifiquen en aquest grup d'edat. No obstant això, són pocs els estudis que analitzen el consum de risc d'alcohol en persones majors de 50 anys i els factors que s'associen al consum de risc. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és quantificar el consum de risc d'alcohol en persones de 50 anys o més a Europa segons gènere i país i analitzar els possibles factors individuals i contextuals relacionats amb aquest consum. Per tota la tesi, la font d'informació van ser les enquestes del projecte europeu SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), amb dades de diferents països d’Europa. La tesi consisteix en 5 articles que intenten respondre als diferents objectius específics. Els resultats suggereixen que la prevalença de consum de risc d'alcohol en les persones de 50 anys o més està al voltant del 22%, amb variacions entre països, que poden explicar-se per factors individuals, com el sexe o l’edat, i per diversos factors contextuals, com les restriccions en la publicitat de les begudes alcohòliques o la taxa d'atur. Finalment, un dels aspectes contextuals que pot haver tingut més impacte en els darrers anys és la crisi econòmica. El que hem vist és que en persones de 50 a 64 anys la incidència de consum de risc d’alcohol era major en aquells que havien perdut la feina. Tanmateix, durant el període de 2006 a 2013 s’ha produït una davallada en el consum de risc d’alcohol i en la mitjana de la quantitat consumida en persones de 50 a 64 anys a Europa.

The purpose of this study is to find out how IOGT-NTO conducted the debate about the Swedish negotiations with EU concerning the accession. The essay investigates how the debate was conducted between the years 1993, 1994 and 1995. A further distinction lies in five requirements IOGT-NTO delivered before the negotiations.

The material for this study lies primarily in the editorial pages of IOGT-NTO's magazine Accent. The background content comes primarily from secondary sources and deals with the temperance movement and IOGT-NTO, and dealing with the EU and the Swedish alcohol policy.

In July 1991, Sweden submitted its membership application to EU and subsequently in the 1993 the negotiations began. During the same time IOGT-NTO began its debate on a possible EU membership in the Accent magazine. Foremost is the weight of three requirements, the maintenance of monopoly, the preservation of national freedom of action and a Nordic cooperation during the negotiations and later after membership in EU. On January 1th 1995 Sweden was included in EU and the negotiations have led to that Sweden has lost three out of four monopolies, only Systembolaget was allowed left.

Of the requirements the monopoly highlights the most, seven out of 17 editorial pages are about the monopoly. Of the four arguments aspects of health, economic, moral, and the national aspect it is foremost the health and the national aspect that is discussed. The overall objectives with IOGT-NTO’s debate on membership in EU were short-term and concerned the outcome of negotiations.

Based on the results of the negotiations it can be concluded that IOGT-NTO could not influence the negotiations enough for Sweden to retain all its restrictive alcohol policy. However, they did not surrender, but started with the temperance movement in Europe the group EUROCARE with its new base in Brussels to be closer to those decisions.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att ta reda på vilket sätt som IOGT-NTO förde debatt kring de svenska förhandlingarna med EU och inträdet. Avgränsningen ligger framför allt i tid, åren 1993, 1994 och 1995. En ytterligare avgränsning ligger i fem krav som IOGT-NTO yttrat innan förhandlingarna.

Materialet för denna undersökning ligger främst i ledarsidorna i IOGT-NTO:s tidning Accent. Bakgrundens innehåll kommer främst från sekundärkällor som dels behandlar nykterhetsrörelsen och IOGT-NTO, dels som behandlar EU och svensk alkoholpolitik.

I juli 1991 lämnade Sverige in sin medlemsansökan till EU och senare i 1993 påbörjades förhandlingarna. Under samma tid påbörjar IOGT-NTO sin debatt kring ett eventuellt medlemskap i EU i tidningen Accent. Främst läggs tyngden på tre krav, bevarandet av monopolet, bevarandet av den nationella handlingsfriheten och ett nordiskt samarbete under förhandlingarna och senare efter inträdet. 1 januari 1995 ingår Sverige i sitt EU-medlemskap och förhandlingarna har lett till att det svenska monopolet har tappat tre av fyra, endast Systembolaget fick vara kvar.

