Alcohol Help

The packaging of Red Star Plus is being changed to make it entirely clear that the drink contains alcohol after an Independent Complaints Panel ruling.

One of the rules in the Portman Group’s Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks is that the alcoholic nature of a drink should be communicated with absolute clarity.

Intercontinental Brands has agreed to amend the packaging of its spirit-based drink in consultation with the Portman Group’s Code Advisory Service.

The brand was referred to the Panel following the recent independent audit of compliance conducted by management consultancy, PIPC. It is the final PIPC-generated complaint and the Portman Group is therefore today releasing details of the whole audit process.

Commenting on the Panel’s decision, David Poley, Portman Group Chief Executive, said:

“Producers must be mindful that their packaging does not cause consumers to buy alcohol when they actually want a soft drink. In this case, the producer has now agreed to take the necessary steps to eliminate confusion surrounding the drink’s alcoholic content. Any company unsure of the appropriateness of its marketing should consult our confidential Code Advisory Service at the earliest opportunity.”

Portman Group

Wirral Residential Service, Bidston
A comprehensive detox and rehabilitation service in a leafy suburb of the Wirral.

About us:

The Wirral service operates a Therapeutic Community structured programme with one to one counselling, therapeutic groups, complementary therapies and key work. Length of stay in the programme is approximately nine months depending on the service user’s progress.

Whilst at our Wirral service, clients can enjoy many service based activities including bingo, quizzes, DVD evenings and karaoke as well as trips swimming, to the gym, playing football and visits to the Wirral Country Park, Delamere Forest, local beaches and into North Wales.

After completing treatment within our residential rehabs, clients have the option of being moved to one of Phoenix Future’s re-entry programmes.

What is the Phoenix Futures Wirral Residential Service?

The Wirral Residential Service is a rehabilitation service for drug and alcohol misusers, set in suburbs of the Wirral area, within easy reach of facilities of the town and a short drive to Snowdonia National Park. This impressive Edwardian House situated on large grounds accommodates up to 32 men and women aged 18+ who wish to take control of their drug or alcohol problem.

What does the Phoenix Futures Wirral Service aim to achieve?

The service provides a safe, supportive and structured environment where residents participate in groups and one-to-one sessions to explore the underlying reasons for their dependency. Through a process of self-awareness and understanding patterns of personal behaviour, residents are encouraged to acquire new skills and formulate strategies that will enable them to develop a healthy, drug free lifestyle and return to independent living in the community.

What kind of help and services can I expect?

The service offers a comprehensive therapeutic programme delivered by fully trained and professional staff. This is provided within a residential setting, ensuring access to a range of health and social care support services to suit individual needs. Participation in the therapeutic programme helps to promote change by encouraging self-worth and personal responsibility, challenging individual attitudes and behaviour, and encouraging the development of life and social skills.

Key features of the Service include:

• therapeutic community programme
• abstinence based
• fast access into treatment
• fully integrated detoxification programme; and standalone detoxification service by negotiation
• individualised treatment plans
• group and one-to-one work
• additional gender specific groups
• offender behaviour work
• educational lectures and seminars
• relapse prevention
• leisure and sports activities
• resettlement support
• aftercare services

How is the rehabilitation programme structured?

The rehabilitation programme is tailored to your individual needs, within a framework of 4 Stages. They are:
• Induction
• Primary Stage
• Senior Stage
• Re-entry Stage

The length of time you spend in each stage will depend on your individual needs and how quickly you achieve the goals identified for each stage of treatment. On admission to the service, individual care plans are developed between you, the key worker and multi-disciplinary team. As you progress through the programme, care concentrates on life skills and education to sustain long-term recovery on leaving the service.

Induction is the settling in stage of the programme when you can expect a high level of support from residents and staff. You will begin to learn about the programme and therapeutic community structure, the house routine and rules, while engaging and identifying with those people around you. You may also experience some withdrawals or undergo a detoxification programme at this stage.

Contact Details:

Wirral Residential Service
Upton Road
Bidston
The Wirral
CH43 7QF

Telephone: 0151 652 3289

‘Raise The Bottom’ is a New Must-Have Business Book by Arthur M. Jackson

In the midst of an economic crisis, many businesses are fighting to survive. With all of the variables that can affect business, successful business leaders must be armed for battle. In ‘Raise The Bottom’ Arthur Jackson reveals an issue that has been disregarded for too many years: alcoholism and how it affects the workplace.

