NY Times Links reports a pedestrian 08 like policy would have avoided Afghan Massacre.

19/03/2012

The truly tragic massacre in Afghanistan has motivated the NY Times to write this:

Nearly every combat outpost in Afghanistan is automatically part of a volatile mix: a hardened enemy, increasingly sophisticated and deadly land mines, nervous young soldiers, powerful weapons and machinery, suicide bombers, the stress of multiple deployments, searing heat, unfriendly locals, unfamiliar languages.

The U.S. Army has concluded that adding alcohol to that mix is unwise.

But now, with the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians, alcohol has been suggested as a possible causal factor in the killings…

And:

The military’s General Order No. 1 prohibits the possession or consumption of alcohol in five countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Still, alcohol finds its way onto bases and outposts, either passed from soldiers from other countries, smuggled in from local markets or delivered in care packages from home. Sometimes the alcohol is disguised as mouthwash — usually gin or vodka doctored with blue-green food coloring.

And:

An assistant secretary of the navy, Juan Garcia, said a pilot Breathalyzer program in submarine units had yielded a 45 percent decrease in “alcohol-related incidents.’’

The Moral of the Story?

Even in heavily disciplined environments, only random breath testing delivers!

Only random breath testing will find the illicit alcohol.

No one in Australia and the UK can point to a single harm minimization program that can instantly produce a 45% decline in Alcohol Harms.

In fact, so out of touch are the Australian Drug Foundation, that Mr Geoff Munro, National Policy Manager, hadn’t even heard of the U.S. Navy’s pioneering success.

And, he admitted he had nothing to do with the Northern Territory’s outstanding success with Drinking Licensing in Chronically Affected areas.

Nothing effective comes from the ADF.

I’ve repeatedly challenged Mr Munro to come up with one policy innovation that the ADF has come up with.

He refuses to believe a projected 5% increase in ethanol consumed, “despite” all the “evidence based” measures supported by Mr Munro.

Come up with it Geoff! All the programs that led to a population wide decrease of 45% of toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and addictive alcohol, that you recommended, and you achieved!



Australian Drug Foundation has No Knowledge of U.S. Navy Success

15/03/2012

In an unbelievable display of ignorance, Last Night, Mr Geoff Munro, Senior Policy Sifter for Australian Drug Foundation, admitted no knowledge of the U.S.Navy’s success in embedding a Pedestrian 08 Like Campaign.  The U.S. Navy program shares with Pedestrian 08: A declared max Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Limit; Breathalyzer Machines (on All Ships); Random Breath Testing (RBT); as well as adding fixed time and place testing. Finally both programs provide consequences for transgressors.

Geoff has a thing about identifying “evidence” for the potential of Pedestrian 08 as the genuine life saving policy that it certainly is. (In this business, “Evidence Based” can be code for “Do nothing because no one else has done it yet” or “I can’t back this because minister xyz says I can’t”)

He has a problem relating the success of Australia’s most successful life saving measure against the many harms committed by Big Liquor – in this case Drunk Driving (DUI) – largely beaten by our famous Motorist Point 05 Campaign. This is the model on which Pedestrian 08 stands.  “No evidence!” declared Geoff. He chooses not to see the success of RBT as used by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority to detect errant Commercial Pilots.  “No Evidence!” Nor does he know about what happens to Aviation Safety when you withdraw this safety measure. Witness the recent news of a struggling Indian Airline who couldn’t afford to maintain their Random Breath and Drug Testing. This resulted in one pilot caught by other authorities trying to fly his jumbo on a BAC of 0.09! Not to mention a building total of 50 – that’s FIFTY other transgressors on drugs and or alcohol fortuitously caught by other authorities. That would be “No Evidence!” I suppose Geoff! Leading to the biggest news so far reinforcing this model: The recent success and expansion of the U.S. Navy via its Nuclear Powered Submarine Fleet involving a whopping 45% Turnaround – “No, I haven’t heard of it” and 5 mins later: “No evidence”.

The ADF are fundamentally out of the loop on this one. Totally out of the loop. This is a PR machine. That’s it.

Geoff was presiding over a the first forum funded to raise awareness of Victoria’s Secondary Supply laws, along with advice to parents on how to handle children and alcohol.

Geoff and company acknowledged a guess that only ten percent of any audience of parents at any forum would know of the toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and addictive nature of alcohol.

