Search

We employ a 70-year panel to examine the factors that influenced the timing and type—statutory prohibition, constitutional prohibition, or local option—of US state-level alcohol regulations in the seven decades prior to national Prohibition in 1920. We find that alcohol interests such as the state's level of employment in breweries and distilleries, as well as the amounts of barley grown, generally impacted a state's legal regime. Our results also suggest that states with larger concentrations of "dry" Christian denominations were more likely to prohibit, while those with more "wet" denominations were less likely to do so. Nearest neighbor effects likewise were important: states were generally more likely to pass statewide prohibitions when their neighboring states had such prohibitions in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic has a profound impact on society and healthcare utilisation. Some studies found that alcohol consumption increased. While declines in non‐COVID emergency department (ED) visits have been observed worldwide, little is known about the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the number of alcohol‐related ED visits. We aimed to examine the changes in alcohol‐related ED utilisation during the first year of the pandemic in the Netherlands. We assessed whether lockdowns, closure of the catering industry and alcohol bans were associated with changes in ED utilisation for alcohol‐related emergencies. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of alcohol‐related ED visits in a Dutch trauma level 2 centre, comparing the pandemic year 2020 and using the year 2019 as a reference. Alcohol‐related ED visits were categorised as alcohol intoxication, alcohol‐related trauma or a combination of both. Results: There was an absolute decline of 23.3% in alcohol‐related ED visits during 2020 compared to 2019. The decline was most distinct during the second lockdown period (−60%, P ≤ 0.001), which included an alcohol ban. No significant differences were found in the type of alcohol‐related ED visits. The proportion of alcohol‐related ED visits remained similar (2.2% vs. 2%). Discussion and Conclusions: Despite reports of higher alcohol consumption, we observed a reduction of alcohol‐related ED visits during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The decline was most distinct during the second lockdown period, which included an alcohol ban. Further prospective studies are warranted to examine this possible association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between trauma volume and alcohol prohibition during the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa.Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of trauma volume from Worcester Regional Hospital in South Africa from 1 January to 28 December 2020. We compared total volume and incidence rates during five calendar periods; one when alcohol sales were allowed as per normal and four when alcohol sales were completely or partially banned. Poisson regression was used to model differences between alcohol ban and non-ban periods.Results: During the first period (pre-COVID-19, no ban), the trauma admission rate was 95 per 100 days, compared to 39 during the second period (complete ban 1), 74 during the third period (partial ban 1), 40 during the fourth period (complete ban 2) and 105 during the fifth period (partial ban 2). There was a 59-69% decrease in trauma volume between the no ban and complete ban 1 periods. When alcohol sales were partially reinstated, trauma volume significantly increased by 83-90% then dropped again by 39-46% with complete ban 2. By the second half of 2020, when alcohol sales were partially allowed again (partial ban 2), trauma volume increased by 163-250%, thus returning to pre-COVID-19 levels.Discussion and Conclusions: Our study demonstrates a clear trend of decreased trauma volume during periods of complete alcohol prohibition compared to non- and partial alcohol bans. This finding suggests that temporary alcohol bans can be used to decrease health facility traffic during national emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective Substance use disorders pose significant global public health challenges, with India being no exception. Bihar, one of India's most populous states, implemented alcohol prohibition in April 2016 to address the adverse effects of alcohol abuse. However, the impact of this policy on overall substance use behavior among patients in healthcare settings remains to be explored. This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the changing trends in substance use behavior among patients in the tertiary care setting following the prohibition of alcohol use in Bihar. Methods A total of 372 patients diagnosed with substance use disorders were recruited from tertiary care facilities in Bihar. Data on demographic characteristics, types of substances used, frequency and quantity of use, reasons for use, and awareness of prohibition laws were collected through structured interviews and reviews of medical records. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results The majority of the participants were male (n = 346, 93.01%), with a mean age of 38.5 years. While tobacco use remains stable, there are significant increases in opioid and cannabis consumption post-prohibition, highlighting unintended consequences (p-values - opioids: 0.008, cannabis: 0.021). Additionally, heightened daily and weekly substance use after prohibition is evident (p-values: daily: 0.008, weekly: 0.021), emphasizing the necessity for nuanced policy considerations. Reasons for substance use, including coping with stress and peer pressure, showed significant differences before and after the prohibition (p<0.05). Moreover, awareness of alcohol prohibition laws increased significantly after the implementation of the prohibition (p = 0.003). Conclusions Our findings suggest that while alcohol prohibition in Bihar did not significantly lead to any changes in terms of the types of substances used among patients in tertiary care settings, it did influence the frequency and quantity of tobacco and cannabis consumption. Increased awareness of prohibition laws underscores the importance of policy enforcement and public education initiatives in addressing substance use behavior., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Research Committee, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna issued approval AIIMS/Pat/IRC/2020/349. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Prasad et al.)

