Drug and Alcohol Monthly Media Briefing

Media releases 

 National

Alcohol

Alcohol sales: an inconvenient truth for 7-Elevens (ADF) 5 Sept
AER Foundation calls for urgent reform on the Wine Equalisation Tax (AERF) 6 Sept
Greens back report on alcohol tax reform (Greens) 6 Sept
Children Deserve Protection from Alcohol and Other Drugs Harm (ADCA) 8 Sept
Myth busted: red wine no magic remedy for heart disease (APC) 19 Sept
Alcohol tax reform will drive moderation: Greens (Greens) 19 Sept
No excuse not to debate alcohol reform now (Greens) 26 Sept
 Alcohol tax reform is a major public health and social policy issue (NAAA) 27 Sept
Fact or fiction – The real impacts of tax reform on the Australian wine industry (AERF) 28 Sept
Greens back public health community’s call for reform of wine tax (Greens) 28 Sept
Alcohol Tax Forum Communiqué (NAAA) 28 Sept

Drugs

Study Shows Dramatic Increase In Oxycodone Prescriptions (AHHA) 5 Sept
Drug regulations work to cut ‘ice’ use (ANU) 7 Sept

Indigenous issues

$5 million boost for Indigenous health (ANU) 29 Sept

Tobacco/Smoking

Plain packaging is a weapon against the centrepiece of tobacco promotion (AMA) 4 Sept
BATA heads to High Court over plain packs (BATA) 5 Sept
Big Tobacco are hypocrites: Greens (Greens) 13 Sept
Big tobacco concede floor price is an option(Greens) 13 Sept
Tobacco industry fight will fail - Expert (ANU) 14 Sept
All Huff and Puff as Big Tobacco Quietly Runs Away (Gov) 14 Sept
Confronting new tobacco health warnings (Gov) 17 Sept
Future Fund next step in tobacco control: Greens (Greens) 20 Sept
Nurses welcome extra funding to fight smoking  (ANF) 21 Sept
Australia Supports Global Action on Tobacco (Gov) 21 Sept

Other

ADCA Welcomes Appointment of new ANPHA CEO (ADCA) 21 Sept
Women with breast cancer putting their health at further risk (BUPA) 29 Sept

Australian Capital Territory

Attorney General tables report on review of Liquor Licensing Fees (ACT Gov) 22 Sept
Measures to move Floriade towards becoming a smoke-free event (ACT Gov) 23 Sept

New South Wales

Joint operation targets underage drinkers and fake id  (NSW Gov) 18 Sept

Northern Territory

CLP Flounder over BDR (NT Gov) 15 Sept
Mills commits to scrapping Banned Drinker Register (NT Gov) 23 Sept

Tasmania

Celebrating 25 Years of the Drug Education Network (TAS Gov) 22 Sept

Victoria

Victorian smoking rates hit new low (Cancer Council) 2 September
Older people a growing risk group in danger of missing out on treatment (VAADA) 5 Sept
Heroin: Is Victoria ready to be brave? (ADF) 22 Sept
Where is AFL’s corporate social responsibility on problem gambling and alcohol promotion? (VAADA) 26 Sept

Western Australia

Never Give Up Giving Up - new quite smoking ad (WA Gov) 4 Sept
‘No alcohol while pregnant’ campaign launched (WA Gov) 9 Sept
Rehabilitation services become available in the East Kimberley, Grylls (WA Nationals)

A selection of articles in the news     

Alcohol

Older people 'most likely to drink daily'  5 Sept
Tax changes urged to stop cheap alcohol  6 Sept
Convenience stores bid to sell booze  6 Sept
UC study finds Australian alcohol cost overestimated 6 Sept
Push for breath-tests before takeaway grog sales  6 Sept
Hundreds of Hunter liquor licence breaches  7 Sept
A drink a day may be healthier than none for older women 7 Sept
Service stations and convenience stores float alcohol sales proposal 8 Sept
Public numb to booze abuse 12 Sept
Liquor stores linked to domestic violence  14 Sept
Finding solutions to alcohol issues  19 Sept
Experts see red over wine 'myth'  19 Sept
Red wine doesn't protect drinkers from heart disease - report 19 Sept
Methadone access woes cause despair 19 Sept
Call for minimum price on alcohol 21 Sept
Leaders clash over BDR  23 Sept
Light drinking 'cuts asthma risk'  25 Sept
Wind back pub hours to reduce booze-fuelled violence, fed-up doctors say 26 Sept
Alcohol action groups want wine tax change  27 Sept
Alcohol tax reform opposed  28 Sept
Private members bill to deal with binge drinking  28 Sept
Immune cells in brain may control alcohol abuse, researchers say  29 Sept
Call to end watering-down alcohol prices  29 Sept
Alcohol floor price proposal stays on backburner 29 Sept
Pill to counter bad booze moments 30 Sept

Drugs

Drug addict refused Bendigo bail program  3 Sept
Drug drivers outnumber drinkers two-to-one  3 Sept
Fresh funds needed in drug battle  6 Sept
Minister wins Wollongong mayoral race  6 Sept
The Life of the Heroin User  6 Sept
Eureka moments lead to top award 7 Sept
Social websites are the new tool of trade for drug pushers  7 Sept
Miscarriage risk doubled: drug study  7 Sept
Pseudo drugs audit sends for the doctor  7 Sept
Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health 12 Sept
Heroin back with a vengeance 13 Sept
Australia among most expensive for medicine  13 Sept
Doctors back push for drugs register  14 Sept
Methadone access woes cause despair  19 Sept
Police raid uncovers Morley drugs cache 19 Sept
Aussie soldiers wounded in drug lab raid 20 Sept
Shame that Carnell's heroin plan never went ahead  22 Sept
Forty-two arrested with drugs at Parklife  24 Sept
Mexican and Colombian drug lords look to make a killing on our suburban streets  24 Sept
Drugged drivers too far off radar  25 Sept
Chemists' pill deal under fire  26 Sept
Huegill's dive into despair  26 Sept
Hospitals' penicillin crisis  27 Sept
Problem gamblers recruited into drug trade  28 Sept

