Opinion: Alcohol & Health
Welcome to Brown-Forman’s Issues Forum. This site shares our perspectives and research on critical alcohol related topics.
We also post articles from experts and invite comments, opinions, and ideas from our stakeholders.
See our featured article and join in on the conversation by submitting a comment here, or by writing comments on other posts.
Alcohol & Health
Opinion: Alcohol & Health
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Overconsumption
Addressing Alcohol Abuse among Indigenous Populations
Globally, indigenous populations show increased risk of alcohol abuse and related health impacts. Various social factors are likely at play, and research suggests that culturally sensitive education and interventions may stem risks.
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol Addiction During Pregnancy Presents Need for Care and Compassion
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol Poses Serious Risks During Pregnancy
Negative health consequences for children have been linked to maternal drinking patterns.
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol and Sports Don't Mix
Alcohol education is critical to the success of the overall athletic training process. According to the NCAA Sports Science Institute, alcohol consumption can negatively affect health and performance by increasing heart rate, oxygen consumption, blood pressure and blood lactate. A reasonable approach to alcohol education should revolve around moderation and appropriate timing of consumption.
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol and Stress: At Risk for Dependency?
Research and population surveys have shown that people under stress, particularly chronic stress, tend to drink more alcohol, smoke more, and eat less nutritious foods than non-stressed individuals. Many people report drinking alcohol in response to various types of stress, and the amount of drinking in response to stress is related to the severity of the life stressors and the individuals' lack of social support networks.
Alcohol & Health
Links Between Alcohol and Violence are Complex and Numerous
Research shows higher rates of alcohol abuse among violent offenders than the general population.
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol as a Catalyst for Aggression
Peter Giancola, Ph.D. discusses the links between alcohol and aggression, asserting that while alcohol is not directly causal, it enhances aggressive traits in people. Put simply, over consumption of alcohol can inhibit some individuals’ ability to keep their cool.
Alcohol & Health
Alcohol Awareness Month: Modeling Alcohol Responsibility
Overconsumption
Australia's Indigenous Populations and Alcohol Abuse
The interaction between Australian Indigenous people and alcohol has been a source of tension in the relationships between white people and Indigenous people since colonization. The question of how to respond to the devastating impact of alcohol on Australian Indigenous communities remains challenging.
Overconsumption
Hazards of Binge Drinking
Binge drinking is associated with a number of serious social and health-related outcomes.
Drinking & Driving
Setting Maximum Blood Alcohol Content Levels to Minimize Accidents
Most countries attempt to minimize the harms caused by impaired driving by setting BAC limits.
Drinking & Driving
Boating Under the Influence
On the road or on the water, you’re headed nowhere fast while impaired. Alcohol use is the leading known contributor in recreational boater fatalities as well as a primary factor in accidents and injuries on the water. Operation Dry Water is dedicated to raising awareness and educating recreational boaters about the dangers of operating a boat under the influence. Since the launch of Operation Dry Water, there has been a 27% decrease in recreational boater deaths where alcohol use was the primary contributing factor.
Drinking & Driving
Busting Myths: Ignition Interlocks are Effective for First-Time Drunk Drivers
Richard Roth, Ph.D. and Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) research consultant debunks six myths regarding ignition interlocks for first-time drunk driving offenders - and explains why the technology should be mandated for all offenders. Mandatory ignition interlocks for first-time offenders save lives, prevent injuries and reduce crashes.
Marketing & Access
Challenges in Responsible Retailing
Both on-premise and off-premise alcohol retailers experience challenges in responsible retailing. Rigorous law enforcement increases risk to retailers, on-premise retailers find themselves responsible for the behavior of customers before they arrive. Employee training is key to ensuring responsible retailing.
Alcohol & Health
Chinese Drinking Culture: Changing Norms Impact Public Health
China’s economy has grown at an unbelievable rate in recent decades, and so too has alcohol production and consumption. Meanwhile, traditional Confucian norms have lost their impact with regard to imposing restrictions on drinking behavior. Research in China has found that 57 percent of male drinkers and 27 percent of female drinkers in China binge drink.