Drinking wine is mentioned in the Holy Quran as a crime and a sin and it is strictly prohibited. In this respect, it is one of the hudud crimes, but since the penalty for it is not specified in the Quran, there is no certainty in terms of the hadd penalty. Since there is no Āyah in the Quran regarding the punishment of drinking or khamr (intoxication), it is the hadiths that constitute the primary basis of the punishment of alcoholism and khamr. Reportedly, the punishment during the time of the Prophet (PBUH) for this crime was flogging and it was administered by using palm branches, shoes, hands, clothes, etc. However, an exact amount was not prescribed by the Prophet (PBUH). It is stated in the sources that the number is around forty. It is also true that there have been instances the Prophet (PBUH) did not punish someone for khamr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why is it that young Italian-American men were shooting each other over turf during the prohibition of alcohol in the 20th century, and young African-American men are shooting each other over turf in the 21st? Was this just a historical accident? Could it easily have been the other way around? That is the question with which the present paper attempts to wrestle.

If alcohol has substitutes, changes in its relative price can encourage the production and consumption of other illicit and harmful drugs. This paper considers if county-level bans on the sale of alcohol in the state of Mississippi encourage the production and consumption of crystal methamphetamine. We estimate the parameters of a drug production function in which the inputs are the density of people and firms, underscoring the importance of learning and knowledge spillovers to production and consumption. Poisson and Negative Binomial parameter estimates reveal that county-level bans on hard liquor sales; but not on beer and wine, increase the number of crystal methamphetamine labs. In the absence of such laws, there would be approximately 308 fewer crystal methamphetamine labs in the state of Mississippi. Our findings suggest that in Mississippi, which is the least healthiest state in the nation, county-level bans on hard liquor sales are not welfare improving as they encourage substitution for a drug that is potentially more harmful to individual health than alcohol.

Alcohol use is a major risk factor for infectious disease and reduction of harms associated with alcohol consumption are essential during times of humanitarian crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. As a network of early career professionals working in the area of addiction medicine, we provide our views with regards to national actions related to reducing alcohol-related harm and providing care for people with alcohol use disorder during COVID-19. We believe that COVID-19 related measures have affected alcohol consumption in the majority of countries represented in this commentary. Examples of these changes include changes in alcohol consumption patterns, increases in cases of alcohol withdrawal syndrome, disruptions in access to medical care for alcohol use disorder and increases in illegal production of alcohol. Our members urge that treatment for acute and severe conditions due to substance use should be considered as essential services in times of humanitarian crises like COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hugh LaFollette, Jeff McMahan, and David DeGrazia endorse the most popular and convincing argument for the strict regulation of firearms in the U.S. The argument is based on the extensive, preventable harm caused by firearms. DeGrazia offers another compelling argument based on the rights of those threatened by firearms. My thesis is a conditional: if these usual arguments for gun control succeed, then alcoholic beverages should be controlled much more strictly than they are, possibly to the point of prohibition. The argument for this thesis involves developing a careful analogy between firearms and alcohol and defending the analogy against objections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In September 2012, a series of methanol poisonings occurred in the Czech Republic as a result of an influx of illicit alcohol into (predominantly) cheap alcoholic beverages on the retail market. The public authorities decided to prevent public health risks by prohibiting sales of liquors that contained more than 20% alcohol (> 20% liquor). The "partial" prohibition lasted for almost two weeks, but the poisonings still continued. This article assesses the impact of the methanol poisoning risks and the (partial) prohibition on alcohol drinking patterns, and describes the understanding of risks and their mitigation in vulnerable groups. Methods: The rapid assessment and response method (RAR) was used during the (partial) alcohol prohibition. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents recruited for the study in alcohol-intake settings (e.g., bars and restaurants, street alcohol outlets) in six regions. In total, 107 alcohol users were interviewed, mostly with risky drinking patterns (69% scored ≥ 1 on the CAGE scale), and 53 alcohol retailers/staff members serving alcohol. Results: About one third of the alcohol users in the study (35%) drank > 20% liquors during the prohibition; a higher score on the CAGE scale was associated with a lower probability of drinking > 20% liquors during the period of the prohibition, probably because of the perception of being at high risk of poisoning. There was some increase in drinking liquors with an alcohol content less than 20%. Those who continued drinking > 20% liquors typically did so in the belief that some sources of these were safe. Conclusions: Public policies aimed at reducing the risk of methanol poisonings in emergency situations should adopt broader measures than those focusing on market control. These measures include increased access to brief interventions, addressing the strategies that alcohol consumers adopt to prevent risk, and, in general, helping consumers make informed choices to prevent further fatalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drug control policies during COVID pandemic require effectiveness assessment. • Four alcohol sales ban implemented in Botswana, the longest one being for 70days. • Retrospectively recalled hazardous drinking reduced significantly during 70 day ban. • Gender is only variable significantly associated with hazardous drinking during and outside sales bans. Absolute alcohol sales bans instituted in countries like Botswana provide a rare opportunity for a quasi-natural experiment on how such strict policies influence users' behaviours during the COVID pandemic and beyond. From March 2020 to September 2021, Botswana banned the sales of alcohol on four separate occasions spanning a cumulative 225 days. We studied changes in retrospectively recalled hazardous drinking following the longest and last alcohol sales ban in Botswana. This online cross-sectional study, carried out following a 70-day alcohol sales ban in 2021, comprised a convenience sample of 1326 adults who completed the AUDIT-C and had to recall their alcohol use during three points: pre alcohol sale ban (before 28th June 2021), during alcohol sales ban (28th June 2021 to 5th September 2021), and post alcohol sales ban (after 5th September 2021). The prevalence of hazardous drinking (defined by an AUDIT-C score of 3 or 4 for females and males, respectively) prior, during and post the alcohol sales ban was 52.6% (95%CI=49.8–55.3), 33.9% (95%CI=31.3–36.5), and 43.1% (95%CI=40.4–45.8), respectively. The findings from this study showed that reduced alcohol availability by way of the fourth alcohol sales ban was associated with reductions in self-reported hazardous drinking, albeit at a lesser degree compared to during an earlier sales ban. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the recent developments in Brazilian law that led to the enactment of the Sports Fans Statute in 2003. Over the last decade, Brazilian fans have been treated as consumers and are consequently entitled to a bundle of legal rights: fairness of the competition; transparency; access to an ombudsman; transportation; personal safety; insurance; sanitation; fair tickets and food pricing; and ticket selling standards. In addition to these consumer rights, due to the escalation of violence among hooligans, Brazilian authorities established Sports Fans Courts, prohibited alcohol consumption inside football stadiums, and permitted certain sports fans associations to be banned as well as individual spectators. Recently, the organisation of the World Cup provoked a clash between the transnational culture of FIFA executives and the local legal culture of Brazilian lawyers, as the norms adopted to organise the national Brazilian competition will be suspended during the international tournament.