Av kraven är det monopolet som belyses mest, sju av 17 ledarsidor handlar om monopolet. Av de fyra argumentationsaspekterna hälso-, det ekonomiska, det moraliska och den nationella aspekten är det främst hälso- och den nationella aspekten som behandlas. De övergripande målen med IOGT-NTO:s debatt om EU var kortsiktiga och gällde att påverka utgången av förhandlingarna.

Utifrån förhandlingarnas utgång kan slutsatsen dras att IOGT-NTO inte kunde påverka förhandlingarna tillräckligt för att Sverige skulle få behålla hela sin restriktiva alkoholpolitik. Dock gav de inte upp utan startade tillsammans med nykterhetsrörelser i Europa gruppen EUROCARE med sin nya bas i Bryssel för att ha närmare till beslutsfattarna.

Objective: The relationship between alcohol use and suicidal behaviors is well-accepted, but less is known about the contribution of its early initiation. This study was designed to test the association of early alcohol initiation versus later initiation with suicidal ideation and attempt in an ethnically diverse sample. Methods: The Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001-2003 (n = 20,013), database was used. A total of 13,867 participants were selected included 56.9% females and 43.1% males. Race and ethnicity were reported as 28.8% non-Hispanic White, 39.1% Black, 20.3% Latino, and 11.9% Asian. Logistic regression analyses tested the associations between early (< =14 years) and later (> =15) age alcohol initiation with suicide ideation and attempts. Alcohol initiation was indexed by self-report of the first time that any alcohol product was consumed. Potential confounders were controlled. Results: Early alcohol initiation was associated with higher odds (AOR = 3.64, 95% CI [2.51, 5.28]) of suicide ideation as compared with adults who had initiated > = age 15 (AOR = 2.11, 95% CI [1.46, 3.04]). Early age initiation was also associated with higher odds (AOR = 3.81, 95% CI [2.02, 7.18]) of lifetime suicide attempt versus later age initiators (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI [1.08, 3.79]). Significant differences were found between early and later age of initiation. Conclusion: Early age of alcohol initiation has profoundly increased odds of suicide ideation or attempt. It is critical that effective prevention programs for children and their caregivers be implemented to prevent or delay alcohol initiation and lessen the risk for future suicidal behaviors.

This thesis consists of four empirical essays. The first essay evaluates the impact on crime of a large scale experimental scheme in which all state monopoly alcohol stores in selected Swedish counties kept open on Saturdays. We show that the experiment significantly raised both alcohol sales and crime. The effect is confined to Saturdays and tentative evidence indicates a displacement of crime from weekdays to Saturdays. The experiment had no significant impact on crime over the entire week. The second essay examines the effect of income inequality on health for newly arrived refugees. The results reveal no statistically significant effect of income inequality on the risk of being hospitalized. This finding holds for most population subgroups and when separating between different types of diagnoses. The conclusions do not change when we consider long-term exposure to inequality. Our estimates are precise enough to rule out large effects of income inequality on health. The third essay examines the effect of relative income differences on criminal behavior. There is a positive effect on the propensity to commit property crime. The effect is small and mainly driven by past offenders, low educated and young individuals. I only find weak evidence that relative income differences increases the likelihood to commit violent crime. The empirical analysis further reveals that differences in gross labor earnings are more strongly related to crime than disparities in disposable income. The fourth essay describes the patterns of intergenerational transmission of education among immigrant mothers and their daughters. The results show that the persistence is slightly lower among immigrants compared to natives, and that the relationship is weaker among those who start out disadvantaged. I find large variations across different immigrant groups, but these differences are partly explained by the fact that groups belong to different parts of the educational distribution.