Marketing & Access
Companies in the Conversation: Alcohol Producers' Role in Responsibility
In recent years, alcohol companies are increasingly joining and shaping the conversation about responsible consumption. There is a clear role for producers as a key stakeholder in the public health discussion about alcohol responsibility.
Youth & Alcohol
Drinking to Belong? Overconsumption in Young Adult Social Groups
Researchers in Scotland find that drinking is an important element of the young adult social experience. Group settings can make binge-drinking seem normal and like a rite of passage. Young adult drinking patterns are also influenced by socio-economic factors.
Drinking & Driving
Drunk Driving is Dangerous Driving
Each year, approximately 10,000 Americans die in alcohol-impaired traffic accidents. These deaths are preventable.
Alcohol & Health
Fighting for Freedom from Addiction
A Vietnam Vet shares how his organization, the Healing Place, is using the same principles he learned in the military to fight alcohol and drug addiction: identify the enemy, develop a strategy, and achieve victory.
Alcohol & Health
Finding Links between DUI Offenders and Mental Health
Increasing evidence indicates that DUI offenders have high rates of non-substance-related mental health issues, as well as alcohol-related problems. Although multiple factors contribute to the decision to drive under the influence, it is likely that experiencing more than one mental health disorder contributes to DUI behavior and recidivism.
Marketing & Access
Flavored Spirits Can Leave A Bad Taste
Flavored spirits are a growing consumer trend, but there is cause for concern.
Overconsumption
Generosity or Negligence: Understanding Social Host Liability
Few may realize it, but if you serve alcohol to guests at your home there is a responsibility that goes with your generosity: "social host liability". If you are serving alcohol to others, you take on a responsibility to monitor how much your guests drink.
Youth & Alcohol
Getting Wasted: Q&A with Professor and Author, Thomas Vander Ven
A sociology professor at Ohio University, Thomas Vander Ven has gone into the field to understand why binge drinking so prevalent on college campuses. Social factors both reinforce and mitigate high risk drinking. Colleges use these insights to develop effective education and bystander awareness programs.
Youth & Alcohol
Gold Medal Role Models for Kids
Olympic gold medalist and Drinkwise Australia Ambassador Susie O'Neill knows that parents are a child's most important role models. Demostrating responsible consumption can have lasting impacts.
Marketing & Access
Guiding Principles for Responsible Retailing of Beverage Alcohol
Alcohol & Health
Know That YOU Have the Power to Prevent Sexual Harassment or Assault
Youth & Alcohol
Legal Drinking Age Variances Create Challenges
Variations in drinking age rules and laws present certain enforcement challenges.
Drinking & Driving
Limiting BAC and Limiting Lives Lost
Most countries that have lowered their driving limits for blood alcohol concentration have seen dramatic declines in traffic deaths. Coupled with strong enforcement, low BAC limits may save lives.
Drinking & Driving
Living in a Driverless World
Drinking & Driving
Lower BAC Limits Stigmatize Drivers
Reducing BAC driving limits from .08 to .05 percent will do little to reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities, while branding innocent drivers with DUI charges.
Alcohol & Health
Men and Women: Not Equal in Alcohol Consumption
Key physiological differences between men and women - including body fat composition, enzymes, and hormones - lead to different responses to alcohol between genders. Women absorb alcohol more rapidly and in higher concentratations than men, even when height and weight are held equal.
Drinking & Driving
New Study Links Uber to Decrease in Drunk Driving Deaths
Drinking & Driving
One Size Doesn't Fit All: the Case against IID Mandates
Senior Trial Court Judge Karl B. Grube details why mandating judges to impose Ignition Interlock Devices (IIDs) adds an unnecessary economic burden. Based on on 30 years of judicial service, he concludes that there is no single sentencing modality that is best suited to address rehabilitative and deterrence goals in every case.
Alcohol & Health
Potential Health Effects of Moderate Alcohol Consumption
Overconsumption
Q&A with Betsy Thom, Professor of Health Policy, School of Health and Education, Middlesex University
In this Q&A, Betsy Thom discusses advantages and challenges of multi-component approaches to reducing alcohol-related harms. Multi-component approaches require a program of coordinated initiatives rather than stand-alone projects or policies.
