September Marks National Recovery Month June 5, 2009
Posted by roberte in : Addcition, Alcohol, Recovery, Recovery Centers, United States , add a comment
Every September, SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration) and CSAT (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment) sponsor National Recovery Month across the US. The goal is to educate the public on the benefits of recovery treatment. As part of this year’s initiative, SAMHSA and CSAT have teamed to update the official website with the most comprehensive reporting on National Recovery Month.
The official website can be found at: www.recoverymonth.gov. There, anyone can find information covering a wide range of topics including: Community Events; Press Release Information; Mailed Publications, etc. I recently visited the site and found a couple of new updates since last time I’d visited.
The first update noted that SAMHSA and CSAT are offering downloadable flyers that outline the national campaign, right from the official National Recovery Month website. The second update gave a full report that outlined the details of the 2008 National Recovery Month campaign. More specifically, it outlines details that pertain to community awareness raised, and statistical information on addiction and recovery treatment.
Check back to A Global Recovery often for the latest details on National Recovery Month. Also be sure to click on the link above to take you to the official website.
IntheRooms.com Officially Announces “South Florida Rally For Recovery” May 14, 2009
Posted by Ernesto in : Addcition, Alcohol, In the Rooms, Online, Recovery, Substance Abuse, Worldwide , add a comment
Just this week, the social networking site especially dedicated to people in addiction recovery, In the Rooms (intherooms.com) announced that on September 12th of 2009 they will be hosting the South Florida Rally For Recovery in honor of the 20th Annual National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Sept). The official In the Rooms Rally for Recovery charity walk logo is located above in black.
Thus far, In the Rooms (ITR) has announced that the recovery rally will take place around Biscayne Bay in the Downtown area of Miami, FL and will consist of the following segments (the following is quoted directly from intherooms.com):
1) The Walk – Show your support for recovery and stand up for what you believe in! Be an advocate and walk with us to show what recovery is, that today we are healthy and productive members of society!
2) The Festival – All day in Bicentennial Park, we will have wonderful food, great speakers, recovery music, exhibits, special guests and surprises.
3) The Concert – At the end of the day, we will be having Richie Supa perform his PRISM Award winning song, In The Rooms; in addition we are also having a special surprise guest, so stay tuned!
For further updates on South Florida Rally For Recovery, please check back often.
Study Shows 80% of Australians Think They Have A Binge Drinking Problem May 11, 2009
Posted by Ernesto in : Addcition, Alcohol, Alcohol Addiction, Australia, Substance Abuse , add a comment
The Australian organization, the Alcohol Education Rehabilitation Foundation, recently teamed with the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia (DSICA) to conduct a survey that yielded more than 1,000 respondents; the finding were startling, roughly 80% of Australians surveyed believed there is a national drinking problem. That almost a 20% increase from the same survey that was given last year, which resulted in a 63% acknowledgment of a national drinking problem.
ABC Australia reported that Scott Wilson, the chairman of The Alcohol Education Rehabilitation Foundation said, “The swing in attitude can be largely attributed to government efforts to put binge drinking on the national agenda.” In short, a new government initiative to raise awareness of binge drinking has been effective. However, it seems that the government may have to step up there efforts as, “Almost 100 per cent of respondents agreed the responsibility to help communities with alcohol problems should be shared between governments, alcohol manufacturers, alcohol retailers, individuals and the health and not-for-profit sector,” according to ABC Australia.
AB 1019: California Alcohol Tax Bill Put on Hold April 29, 2009
Posted by Ernesto in : Alcohol, Recovery, Substance Abuse, United States , add a comment
The California state government was set to enact Bill 1019, which would have proposed a fee on alcohol companies in order to allocate collected funds of approximately $1.4 billion to programs that help Californians alleviate alcohol-related harm, such as car accidents, deaths, illnesses, injuries, and crime (domestic violence).
Democrat Assemblyman Jim Beall, Jr. from San Jose, the author of AB
1019 (Alcohol Related Services Act), recently said: “The industry must start paying its fair share for the problems their products cause. If this fee and the program it pays for prevents another child from being born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or prevents another senseless DUI fatality it will have paid for itself and more.”