Darbas yra orientuojamas į opios šiandieninei Lietuvos visuomenei problemos sprendimą — alkoholio suvartojimo mastų ir su tuo susijusių pasekmių mažinimą Lietuvoje. Tuo tikslu darbe siekiama išanalizuoti Lietuvos alkoholio kontrolės politikos įgyvendinimo problematiką įrodymais grįstos politikos perspektyvoje. Viešųjų problemų efektyviam sprendimui didelę reikšmę turi moksliškai patvirtintos žinios, todėl pirmas ir antras darbo skyriai susiję su detalesne įrodymais grįstos politikos analize tiek tiriant bendrą jos reikšmę viešojoje politikoje, tiek ir jos reikšmę alkoholio kontrolės politikoje. Analizė grindžiama anglosaksų ir Skandinavijos šalių mokslininkų darbais, kadangi šiose šalyse mokslo naudojimas viešųjų problemų sprendimui, įskaitant ir didelio alkoholio suvartojimo visuomenėje problemos, gana paplitęs, akcentuojant, jog įrodymų naudojimas viešojoje politikoje, labai svarbus, siekiant suprasti politinę aplinką ir jos pokyčius, adekvačiai pažinti probleminę situaciją, tinkamai pasirinkti ir įgyvendinti geriausias politikos priemones, lemiančias efektyvius pasirinktos politikos rezultatus. Remiantis Lietuvos teisės aktų analize ir Lietuvos mokslininkų darbais, trečiajame skyriuje nagrinėjama Lietuvos alkoholio kontrolės politikos sistema, siekiant įvertinti, kiek LR alkoholio kontrolės politikoje pritaikytinas įrodymais grįstos alkoholio kontrolės politikos priemonių vystymas, įvertinant ir pagrindines vyraujančias problemas, neleidžiančias alkoholio kontrolės... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
This study is about one of the most serious problems in Lithuania — reduction of huge alcohol consumption and related consequenses in Lithuania’s civil society. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to analyze the problematic implementation of alcohol control policy in Lithuania in accordance with the perspective of evidence-based policy. The public policy to be effective, it’s very important to use knowledge based on researches, so in the first and the second chapter this evidence-based perspective is analyzed, respectively, to examine its general importance to public policy itself and to alcohol control policy. This analysis is based on the studies of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian scientists, because in these countries researches in public policy is used broadly, including alcohol control policy, emphasizing on the use of evidence to be very important in understanding the political environment and its changes, an adequate understanding of the problematic situation, the right choice, and the best practices of that policy, which all determine effective outcomes of that policy. According to Lithuanian legislation and the analyses of the studies, in the third chapter it is examining the system of alcohol control policy in Lithuania, to seek evaluate the problems, which occur in adopting evidence-based alcohol policy to Lithuania’s alcohol control policy. As it turned out, in Lithuania, the development of alcohol control policy infrastructure is adequately formulated (for example... [to full text]

Tax-setting policy belongs to the main duties of politicians from time immemorial. Since those times, people are questioning whether politicians, while setting taxes, are pursuing mainly interests of publi or their own. In this thesis, I am studying this question in the industry of alcoholic beverages, regulation of it's consumption and production. I am using two statistical models, simple model of partial equilibria and AIDS model (Almost Ideal Demand System), to estimate own price elasticity of demand for beer, wine and spirits in selected post-soviet countries: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russian Federation. Linear model with mixed effects is estimated to uncover the strength and direction of dependency of alcohol policy on own price elasticity of demand for alcoholic beverages in the above mentioned countries. Results show, that politicians of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania and Russian Federation set the alcohol policy in accordance with maximization of tax revenue hypothesis, while Latvians seems to be rather vote maximizers. I have expected the politicians in Baltic states to behave similar and also least populistically from studied countries. But my expectations were not fulfilled.

During the past twenty years, extensive research has been conducted concerning the judgmental processes of labor arbitrators. Previous research, sometimes referred to as policy capturing, attempted to identify the criteria or standards used by arbitrators to support their decisions. Much of the research was qualitative. Due to the categorical nature of the dependent variables, log-linear models such as logit regression have been used to examine decisional relationships in more recent studies. The decision cues used by arbitrators in 249 published alcohol- and drug-related arbitration cases were examined. The justifications for arbitrators' decisions were fitted into Carroll Daugherty's "seven tests" of just cause. The dominant cues were proof of misconduct, the appropriateness of the penalty, and the business necessity of management's action. Foreknowledge of the rule by the grievant and the consequences of a violation, equal treatment of the grievant, and an appropriate investigation by management were also important decision cues. In general, grievants in alcohol and drug arbitration cases fared as well as grievants in any other disciplinary arbitrations. However, when the cases were analyzed based on the legal status of the drug, illicit drug users were at a considerable disadvantage.