Alcohol & Health
Q&A with R. Curtis Ellison, MD and Director of the Institute on Lifestyle & Health
From alcohol and pregnancy, patterns of consumption, and alcohol abuse prevention, R. Curtis Ellison, MD discusses his work as Director of the Institute on Lifestyle & Health at the Boston University School of Medicine.
Marketing & Access
Risks of Ready-To-Drinks
Critics have charged that RTDs are particularly appealing to underage youth and young drinkers.
Youth & Alcohol
Resiliency and Risk Reduction on Campus
Resiliency is a critical life skill for college students - both drinkers and non-drinkers - learning to cope with life's stresses. The University of Louisville is focusing on building resiliency as a tool to address high-risk drinking and promote responsible consumption on campus.
Alcohol & Health
Risky Drinking among U.S. Seniors
Nearly 1 in 10 seniors reported risky drinking in a U.S. study of Medicare beneficiaries 65 or older. Unhealthy use of alcohol by older adults is a serious problem becuse excessive drinking can worsen common medical conditions including congestive heart failure, diabetes, dementia, and depression, and increase risk of falls and other injuries.
Marketing & Access
Savvy and Safe: the Business Case for Responsible Marketing
As marketing channels and technologies become more ubiquitous, alcohol marketers must be ever more cautious to embed responsibility in marketing. Just one mistake can lead to bad publicity, so the business case is clear. Five simple principles can help guide best practice.
Marketing & Access
Self-regulation and Corporate Responsibility in the Beverage Alcohol Industry
Self-regulation addresses matters such as ad placement, responsible consumption messaging and vetting of marketing campaigns, among others.
Alcohol & Health
Sober and Social: Staying Sober Doesn't Mean Being Boring
As a mom who doesn't drink, Wilder-Taylor chooses seltzer over sauvignon. Sometimes she feels left out of the local moms' social group, but usually not. Staying sober is a choice, and one that she finds doesn't get in the way of having a little fun.
Youth & Alcohol
Swagger over Swigging: Lessons from University of Kentucky
A campus program at the University of Kentucky (UK) encourages students to develop their own "swagger", or think for themselves, when it comes to drinking. Personal responsibility and safe drinking behavior are at the center of UK's message to students.
Youth & Alcohol
The Message of Alcohol Awareness Month
April is Alcohol Awareness Month. The overall goals are to improve the way parents talk to their children about underage drinking and to keep drunk drivers off the road. These messages are important during not just during Alcohol Awareness Month, but every month.
Youth & Alcohol
Time for Change: Failings of the U.S. Legal Drinking Age
John McCardell argues that the U.S. legal age of 21 is out of step with societal norms for adulthood. He explains why the legal drinking age warrants reconsideration. He points to the dangers of underground consumption of alcohol and establishment of unsafe drinking behaviors.
Youth & Alcohol
Dangers of Underage Drinking
Drinking by youth under the legal drinking age is a matter of public health concern internationally
Alcohol & Health
Understanding Illicit Alcohol
According to the World Health Organization, about one third of all beverage alcohol consumed in the world is estimated to be unrecorded—either illegally made, home-produced, or traded outside government controls. It is important to understand the social, cultural, political, and economic factors relating to the production and consumption of unrecorded beverages.
Alcohol & Health
Volunteers of America Saved My Life: Long-term Residential Treatment Provides Freedom from Addiction
Alcohol & Health
Waking Up to the Connection between Sleep and Alcohol
People often believe that alcohol facilitates sleep, which results in the abuse of alcohol to treat sleep problems. Sleep research shows that chronic alcohol use and abuse disrupt sleep. Additionally, the effects of alcohol on sleep appear to linger beyond the time alcohol is metabolized.
Youth & Alcohol
Why the U.S. Legal Drinking Age Should Be Kept at 21
James C. Fell of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation argues that the U.S. legal drinking age is a balanced, effective, and popular tool helping to combat the many problems associated with youth drinking. Repealing it would be a grave mistake.
Alcohol & Health
You’re Never Alone: Creating a Community for Recovery on Campus