The study of implicit religion has typically examined more recent belief systems with contemporary followers. It is also illuminating to study historic implicit religion that failed. Two of the leading such implicit religions are the alcohol prohibition movement and the eugenics movement. For the former, its faithful saw the elimination of alcohol from society as a way of saving the world. For the latter, the elimination of "defective" genes from society would have equally profound consequences. This paper studies the histories of prohibition and eugenics from the perspective of implicit religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Football hooliganism is an undesirable but widespread phenomenon. In this contribution, a range of measures to combat hooliganism in the Netherlands is evaluated. We use (logistic) multi-level models to analyze data on hooliganism from the Dutch Football Vandalism Information Office covering 3431 matches in the period 2006-2011. We controlled rigorously for (un)observed heterogeneity between matches and for differences in expected risk over time. Football matches played early during the day and in daylight are less likely to witness incidents of hooliganism than matches played at a later time and in darkness. The politically sensitive mandatory transport measure decreases the risk of incidents as well. On the other hand, we could not find any evidence for the effectiveness of the mandatory home-match cards or mandatory away-match cards. An alcohol prohibition within the stadium causes a waterbed effect, increasing incidents outside the stadium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the implementation of unprecedented legislation and policy, including drug control measures which in some countries, like Botswana, included a temporary full alcohol sales ban. However, the association of such absolute prohibition of alcohol sales on population drinking, including hazardous drinking, during the COVID-19 period has not yet been determined. This study investigated changes in retrospectively recalled alcohol use and hazardous drinking pre (prior 5th August 2020), during (5th August to 3rd September 2020) and post (after 4th September) the second alcohol sales ban in Botswana. Predictors of hazardous drinking across the three time points were also investigated.Methods: An online cross-sectional study involving a convenience sample of 1318 adults with a past 12 months drinking history in Botswana was conducted in October 2020 following a month long alcohol sales prohibition. Participants completed a modified Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) alongside demographic questions. Participants were expected to retrospectively recall their alcohol use pre, during and post the second alcohol sales ban.Results: The prevalence of alcohol use among participants with a past 12 months drinking history was 91.7% (95%CI= 90.1-93.1) before the second ban, 62.3% (95%CI= 59.7-64.9) during the second ban, and 90.4% (95%CI= 88.7-91.8) after the ban.. Hazardous drinking temporarily decreased by 30% during the second alcohol sales ban, and rose to the pre-ban levels of about 60% after the ban. Significant predictors of hazardous drinking at any of the three time points (pre, during and post the second ban) were being male (AOR ranging from 1.50 to 2.13 for all time points), earning between P3000-P6000 (AOR= 1.69 prior sales ban), being a student (AOR=0.56 during the sales ban), and being employed (AOR= 1.45 post the sales ban).Conclusion: The alcohol sales ban was associated with short-lived changes in alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking thereby likely contributed in providing the anticipated and much needed temporary relief to the health system sought by COVID-19 pandemic measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the recent developments in Brazilian law that led to the enactment of the Sports Fans Statute in 2003. Over the last decade, Brazilian fans have been treated as consumers and are consequently entitled to a bundle of legal rights: fairness of the competition; transparency; access to an ombudsman; transportation; personal safety; insurance; sanitation; fair tickets and food pricing; and ticket selling standards. In addition to these consumer rights, due to the escalation of violence among hooligans, Brazilian authorities established Sports Fans Courts, prohibited alcohol consumption inside football stadiums, and permitted certain sports fans associations to be banned as well as individual spectators. Recently, the organisation of the World Cup provoked a clash between the transnational culture of FIFA executives and the local legal culture of Brazilian lawyers, as the norms adopted to organise the national Brazilian competition will be suspended during the international tournament. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are striking similarities between current drug policies and the former policies of the prohibition era. Over the years, the American political climate has leaned towards "Get Tough" policies on drugs and crime; as such there has been an attendant increase in the number of tough sentences imposed on individuals charged with drug crimes. These tough policies appear to have garnered acceptance USA's political life and culture. The underlying premise of the punitive drug policy agenda is that illegal drugs are evil and must be stamped out of our society by any means necessary. This paper will briefly trace the origin of the current prohibitive drug policy as well as compare it with former USA alcohol prohibition agenda. The results of a drug policy survey will be analyzed and discussed within the context of current drug policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National alcohol prohibition in the United States between 1920 and 1933 is believed widely to have been a misguided and failed social experiment that made alcohol problems worse by encouraging drinkers to switch to spirits and created a large black market for alcohol supplied by organized crime. The standard view of alcohol prohibition provides policy lessons that are invoked routinely in policy debates about alcohol and other drugs. The alcohol industry invokes it routinely when resisting proposals to reduce the availability of alcohol, increase its price or regulate alcohol advertising and promotion. Advocates of cannabis law reform invoke it frequently in support of their cause. This paper aims: (i) to provide an account of alcohol prohibition that is more accurate than the standard account because it is informed by historical and econometric analyses; (ii) to describe the policy debates in the 1920s and 1930s about the effectiveness of national prohibition; and (iii) to reflect on any relevance that the US experience with alcohol prohibition has for contemporary policies towards alcohol. It is incorrect to claim that the US experience of National Prohibition indicates that prohibition as a means of regulating alcohol is always doomed to failure. Subsequent experience shows that partial prohibitions can produce substantial public health benefits at an acceptable social cost, in the absence of substantial enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical events that occurred in the early twentieth century in the Ciudad Juarez/El Paso area of the U.S.