The aim of this paper was to examine which discourses of women that could be found in Swedish policy documents concerning alcohol from the seventies until today. The questions asked were in which ways women’s drinking was described and how these descriptions could be analyzed and understood by critical discourse analysis and gender theory. The results indicated two main discourses, one replacing the other over time. According to the first discourse, most clearly expressed in the official report from the seventies, women were not consumers of alcohol to the same extent as men. Their lower consumption was explained structurally, by referring to restricting sex-roles. The next discourse, beginning in the nineties, discussed women as consumers of alcohol. At the same time differences between male and female consumption was emphasized. This was especially manifested by the fact that reasons for women’s drinking were to be searched for on an individual, mostly psychological, level. Frequently young girls, alcohol and sexuality were associated and alcohol-free pregnancies were declared being one of the priority goals for the alcohol policy. Referring to underlying psychological causes women addicted to alcohol were also supposed to need a different and more extensive type of treatment than men.

The focus of the current investigation is to examine the temporal relationship of gambling onset and alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis initiation in adolescents and young adults (M age = 20.3 years) by examining the prevalence and pattern of onset for each substance and gambling pairing and the associated risk between gambling and each substance use. Data were drawn from the multiwave Missouri Family Study (n = 1,349) of African American (AA; n = 450) and White families (n = 317) enriched for risk for alcohol use disorder and includes those who were assessed for gambling behaviors and problems: AA (360 males, 390 females) and White (287 males, 312 females). Findings indicated racial differences in the overall prevalence of gambling behaviors and substance use as well as patterns of initiation-particularly within gambling/alcohol and gambling/tobacco for males. Survival models revealed some similarities as well as differences across race and gender groups in associations of gambling with initiation of substances, as well as substances with initiation of gambling. Alcohol use (AA males only) and cannabis use (AA males and White females) elevated the hazards of initiating gambling. In contrast, gambling significantly elevated the hazards of initiation alcohol across 3 of 4 groups and of cannabis use in AA males only. The results highlight some overlapping as well as distinct risk factors for both gambling and substance use initiation in this cohort enriched for vulnerability to alcohol use disorder (AUD). These findings have implications for integrating gambling prevention into existing substance use prevention and intervention efforts-particularly but not exclusively for young AA males.

This thesis is an attempt to constructively interpret and critically evaluate the liberal doctrine that we may not limit a person’s liberty for her own good, and to discuss its implications and alternatives in some concrete areas of public health policy. The thesis starts theoretical and goes ever more practical. The first paper is devoted to positive interpretation of anti-paternalism with special focus on the reason component – personal good. A novel generic definition of paternalism is proposed, intended to capture, in a generous fashion, the object of traditional liberal resistance to paternalism – the invocation of personal good reasons for limiting of or interfering with a person’s liberty. In the second paper, the normative aspect of this resistance is given a somewhat technical interpretation in terms of invalidation of reasons – the blocking of reasons from influencing the moral status of actions according to their strength. It is then argued that normative anti-paternalism so understood is unreasonable, on three grounds: 1) Since the doctrine only applies to sufficiently voluntary action, voluntariness determines validity of reasons, which is unwarranted and leads to wrong answers to moral questions. 2) Since voluntariness comes in degrees, a threshold must be set where personal good reasons are invalidated, leading to peculiar jumps in the justifiability of actions. 3) Anti-paternalism imposes an untenable and unhelpful distinction between the value of respecting choices that are sufficiently voluntary and choices that are not. The third paper adds to this critique the fourth argument that none of the action types typically proposed to specify the action component of paternalism is such that performing an action of that type out of benevolence is essentially morally problematic. The fourth paper ignores the critique in the second and third papers and proposes, in an anti-paternalistic spirit, a series of rules for the justification of option-restricting policies aimed at groups where some members consent to the policy and some do not. Such policies present the liberal with a dilemma where the value of not restricting people’s options without their consent conflicts with the value of allowing people to shape their lives according to their own wishes. The fifth paper applies the understanding of anti-paternalism developed in the earlier papers to product safety regulation, as an example of a public health policy area. The sixth paper explores in more detail a specific public health policy, namely that of mandatory alcohol interlocks in all cars, proposed by the former Swedish government and supported by the Swedish National Road Administration. The policy is evaluated for cost-effectiveness, for possible diffusion of individual responsibility, and for paternalistic treatment of drivers. The seventh paper argues for a liberal policy in the area of dissemination of information about uncertain threats to public health. The argument against paternalism is based on common sense consequentialist considerations, avoiding any appeal to the normative anti-paternalism rejected earlier in the thesis.
QC 20100714