"Arthur Jackson has crafted a readable, accessible primer on the symptoms of alcoholism and how to spot them. The information he provides could save you many headaches and heartaches in your business and personal relationships." — Best-selling author and President of Elliot Wave International, Robert Prechter, Jr.

A common and yet overlooked business issue is brought to the forefront in Arthur M. Jackson’s book ‘Raise The Bottom’: How to Keep Secret Alcoholics from Damaging Your Business. With an uncertain economy, business leaders need to understand how the rampant and rarely discussed disease of alcoholism not only affects the individual suffering, but also the business for which the alcoholic works. ‘Raise The Bottom,’ the first business book that tackles alcoholism in the workplace, provides tips on how to recognize closet alcoholics and prevent them from damaging a business.

Although alcoholism is most often regarded as a personal problem, ‘Raise The Bottom’ focuses on its destructiveness in the business world and serves as a challenge for business leaders to raise workplace standards by confronting the issue directly.

Through a storyline involving two true-to-life characters, the affects of alcoholism at the workplace are examined. Aaron Middleton, an accomplished business consultant, and Jason Burke, the protégé and recent MBA graduate, take readers on a journey uncovering the problems created by alcoholism in the work environment. Through their dialogue, readers will learn how to identify the alcoholism even if the alcoholic is unaware of the problem, and how to disenable the alcoholic and protect the workplace from the damage the alcoholic employee can cause.

Jackson’s twenty-plus years as a business and marketing consultant contributes a wide-range of expertise that’s apparent in ‘Raise The Bottom.’ As a recovering alcoholic, Jackson sees in retrospect that many of the workplace problems he encountered were actually the result of alcoholic thinking and behavior.

The combination of Jackson’s business experience and recovery from alcoholism creates a comprehensive and engaging read, tackling alcoholism from dual perspectives. ‘Raise The Bottom’ is a must-have for any business owner looking to effectively run a business.

PRWeb

Retailers are removing Speedball beer from sale because it is promoting a lethal and illegal drugs mix.

Shelves across the UK are being cleared of Speedball beer because it is promoting the illegal drugs mix that killed Hollywood stars John Belushi and River Phoenix.

The Independent Complaints Panel has upheld a complaint under the Portman Group’s Code of Practice brought by Alcohol Focus Scotland that the beer’s marketing is associated with illicit drugs.

Speedball is the name given to the potentially lethal practice of combining heroin and crack cocaine to give both sedative and stimulant effects.

The drink is marketed by its producer, BrewDog, as a “class A ale” containing “a vicious cocktail of active ingredients” which creates a “happy-sad” effect.

David Poley, Portman Group Chief Executive, said the drink’s marketing is grossly irresponsible:

“The blurring of alcohol and illicit drugs fosters unhealthy attitudes to drinking and trivialises drug misuse. BrewDog is profiteering from the scourge of illegal drugs, mocking the misery caused by misuse. The company is seriously misguided in its claim to be educating and preventing people from misusing drugs. We are taking urgent action to protect the public from exposure to such negligent marketing.”

Portman Group

A new study from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research has revealed the consequences of heavy and binge drinking on pregnancy even after these drinking patterns have stopped.

The study, to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, investigated the relationship between prenatal exposure to alcohol and the effects on fetal growth and preterm birth.

A random sample of 4,719 women who gave birth in Western Australia between 1995 and 1997 took part in a survey. Data such as how often participants drank alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed in each occasion and the types of alcoholic beverage consumed were collated.

The researcher team from the Institute with the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford found that, on average, levels of alcohol intake decreased from the pre-pregnancy period to the second and third trimester. There was no difference in outcomes for women who drank low levels of alcohol during their pregnancy and those that abstained.

The incidence of preterm birth was highest amongst women who binged (9.5%) or drank heavily, even if the mother stopped drinking prior to the second trimester (13.6%), compared with less than 6% in women who did not drink during pregnancy. There was a 2.3-fold increased odds of preterm birth in women who drank heavily in early pregnancy but then stopped (CI 0.7, 7.7) after taking into account maternal smoking, drug use, socioeconomic status and maternal health. Researchers suggest that a possible reason why this occurs is because the cessation of alcohol consumption before the second trimester may trigger a metabolic or inflammatory response resulting in preterm birth. There was no evidence of an increased likelihood of preterm birth at low levels of alcohol consumption.

Prenatal alcohol exposure did not increase the risk of babies being born small for gestational age once maternal smoking was accounted for.