-Mexico border led to the initiation of industrial development and trade, but also increased illegal activities and the number of vicious people. This article considers how and why these activities gave rise to the promotion of legislation against the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol in El Paso, and the creation of a tourism sector based on activities that were considered illegal on the American side in Ciudad Juarez. Promoted by the newspapers of El Paso, the Mexican city began to acquire a bad reputation. The case highlights the roots of Latin American dependency on the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will demonstrate the need for a context-specific model of community practice that aims to empower impoverished rural women and simultaneously improve their living conditions. The two main empowerment-based models of community practice currently prevalent in rural India and their ideological differences are highlighted. A unique case of community planning and mobilization that resulted in incremental yet significant changes in the socioeconomic milieu of a rural Indian community and initiated a re-evaluation of traditional gender roles is illustrated. Recommendations for community practitioners and leaders working with women in under-developed and economically deprived communities are offered to facilitate successful program implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the characteristics of alcohol-related crashes in wet versus dry counties in the state of Kentucky, USA and incorporates the location of driver residences through use of geographic information system (GIS) analysis. Between 1991 and 1997, 39,344 alcohol-related crashes by Kentucky residents on Kentucky State roads were reported. The location of the crash and the home ZIP code from the driver’s address were used to consider distance from home in the GIS. Analysis of the crash data revealed that a similar proportion of crashes in wet and dry counties are alcohol-related but that a higher proportion of dry counties residents are involved in an alcohol-related crash. However, when the distance from home variable is considered, several results suggest that dry county residents may be driving further when consuming alcohol. In part due to the rural nature of dry counties, drivers from dry counties have both alcohol-related and non-alcohol related crashes farther from their homes than residents from wet counties. Alcohol-related crashes by dry county residents in wet counties are the greatest average distance from home while crashes by wet county residents in wet counties are the smallest average distance. Drivers from dry counties over 21 years of age have alcohol-related crashes significantly farther from home than those under 21 who would not legally be admitted to drinking establishments in the wet counties. Furthermore, residents from dry counties that do not border wet counties have alcohol-related crashes on average farther from home than the border county residents. These last three results provide circumstantial evidence that some dry county drivers may be driving to wet counties to consume alcohol thus increasing impaired driving exposure. In conclusion, by considering crash location and driver residence, these findings indicate that county-level prohibition is not necessarily effective in improving highway safety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: In September 2012, a series of methanol poisonings occurred in the Czech Republic as a result of an influx of illicit alcohol into (predominantly) cheap alcoholic beverages on the retail market. The public authorities decided to prevent public health risks by prohibiting sales of liquors that contained more than 20% alcohol (> 20% liquor). The "partial" prohibition lasted for almost two weeks, but the poisonings still continued. This article assesses the impact of the methanol poisoning risks and the (partial) prohibition on alcohol drinking patterns, and describes the understanding of risks and their mitigation in vulnerable groups., Methods: The rapid assessment and response method (RAR) was used during the (partial) alcohol prohibition. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents recruited for the study in alcohol-intake settings (e.g., bars and restaurants, street alcohol outlets) in six regions. In total, 107 alcohol users were interviewed, mostly with risky drinking patterns (69% scored ≥ 1 on the CAGE scale), and 53 alcohol retailers/staff members serving alcohol., Results: About one third of the alcohol users in the study (35%) drank > 20% liquors during the prohibition; a higher score on the CAGE scale was associated with a lower probability of drinking > 20% liquors during the period of the prohibition, probably because of the perception of being at high risk of poisoning. There was some increase in drinking liquors with an alcohol content less than 20%. Those who continued drinking > 20% liquors typically did so in the belief that some sources of these were safe., Conclusions: Public policies aimed at reducing the risk of methanol poisonings in emergency situations should adopt broader measures than those focusing on market control. These measures include increased access to brief interventions, addressing the strategies that alcohol consumers adopt to prevent risk, and, in general, helping consumers make informed choices to prevent further fatalities., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2017.)