Yet, their presentation gave no facts to parents likely to deter them passing on their own habits and addictions onto their children. Eg: Big Liquor Maims Babies (FASD), Big Liquor causes Cancer, Big Liquor sells a toxic substance, Big Liquor promotes addiction, violence etc.

As I stated:”I don’t get it. The parents don’t know the dangers – no one else is going to tell them – and you are working for the government. You don’t warn them so they think it’s a drug with no side effects like they see it on TV? Who is going to tell them!”

Dissembling response only.

It then gets worse! The presentation included a line advising Parents not to supply alcohol to anyone under the age of 15. What a disgrace! A government funded front refusing to outline dangers to parents who may well need the truth about this killing, maiming drug of addiction. Then they move on to advising Parents to supply their child with Underage Drinking.

What is going on at the Australian Drug Foundation?

Geoff also acknowledged not being involved, in any way, in the Northern Territories recent success with Drink Licenses. (The N.T. gained an instant 15% drop in offenses).

It seems governments and authorities don’t look to Geoff’s ADF when ever anything effective needs to be done.


Alcohol kills a jumbo load of people every 17 days – new report from UK

01/03/2012

The UK’s alcohol epidemic continues – unchecked and untempered by political parties only too keen to take the money and exercise a preference for profit over life.

A harsh assessment? Read this link from the UK’s Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, who, unlike DrinkWatch and DrinkWise are not funded by Big Liquor.

Reducing Alcohol Harm

Download report directly from: British Liver Trust.

Would a jumbo crashing every 17 days get the media to warn about the clear health risks of flying in jumbos? Probably.

Would a jumbo load of Big Liquor Fatalities every 17 days motivate the media to warn about the clear and often mortal risks of binge drinking? Absolutely not.

This failure to report and educate is a key factor added to the circumstances that create a jumbo load of victims every 17 days. Victims of accidents, illnesses, murders and assaults, along with results forthcoming from the consumption of a toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic (Birth Defects) and addictive drug.

Mandating the provision of Audio Visual equipped, near blood test quality, BAC testing machines, in all liquor outlets, would go a long way to educating users at the critical point of sale.

Being motivated to use the BAC Testing Machines via the setting of a sensible, maximum BAC limit for pedestrian and public transport commuters will stimulate the uptake of key learnings about the toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and addictive qualities of this drug. Pedestrian Random Breath Testing provides this motivation. A motivation based on a Pedestrian 08 Limit.

Local Australian Media ought not to get as confused as their colleague Derryn Hinch.

There’s no doubt Derryn, the British Liver Trust reports alcohol is responsible for 80% of deaths from liver disease.

Derryn, a good bloke who has gone to jail in defense of his beliefs – but who is punching well above his weight, pulling a fantastic partner – doesn’t seem to accept the link between heavy binge drinking and alcohol induced liver disease and mortality.

Read this and learn to accept it Derryn! And discover other heinous results of unfettered access to alcohol including the cancers and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

Derryn will go to jail to protect children. Derryn can protect vastly more children from the gene damaging effects of FASD on children via doing everything he can to publicise the cause and effects of FASD.

1 in every 100 Derryn…

1 in Four in  at least one aboriginal tribe in North America.

For a comprehensive examination of FASD check this link: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/fasd/


Alcohol Riddled UK, struggling to find sensible regulation

21/02/2012

With one of the world’s largest problems dealing with alcohol, the UK is struggling to assertively introduce sensible, researched regulations to mitigate against the omnipresent marketing success of Big Liquor.

See this Guardian Link here: Can we afford not to have minimum pricing for alcohol?

Other articles at the Guardian here: Alcohol pricing: a battleground between heath groups and drinks industry

And here: Give people a drinking licence, and take it away if they cause enough damage

The UK appear to be choking on an inability to confront the mega corporations dominating their communities.  There seems to be a reluctance to take on one of the key tactics with this amazingly powerful lobby. This is to call them to account for what they are, what they have done, and what they continue to do.

UK A&E Departments and Ambulance paramedics should be clamoring for random pedestrian breath testing and a pedestrian 08 law.

This is a behaviour changing policy model that works. Comprehensively works.


