Authors: Sunita Bava, Joanna Jacobus, Rachel E. Thayer (San Diego Healthcare System) and Susan F. Tapert (University of Colorado Boulder)

The influence of repeated substance use during adolescent neurodevelopment remains unclear as there have been few prospective investigations. The aims of this study were to identify longitudinal changes in fiber tract integrity associated with alcohol- and marijuana-use severity over the course of 1.5 years.

Author: The Lancet

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) is the largest ever systematic effort to describe the global distribution and causes of a wide array of major diseases, injuries, and health risk factors. It consists of seven articles, each containing a wealth of data on different aspects of the study.

According to this study, in 2010, tobacco smoking was the world’s second and alcohol the world’s third most important risk factor for disability adjusted life years (a composite measure of years lived with disability and years of life lost due to premature death), after high blood pressure. Alcohol moved up from 6th place in 1990, and tobacco from 3rd place. Drug use clocked in as 19th out of 20 risk factors in 2010, and did not make the top 20 in 1990.

Check here the complete list of articles of GBD 2010.

Authors: Allyn L. Taylor and Ibadat S. Dhillon

The perceived success of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in influencing national and global public health policies has led to growing interest in promulgating new international legal instruments to address global health issues—including calls for a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control (FCAC).The authors propose a gradual international legal strategy for alcohol control, starting with a non-binding code of practice focusing on areas of critical concern with wide political consensus, leading over time to a comprehensive binding treaty.

Author: Dimiter Toshkov (Leiden University)

Policy-making is embedded in politics, but an increasing number of issues, like obesity, tobacco control, or road safety, do not map well on the major dimensions of political conflict. This article analyzes the enactment of restrictions on smoking in bars and restaurants in 29 European countries – a conflictual issue which does not fit easily traditional party ideologies. Indeed, the comparative empirical analyses demonstrate that government ideological positions are not associated with the strictness and the timing of adoption of the smoking bans. On the other hand, economic factors like the scale of tobacco production in a country, smoking prevalence in society and public support for tough anti-smoking policy are all significantly related to the time it takes for a country to adopt smoking bans, and to the comprehensiveness and enforcement of these restrictions.

Full title: GAPA Statement of Concern - The international public health community responds to the global alcohol producers' attempts to influence the WHO global strategy on the harmful use of alcohol

Author: GAPA

On October 8th 2012, thirteen of world’s largest alcohol producers issued a set of commitments to reduce the harmful use of alcohol worldwide, ostensibly in support of the World Health Organization’s 2010 Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol.

The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA), as an independent coalition of public health professionals, health scientists and NGO representatives, submitted this public Statement of Concern to the WHO Secretariat in response to the activities of the global alcohol producers. Discussions on industry involvement at the AMPHORA project final conference have contributed to this document.