The kinds of programs that AB 1019 was originally designed to fund were in the five areas most impacted: alcohol treatment, alcohol prevention, hospitalization, trauma care, and law enforcement. Most Californians seemed to be in agreement with Jim Beall, Jr. that the proposed $1.4 billion that would have been collected would have paled in comparison to the estimated $38.4 billion dollars in damages that the alcohol industries’ products cause yearly in the state.
The “Regulatory Mitigation Fee” (Tax), AB 1019, originally called for the following breakdown: An increase of $1.07 per gallon of beer; $2.56 per gallon of wine containing 14 percent alcohol or less; $4.27 per gallon of wine and hard cider containing more than 14 percent alcohol; and $8.53 per gallon of 80-proof-liqour.
Roughly, the fees would have broken down to about a dime per drink (12-ounce serving of beer, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof-liquor, or a 5 ounce glass of wine). The fee was to be assed directly by the manufactures that distribute the alcohol. However, it remained unknown whether retailers would have passed the heightened cost for alcohol products onto consumers.
Nonetheless, the California state government announced that AB 1019 (Alcohol-Related Services Act of 2009) had been revised by its author Jim Beall, Jr. and turned into a two-year bill for discussion next year.
National Survey in Panama Shows Alcohol as most Consumed Drug April 28, 2009
Posted by Ernesto in : Addcition, Alcohol, Alcohol Addiction, Central America, Substance Abuse , add a comment
The results of the national Panamanian survey “Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Calidad de Vida” (ENSCAVI) have revealed that alcohol is the most widely-used drug in the country. The data reported by the ENSCAVI was obtained in 2007 from survey responses given by approximately 25,748 adults. Several Panamanian organizations collaborated to administer the survey, including the “Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud”, the “Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo de la Contraloría General de la República de Panamá”, and the “Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (MEF).”
The statistics obtained from the ENSCAVI survey also provided significant evidence of gender differences in regards to alcohol consumption. Across all variables, it was the survey concluded that Panamanian men reported drinking alcoholic beverages with more frequency then women. In addition, it was found that men begin consuming alcohol at an earlier age than their female counterparts. The average age that Panamanian males reported, for first consuming alcohol, was between 18 and 24, while the average female reports were around 25 years of age.
In regards to the consumption of alcohol among Panamanian youths, a research study conducted by psychologist, Geraldine Emiliani, found that 89% of the polled adolescents (ages 14 -17) reported already consuming alcohol at family gatherings and at clubs. Researchers believe that possible causes of early alcohol consumption are linked to a lack of parental involvement and communication, peer pressure, an excess in alcohol marketing. When these factors are combined with a shortage of safe and healthy entertainment, subsequently, a deterioration of the family follows.
Rise in Violence-Related Attacks in UK Partly Due to Alcohol Abuse April 24, 2009
Posted by Ernesto in : Alcohol, Alcohol Addiction, Europe, Substance Abuse, U.K. , add a comment
The annual violence study conducted by Cardiff University (UK) found that the frequency of hospital visits for violence-related attacks in Wales and England has risen by nearly 7% since last year. This marks the first overall rise of incidents in the data since 2001.
According to Professor Jonathan Shepherd, who is Cardiff University’s research director of Violence Research and Society Group, the 7% increase was the result of alcohol abuse, citing: “The big problem is alcohol-related violence in towns and city centers,” adding, “It’s not so much that you drink and become violent but that you become vulnerable. For both women and men, the best way to reduce the risk of being injured is monitoring how much you drink.”
Experts like Wynford Ellis Owen of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs agree with Shepard in that alcohol has a major part to play in the equation. However, Owen believes that the violence is a direct result of alcohol abuse that has been worsened by the recent economic downturn. In an interview, Owen said, “I think it’s inevitable that in order to ease the pain of what they are suffering now, people will turn to alcohol and drugs.” Owens added about the uprising trend in violence, “It’s a consequence of abusive drinking and it’s a reality that society has to come to terms with.”
Nonetheless, Shepard added, “We saw an encouraging and sharp fall in violence-related serious injuries in 2007, suggesting…that initiatives such as Crime Reduction Partnerships were delivering results. What the 2008 results show, however, is that crime prevention policies and delivery agencies still have a way to go before violence in the UK gets properly under control.”
