Four new members named to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and 

Alcoholism

March 14, 2012

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently appointed four new members to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The council advises the Secretary, the Director of the National Institutes of Health and the director of NIAAA on program and policy matters, offers recommendations on research conducted at NIAAA, and reviews applications for grants and cooperative agreements.

The 15-member council includes outstanding representatives from health and science fields relevant to NIAAA activities, as well as leaders from among the general public in fields including health policy, law, economics and management.

"We are delighted to welcome this distinguished group of leaders to our advisory council," said NIAAA Acting Director Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D. "NIAAA will benefit greatly from their insight and experience."

The recently appointed council members include:

The Honorable Linda Chezem J.D., who is a professor in the Department of Youth Development and Agriculture Education in the College of Agriculture at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. The first woman to serve as a department head in the College of Agriculture, Chezem teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as in the law school, where her courses include Alcohol Science and Law. She also holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis. Chezem was the first woman to serve as a circuit court judge in Indiana and the second woman to be appointed as presiding judge on the Indiana Court of Appeals. In September 2007, Governor Mitch Daniels appointed her to serve on the Indiana Health Informatics Corporation Board. Among her many awards, Chezem received the Richard M. Fairbanks Circle of Hope Award from the Fairbanks Addiction Treatment Center, the oldest independent drug and treatment center in the United States, for her outstanding contributions to research, education and treatment of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction.

To view the full story, click this link: http://www.pharmpro.com/News/Feeds/2012/03/agencies-and-organizations-national-institutes-of-health-(nih)-four-new-members-named-to-the-national-advisory-co/

Source: National Institutes of Health

March 16, 2012 

March 2012

Didn't the U.S. Constitution give states the primary authority to regulate alcohol after Prohibition?  How could that authority be threatened since it's in the Constitution?  Why would courts think commercial interests are more important than alcohol regulation?  Why should it be okay to sell alcohol anywhere, any time with few restrictions when alcohol causes an estimated 79,000 deaths per year and is a major factor in crime, poverty and other social problems?  A new law journal article tells the story about how courts just don't get the connection between price regulations and alcohol problems.

 Legal scholars and alcohol policy specialists Elyse Grossman and Jim Mosher just published "Public Health, State Alcohol Pricing Policies, and the Dismantling of the 21^st Amendment" (Journal of Medicine and Law, published by the Michigan State University College of Law).  They note that "the courts have largely abandoned the original intent of the 21^st Amendment (which repealed Prohibition in 1933) - to grant States the primary responsibility in regulating the alcohol trade as a means to protect public health and safety.  Recent cases have subordinated this purpose in favor of protecting commercial interests pursuant to the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution."

In conducting an analysis of the legal landscape Grossman and Mosher examine "Tied House" laws, a set of important, but poorly understood, regulations. These provisions separate retail, wholesale and manufacturing into independently licensed tiers and are designed to prevent aggressive sales practices.

Before Prohibition local markets were dominated by large, national corporations that owned retail chains and promoted aggressive sales tactics to increase profits.  The Tied House laws often include specific provisions to prevent sales practices that increase consumption especially among those most vulnerable.  These include bans on volume discounts, minimum pricing measures, controls on "loss leaders" and enforcement measures known as "post-and-hold requirements." These provisions are designed to prevent price wars and promotional efforts to induce increased sales, but are poorly understood by the public health community and the public in general.  According to the authors, "Public health advocates have in the past considered Tied House provisions to be instruments of the marketplace with little or no connections to public health concerns.  This perception is being reassessed."

To view the full article, click on this link: http://healthyalcoholmarket.com/pdf/NewsletterMarch2012.pdf

Source: Campaign for a Healthy Alcohol Marketplace 

Connecticut General Law Committee clears Sunday alcohol bill

March 22, 2012

Connecticut General Assembly's General Law Committee has cleared a bill that will allow the state's package stores to sell alcohol on Sundays between 10am to 5pm, according to Distilled Spirits Council of the US (DISCUS).

The bill is the modified version of legislation proposed by Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy. The bill streamlines alcohol permits and creates a task force to study industry deregulation.

According to the committee members, the new bill will help small businesses to be more competitive. The modified bill also eliminates the governor's recommendations to allow convenience stores to sell beer, extend restaurant hours and increase package store hours until 10 p.m.

The bill will now move to the Joint Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee and then on to the full House and Senate. Once approved, it will become effective for Sunday sales from July 1, 2012, and Connecticut will become the 49th state to allow Sunday alcohol sales.

As per the legislature's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis, the proposed liquor law changes would generate an estimated $5.3 million in new revenue for the state.

DISCUS vice president Jay Hibbard said Connecticut is one of only two states in Indiana that still clings to such a restrictive ban on Sunday sales of beer, wine and spirits.

Editors Note: 13 states prohibit the Sunday sale of liquor and only 17 states have state-wide liquor sales on Sunday. 

Source: Drinks Business Review