Alcohol, Tobacco and Obesity: morality, mortality and the new public health
Although drinking, smoking and obesity have attracted social and moral condemnation to varying degrees for more than two hundred years, over the past few decades they have come under intense attack from the field of public health as an âe~unholy trinityâe(tm) of lifestyle behaviours with apparently devastating medical, social and economic consequences. Indeed, we appear to be in the midst of an important historical moment in which policies and practices that would have been unthinkable a decade ago (e.g., outdoor smoking bans, incarcerating pregnant women for drinking alcohol, and prohibiting restaurants from serving food to fat people), have become acceptable responses to the âe~risksâe(tm) that alcohol, tobacco and obesity are perceived to pose. Hailing from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA, and drawing on examples from all four countries, contributors interrogate the ways in which alcohol, tobacco and fat have come to be constructed as âe~problemsâe(tm) requiring intervention and expose the social, cultural and political roots of the current public health obsession with lifestyle. No prior collection has set out to provide an in-depth examination of alcohol, tobacco and obesity through the comparative approach taken in this volume. This book therefore represents an invaluable and timely contribution to critical studies of public health, health inequities, health policy, and the sociology of risk more broadly.
Alcohol: science, policy and public health
Alcohol has always been an issue in public health but it is currently assuming increasing importance as a cause of disease and premature death worldwide. Alcohol: Science, Policy, and Public Health provides an interdisciplinary source of information that links together, the usually separatefields of, science, policy, and public health. This comprehensive volume highlights the importance of bringing scientific knowledge to bear in order to strengthen and develop alcohol public policy.The book looks at the historical evolution of alcohol consumption in society, key early studies of alcohol and disease, and the cultural and social aspects of alcohol consumption. It then goes on to cover the chemistry and biology of alcohol, patterns of consumption, gender and age-related issues,alcohol and injury, alcohol and cancer and non-malignant disease, and various current therapeutic aspects. The book concludes with a section on alcohol policy, looking at issues of poverty, the availability of alcohol and alcohol control measures.This major reference, written by international leaders in the fields of alcoholism and alcohol policy, provides a comprehensive study of one of the foremost health problems in the world, and represents the highest standards of research within the field. It will be valuable to physicians and health professionals involved with patients with alcohol-related problems, scientists, public health specialists, health policy specialists, researchers and legislators as well as students of public health.
The American Drug Scene: readings in a global context
Now in its seventh edition, The American Drug Scene, edited by James A. Inciardi and Karen McElrath, is a collection of contemporary and classic articles on the changing patterns, problems, perspectives, and policies of legal and illicit drug use. Offering a unique focus on the social contextsin which drug usage, drug-related problems, and drug policies occur, it presents theoretical and descriptive material drawn from both ethnographic and quantitative sources.
Emerging Trends in Drug Use and Distribution
This timely Brief examines recent examples of emerging drugs including salvia, bath salts (and other synthetic stimulants) and so-called research chemicals (primarily substituted phenethylamines, synthetic cousins of ecstasy), which have tended to receive brief levels of high intensity media coverage that may or may not reflect an actual increase in their usage. While changing trends in the drug market have always presented a challenge for law enforcement and public health officials, online forums, media coverage and other recent trends discussed in this Brief allow them to gain popularity more quickly and change more frequently. These rapid shifts allow less time for researchers to understand the potential health consequences of these substances and for law enforcement to stay abreast of abuses of legal substances.
Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018
The report provides an overview of alcohol consumption and harms in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Chapter 1), presents global strategies, action plans and monitoring frameworks (Chapter 2), gives detailed information on: the consumption of alcohol in populations (Chapter 3); the health consequences of alcohol consumption (Chapter 4); and policy responses at the national level (Chapter 5). In its final Chapter 6, the imperative for reducing harmful use of alcohol in a public health perspective is presented. In addition, the report contains country profiles for WHO Member States and appendices with statistical annexes, a description of the data sources and methods used to produce the estimates and references.