Families

Families in crisis as the rate of children in care doubles 6 Sept
Hundreds of families in need of help  13 Sept
Marriage helps cut crime: study 27 Sept

Health

Public health policy at the mercy of corporate greed  7 Sept

HepC

Drug users help boost hope for hepatitis C vaccine  13 Sept

Indigenous issues

Hunger the issue in Aboriginal community when art proceeds run dry 10 Sept
Back to the drawing board, again  22 Sept

Mental Health

Medical student seeks to map Mudgee’s minds  27 Sept

Prisons

Prison shouldn't be a death penalty  13 Sept
Smoking, mental illness concerns in jails  28 Sept
Hepatitis prison infections falling 28 Sept

Tobacco/Smoking

BATA wants to see packaging legal advice  5 Sept
Queensland universities look to ban smoking amid complaints of secondhand smoke 11 Sept
Big tobacco huffs and puffs  13 Sept
Big tobacco uses The Castle in legal blue 14 Sept
Turning up the voltage of smoking shock warnings  18 Sept
Roxon to talk tough on tobacco at UN  19 Sept
Victorian councils call for statewide outdoor smoking ban 20 Sept
Aust helps fund global anti-smoking fight  21 Sept
Final puff as Warrnambool mayor targets outdoor smokers 21 Sept
Plain packaging won global praise, says Roxon  26 Sept
Many women still smoking despite previous cancer diagnosis  29 Sept
Health workers 'under-report' missing drugs: CCC  29 Sept

Youth

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione blasts blind-drunk teen 'monsters' 11 Sept
Cannabis is the drug of choice among South Australian school students 20 Sept
Proposed under-20s alcohol ban rejected  27 Sept

International

Alcohol

Alcohol Concerns blames too many off-licences for under-age drinking 5 Sept
Supplying the facts about binge drinking 6 Sept
'Toxic tide' of booze takes deadly toll 8 Sept
South Africa Plans to forbid alcohol advertising 9 Sept
Alcohol 'at obscenely low prices'  14 Sept
Did the War pave the way for female binge drinking? Women born after WWII more likely to become alcoholics 20 Sept
Living alone may increase death risk from alcohol  21 Sept
Stores cutting alcohol prices 'to defy bulk buy ban' 30 Sept

Drugs

President defends his war on drugs 4 Sept
Factory-like mills feed ravenous NYC heroin market  6 Sept
The Opium War by Julia Lovell – review 11 Sept
UN says synthetic drug use overtakes cocaine and heroin  13 Sept
UN warns on drugs as Thailand starts new crackdown  14 Sept
Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S., data show  17 Sept
Lib Dems vote overwhelmingly to set up panel to consider decriminalising drugs (UK)  18 Sept
Fueled by Growing Painkiller Use, Overdose Deaths and Child Poisonings Are on the Rise (US) 19 Sept
Young Men's Initiative: The White Mayor's Burden  21 Sept
Police Memo on Marijuana Warns Against Some Arrests  23 Sept
ACT leader questions marijuana laws  26 Sept
Club drug clinic opens its doors  26 Sept
Trouble With Marijuana Arrests  26 Sept
Trio to hang for drugs  27 Sept
Drugs, Risk and the Myth of the ‘Evil’ Addict  27 Sept
Krokodil takes toll on Russian addicts (video)  28 Sept
Drugs worth $350 million seized in Afghanistan-NATO  28 Sept
Fake drugs worth £4m seized in global crackdown 29 Sept
Heroin users 'on the increase' 30 Sept

Rehabilitation

Vietnamese rehab centres 'abuse detainees'  7 Sept

Tobacco/Smoking

Wide support for tobacco-free NZ by 2025  5 Sept
Kids miss more school when people smoke in the house 6 Sept
World Leaders Commit to Fighting Tobacco Use as Part of Global Battle Against Non-Communicable Diseases, But Words Must Be Backed Up By Action 19 Sept
Smoking in films 'should get automatic 18 rating' 20 Sept
China Endorsing Tobacco in Schools Adds to $10 Trillion GDP Cost 21 Sept
Shocking UCLA report: big tobacco hushed up radiation-contaminated cigarettes  28 September

Youth

Drugs and Alcohol: Not My Kid  12 Sept
More Kids Accidentally Poisoned By Prescription Drugs (US)  16 Sept
Alcohol giant set to 'target children' through Facebook  21 Sept

 Other

Big Island study on fetal alcohol, drug exposure  5 Sept
Saffron could displace opium poppies as Afghans’ cash crop of choice  25 Sept

Recently released reports

The Australian wine tax regime: Assessing industry claims (AERF)
Measuring alcohol risk in the 2010 National Drug Strategy Household Survey: implementation of the 2009 Alcohol Guidelines (AIHW)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework 2010: detailed analyses (AIHW)
The health of Australia's prisoners 2010 (AIHW)
National Advisory Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information Strategic Plan 2011-2015 (AIHW)
The use of health services among Australians with disability (AIHW)
Responding to older AOD users (VAADA)