Researchers noted a link between smoking and alcohol consumption – they found women who smoked during pregnancy were less likely to abstain from alcohol at any time during their pregnancy than non-smokers. Over one quarter (27.7%) of women who drank in late pregnancy also smoked, compared with 19% of women who had abstained from alcohol during pregnancy. Other factors associated with late term pregnancy drinking include: a maternal age of 30 years and above, higher income, use of illicit drugs.

Institute researcher Colleen O’Leary said "Our research shows pregnant women who drink more than one to two standard drinks per occasion and more than six standard drinks per week increase their risk of having a premature baby, even if they stop drinking before the second trimester.

"The risk of preterm birth is highest for pregnant women who drink heavily or at binge levels, meaning drinking more than seven standard drinks per week, or more than five drinks on any one occasion.

"Health professionals should routinely screen pregnant women and all women of child bearing age for alcohol use/misuse. It’s important that women should be given information about the possible risks to the baby from alcohol exposure during pregnancy.

"Women should be advised that during pregnancy, drinking alcohol above low levels increases the risk to the baby and that the safest choice is not to drink alcohol during pregnancy. If pregnant women cannot stop or reduce their drinking, they should seek medical advice."

[A standard drink in this analysis is the Australian standard10gm of alcohol, eg 100ml of wine]

Professor Philip Steer, BJOG editor-in-chief said, "This study provides useful insight into the drinking habits of a representative group of women. It is very telling how the combination of smoking and heavy drinking can mean double trouble for pregnant mothers and their babies.

"It shows the effects of high alcohol use and demonstrates that heavy and binge levels of alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk to the baby, even if drinking is stopped in the first three months of pregnancy. These findings are sobering and should act as a deterrent to heavy or binge drinking during pregnancy. However, the results also show that low levels of alcohol consumption (less than 7 standard drinks per week and no more than two on any one occasion) appeared not to constitute a significant risk of preterm birth provided all other forms of unhealthy behaviour were avoided."

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research

Sheffield Residential Service: Sheffield
Specialist care for adults overcoming drug and alcohol dependency

About us:

What is the Phoenix Futures Sheffield Residential Service?

The Sheffield Residential Service is a rehabilitation service for drug and alcohol misusers. It is located in a leafy suburb on the edge of Sheffield, within easy reach of the city’s facilities and on the edge of the Peak District National Park. This beautiful Victorian House accommodates up to 36 men and women aged 18+ who wish to take control of their drug or alcohol problem.

What does the Phoenix Futures Sheffield Service aim to achieve?

The service provides a safe, supportive and structured environment where residents participate in groups and one-to-one sessions to explore the underlying reasons for their dependency. Through a process of self-awareness and understanding patterns of personal behaviour, residents are encouraged to acquire new skills and formulate strategies that will enable them to develop a healthy, drug free lifestyle and return to independent living in the community.

What kind of help and services can I expect?

The service offers a comprehensive therapeutic programme delivered by fully trained and professional staff. This is provided within a residential setting, ensuring access to a range of health and social care support services to suit individual needs. Participation in the therapeutic programme helps to promote change by encouraging self-worth and personal responsibility, challenging individual attitudes and behaviour, and encouraging the development of life and social skills.

Key features of the Service include:

• therapeutic community programme
• abstinence based
• fast access into treatment
• fully integrated detoxification programme
• individualised treatment plans
• group and one-to-one work
• additional gender specific groups
• black resident support group
• offender behaviour work
• fully integrated skills and education programme
• relapse prevention
• fully integrated conservation therapy programme
• leisure and sports activities
• resettlement support
• specialist prison resettlement service for offenders completing a prison therapeutic community programme
• aftercare services

How is the rehabilitation programme structured?

The rehabilitation programme is tailored to your individual needs, within a framework of 4 Stages. They are:
• Induction
• Primary Stage
• Senior Stage
• Re-entry Stage

The length of time you spend in each stage will depend on your individual needs and how quickly you achieve the goals identified for each stage of treatment. On admission to the service, individual care plans are developed between you, the key worker and multi-disciplinary team. As you progress through the programme, care concentrates on life skills and education to sustain long-term recovery on leaving the service.

Induction is the settling in stage of the programme when you can expect a high level of support from residents and staff. You will begin to learn about the programme and therapeutic community structure, the house routine and rules, while engaging and identifying with those people around you. You may also experience some withdrawals or undergo a detoxification programme at this stage.

