Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity

Research and Public Policy

Second Edition

Thomas F. Babor

Documents the search for policies that protect health and prevent disability, and addresses the social problems associated with the misuse of beverage alcohol
Describes the advances in alcohol research that have direct relevance to the development of effective alcohol policies at the local, national and international levels
A companion volume to 'Drug Policy and the Public Good', also published by Oxford University Press
Many chapters have been revised and updated with new data

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity

Research and Public Policy

Second Edition

Thomas F. Babor

Description

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity - Research and Public Policy Second Edition is a collaborative effort by an international group of addiction scientists to improve the linkages between addiction science and alcohol policy. It presents, in a comprehensive, practical, and readily accessible form, the accumulated scientific knowledge on alcohol research that has a direct relevance to the development of alcohol policy on local, national, and international levels. It provides an objective analytical basis on which to build relevant policies globally and informs policy-makers who have direct responsibility for public health and social welfare. By locating alcohol policy primarily within the realm of public health, this book draws attention to the growing tendency for governments, both national and local, to consider alcohol misuse as a major determinant of ill health, and to organize societal responses accordingly.

The scope of the book is comprehensive and international. The authors describe the conceptual basis for a rational alcohol policy and present new epidemiological data on the global dimensions of alcohol misuse. The core of the book is a critical review of the cumulative scientific evidence in seven general areas of alcohol policy: pricing and taxation, regulating the physical availability of alcohol, modifying the environment in which drinking occurs, drinking-driving countermeasures, marketing restrictions, primary prevention programs in schools and other settings, and treatment and early intervention services. The final chapters discuss the current state of alcohol policy in different parts of the world and describe the need for a new approach to alcohol policy that is evidence-based, realistic, and coordinated.

It will appeal to those involved in both addiction science and drug policy, as well as those in the wider fields of public health, health policy, epidemiology, and practising clinicians.

A companion volume published by Oxford University Press, 'Drug Policy and the Public Good', is also available.

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity

Research and Public Policy

Second Edition

Thomas F. Babor

1. Setting the policy agenda
2. Alcohol: no ordinary commodity
3. Alcohol consumption trends and patterns of drinking
4. The global burden of alcohol consumption
5. The alcohol beverage industry: global structure and strategies
6. International context of alcohol policy
7. Strategies and interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm
8. Controlling affordability: pricing and taxation
9. Regulating the physical availability of alcohol
10. Modifying the drinking context: reducing harm in the licensed drinking environment and other contexts
11. Drinking and driving prevention and countermeasures
12. Restrictions on marketing
13. Education and persuasion strategies
14. Treatment and early intervention services
15. The policymaking arena: Putting alcohol policies into effect
16. Alcohol policies: a consumer's guide

Alcohol: No Ordinary Commodity

Research and Public Policy

Second Edition

Thomas F. Babor

Author Information

Thomas Babor is a Professor and Chairman in the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He holds the University's Physicians Health Service endowed chair in Public Health and Community Medicine. Dr. Babor received his doctoral degree in social psychology from the University of Arizona in 1971. He spent several years in postdoctoral research training in social psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and subsequently served as head of social science research at McLean Hospital's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center in Belmont, Massachusetts. Since 1997 he has been chairman of the Department of Community Medicine and Health Care at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He is Associate Editor-in-Chief as well as Regional Editor of the international journal, Addiction. His research interests include screening, diagnosis, early intervention, and treatment evaluation, as well as cultural and policy issues to alcohol and drug problems.