Contact Details:

Sheffield Residential Service
229 Graham Road
Ranmoor
Sheffield

S10 3GS

Telephone: 0845 600 7227

CSPI Study Reveals More Beer Ads, Lax Policies than Other Televised Sporting Events

Despite its claim that the National Collegiate Athletic Association has the most "conservative and restrictive approach" with regard to alcohol advertising of any sporting organization, an analysis by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest reveals otherwise.

CSPI looked at advertising during the three 2008 NCAA "Final Four" basketball games and the 2008-2009 college football Bowl Championship Series. Results showed a higher percentage of beer ads during the "Final Four" games than the BCS. During the "Final Four," 23 out of 196 advertisements—12 percent—were for beer, making it the second most-advertised product. In contrast, during BCS games, just 22 of 380 ads—about six percent—promoted beer, making beer the seventh most-advertised product.

Unlike the NCAA’s Final Four and college football’s BCS games, the Chick-fil-A Bowl, featuring teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference, prohibits all beer advertisements and in-stadium signs and sponsorships. That prominent game and the Big Ten Network’s similar refusal to accept beer ads, are the strongest policies, according to CSPI.

"The NCAA lags far behind other organizations when it comes to protecting its young audience from beer ads," said George A. Hacker, director of CSPI’s alcohol policies project. "Beer is the most abused drug on college campuses. But the NCAA is selling out students and other young people to beer marketers. If other college sports can eliminate, or at least limit, these ads, there’s no reason the NCAA can’t."

In a letter to NCAA president Myles Brand, CSPI repeated its longstanding request for the NCAA to eliminate alcohol ads from televised college sports.

Last summer, hundreds of college coaches, athletic directors and college presidents urged the NCAA to further limit beer advertising during its championship basketball tournament, but the executive committee refused to comply.

CSPI’s Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV seeks to reduce youth exposure to beer advertising on televised college sports to limit the promotion of beer consumption, since such exposure is associated with heavier and more frequent drinking among teens. Since 2005, 372—more than one-third—NCAA-member colleges and 16 athletic conferences have signed the campaign’s pledge to eliminate beer advertisements from college sports telecasts.

CSPI

When someone is battling with a drink problem, their general practitioner (GP) is often the first person they turn to for help. So it’s no surprise that a recent survey, commissioned by Addiction Today, found that of the overwhelming majority of doctors in private practice (96.5 per cent) said they are currently treating patients with alcohol problems.

However, while it’s generally agreed among addiction specialists that doctors could be the most effective force for good in reducing the sheer scale of alcohol and drug problems in this country, the survey results make for startling and heartbreaking reading.

Of the first 114 doctors that responded, 90.4 per cent have seen patients die as a result of alcohol problems. But despite this shocking statistic, the survey reveals that the medical profession still struggles to provide patients and their families with information and guidance on alcohol reduction help.

While 58.8 per cent say that patients request information about residential rehabilitation programmes, 44.7 per cent admit that they have no readily-accessible details to hand. Only half (49.1 per cent), meanwhile, are aware of residential rehabs in their area. And almost one in four (23.7 per cent) say that they don’t have local contact information for self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

"This survey suggests that, while doctors are aware from their own day-to-day experiences of the scale of the problem, they are hampered by both a lack of detailed information and a lack of funding when it comes to providing alcohol reduction help," says Sue Allchurch, research director at Linwood Manor.

Four out of five (83 per cent) of those surveyed, for example, agreed with the statement: "There is not enough money allocated for intensive residential treatment for alcoholism and addiction." This is backed up by recent research from the Centre for Policy Studies, which found that Primary Care Trusts spend, on average, just 6 per cent of their drugs budget total on alcohol treatment.

But from the results of the survey, it’s clear that most doctors are strong believers in the benefits of alcohol reduction help. When asked "Do you agree with the statement: ‘Treatment for alcoholism and addiction dramatically improves the quality of life for people,’?", a resounding 87.7 per cent said ‘Yes’.

It’s time this dangerous situation was addressed, says Sue Allchurch. "Alcoholism is recognised as a disease in its own right, which can be successfully treated, and alcohol kills far more people than drugs," she says. "If there was a flu endemic on this scale, a state of emergency would be called. It’s vital that more is done to ensure that doctors are able to provide the information and help that their patients are so clearly crying out for."

Linwood Manor

Western Counselling, Weston-super-Mare
Our whole Alcohol treatment process is focused on caring for you as an individual.

About us:

Situated in the seaside town of Weston super Mare, Western Counselling was established in 1984 exclusively to treat addictive disorders. Using the traditional 12 Step methodology it is internationally renowned for its structured, abstinence based programmes of care.

Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse & Dependence

Take a look at the following symptoms and ask yourself honestly, ‘Do some of these apply to me?’

Please keep in mind that very few people have them all.

1. My drinking sometimes causes problems.
2. I sometimes set limits on the amount I will drink and then exceed those limits.
3. I sometimes make promises to myself or someone else about drinking and then break those promises.
4. I sometimes lie about or try to hide the frequency and/or amount of my drinking.
5. I sometimes forget or deny things that happen when I was intoxicated.
6. I sometimes behave very differently when intoxicated than when sober, almost as if I’m a different person.
7. I sometimes tend to avoid social functions at which alcohol may not be available.
8. I’ve embarrassed, angered, or frightened other people when I was drunk.
9. I have a very high tolerance – that is, I can drink a lot without acting or feeling highly intoxicated.
10. I sometimes feel guilty, embarrassed, or remorseful about things I said or did while intoxicated. I occasionally drink in the morning or early in the day to treat a hangover or to avoid the shakes.

How many ‘yes’ answers do you need to diagnosis a problem? It depends. If you answered ‘yes’ to one or more, then it may be worth taking a closer look.

What is the treatment?

A: The programme is structured 12 Step philosophy. If you have ever attended Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous (AA/NA) you will have experienced the programme. We guide clients through the first 5 Steps of the programme during primary and secondary care:

Step 1: Admitting their powerlessness over their addiction
Step 2: Belief in a higher power that can help restore them to sanity
Step 3: Making a decision to turn their lives over to “God” as they understand it
Step 4: Making a searching and fearless moral inventory of themselves
Step 5: Admitting to God, themselves and another person, the exact nature of their wrongs.

This work in undertaken in Group therapy, individual counselling sessions, and through challenge and affirmation as appropriate.

Contact Details:

Western Counselling
18 Whitecross Road
Weston-super-Mare
North Somerset
BS23 1EW

Telephone: 01934 627600

New research conducted at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health indicates that the advertising of alcohol in predominantly African-American neighborhoods of New York City may add to problem drinking behavior among residents. Prior studies have shown that alcohol advertisements are disproportionately located in African- American neighborhoods, but the impact of such advertising on alcohol consumption has been unclear. The study is currently published online by the American Journal of Public Health.

Participants were 139 African-American women between the ages of 21-49 who resided in Central Harlem. The women were eligible to participate if they reported having at least one alcoholic beverage per month for the past six months, but had no history of a formal medical diagnosis of alcohol or substance abuse. Of the sample, 31% were reported to be problem drinkers, defined in the study as endorsing behaviors such as needing a drink first thing in the morning or feeling guilty about drinking.

The Mailman School researchers examined the relationship between alcohol advertisements in the women’s neighborhood blocks and being a problem drinker. The findings showed that both exposure to alcohol advertising and a family history of alcoholism were related to being a problem drinker. But even after the researchers statistically controlled for the effect of having a family history of alcoholism, exposure to advertisements was significantly related to problem drinking. While the advertisements did not target women in particular, the language, imagery, and themes clearly targeted African-American people, the researchers noted.

"We found that, on average, exposure to each alcohol ad in a woman’s residential block was associated with a 13% increase in the odds of being a problem drinker," says Naa Oyo Kwate, PhD, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School, and the principal investigator of the study. "This finding is significant for public health because residents in the study area were highly exposed to alcohol advertisements, and the associations between exposure and outcome persisted after we controlled for other potential causes of problem drinking."

"Because we did not assess participants’ perceptions about the advertising content, or how salient it was for them, the mechanisms by which outdoor advertisements affected problem drinking remain unknown," suggests Ilan Meyer, PhD, associate professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences and a co-author of the article. "Advertisements may prime people for alcohol consumption, and in turn, high levels of consumption may increase the risk for abuse and dependence."

"Advertisements also may increase the likelihood of problematic drinking patterns among individuals who are already susceptible. That is, individuals who are at risk for, or already contending with, alcohol abuse or dependence may be more likely to continue this behavior in an environment where cues that promote alcohol use are prominent," notes Dr. Meyer. The Mailman School team believes that future study is needed to further investigate possible pathways to problem drinking and the role that exposure to advertisements may play in causing drinking problems.

Dr. Kwate also noted that according to other earlier research, residents often perceive these advertisements to be unfairly marketed toward African American individuals and represent a deliberate targeting scheme for products that damage health. "Thus, to the extent that these advertisements are perceived as manifestations of racism, they may increase the odds of problem drinking," she says.

Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health