1.1 million people random breath tested in 50 days

12/01/2012

The efficiency and effectiveness of random breath testing cannot be doubted.
As part of its summer routine, Victoria Police via their vaunted Booze Bus Teams took control of our roads, barely inconvenienced a safe driver, and RBT’d an astonishing 1.1 million drivers over a 50 day period.
The Melbourne Herald Sun reports this operationOperation Summer Stay – put 2610 over the limit drivers – off the road. They lost their licenses.
How effective is random breath testing as a societal wide, behaviour changing program?
This is the quote that reveals the answer:

Mr Walshe said the drink-driving test rate of one positive per 432 motorists was poor, but an improvement on one in 332 last year.

This means that VicPol had to test 432 motorists to find and remove 1 drunk from the road.
Last year, they had to test 332, to find and remove their one drunk.
This number, by and large, keeps improving.
DUI drivers are being removed from our roads.
We need to keep up this good work and extend the same model of enforcement and behaviour change to our streets. To our entertainment (drinking) districts employing pedestrian random breath testing.
The model is proven! Beyond doubt.
Meanwhile, this humble site, made the big time in the US, featuring on reddit.com, the social media site, upon which a group called “crippling alcoholism” has been created.
This is the discussion.
Warning, the site link above contains a four letter word.
A lot of obviously distressed and unwell people on this site…
I did my best to engage, prior to being – politely – banned from the group.
I don’t wonder why! [Edit: Note: I've recently gone back to the site, and, showing a level of intellectual and cultural cowardice, this site has removed all my contributions with "[deleted]“.  Giving yet another example of why so many drinkers are totally unaware of the toxic, carcinogenic, teratogenic and addictive nature of their recreational drug…]
And thanks to producers and Louise Saunders of the ABC Hobart for the spot this morning on the discussion surrounding drunk driving / dui.
It seems that the idea of mandatory RBT machines in all pubs, thus enabling fewer surprises, better education via the audio visual education facilities these machines can bring, and of course, a totally unambiguous, easy to understand, maximum pedestrian BAC Limit, went down well with the listening public.

Mike


Irresponsible Parents prove need for Pedestrian RBT, Fines, Education and Behaviour Change

02/11/2011



Seven out of 10 under-age drinkers caught in the Cornish holiday resort of Newquay were given alcohol by their parents

BBC Cornwall reports the above, and more:

Most of the teenagers caught drunk and disorderly said they were sent to Cornwall with alcohol [from Parents]…
…although some parents were shocked about their children’s behaviour, others verbally abused officers who confiscated the alcohol…
…one officer was verbally abused by a parent who accused him of stopping her son “having fun”. The teenager was one of four 16-year-olds caught with 64 cans of Special Brew.

The campaign ‘Newquay Safe Partnership’ was formed in 2009 after two teenagers were found at bottom of cliffs in two separate incidents.

There is little doubt that a great percentage of Great Britain’s parents are either unwilling, unable or just too ignorant to responsibly guide their children through the alcohol wars of teenage years.

The Police effort here, is focused on Drunk and Disorderly Offenses.
Is this leaving a problem until it is too late?
Do police have a viable mechanism for the wholesale population wide detection of underage drinking?
Do they consider this, their role as a law and order body?

Where parents fail, the State ‘Nanny’ has to take over.
Pedestrian Random Breath Testing (P-RBT), that includes public transport, allied to heavy fines and heavily publicised educational messages offers the most hope for:

  • Identifying the largest cohort of offenders as quickly and as efficiently as possible; and
  • Changing their behaviour by unambiguously delivering a message about where acceptable behaviour ends

It is Not acceptable for children to fall off cliffs, under trains, and under cars because of Parent Supported Underage Drinking.

Underage drinking is a scourge against the very development of children:


Amy Winehouse dies – another victim of Big Liquor

27/10/2011

Few reports in the media showed any sympathy to the horrible addictions Amy Winehouse suffered.
Who got Amy onto alcohol?
How young was she?
Was it a good idea?
When she purchased her own, were there any warnings about addiction on the bottles?
Were there warnings about cancer on the bottles?
Were there warnings about the toxicity of alcohol – on the bottles?
At clubs, pubs and bars where Amy consumed, were there readily available BAC testing machines, equipped with relevant audio visual messages, displaying a commonsense max BAC level, plus the myriad of health messages needed to responsibly support the serving of alcohol?
Was Amy’s addiction and death due to the saturation marketing campaign for alcohol, which in the UK, amounts to a minimum of (UK)$600 million per year?
Has the UK government done everything it can to minimise the impact and uptake of alcohol?
Has the UK media made money out of the unrelenting ridicule of Amy – whilst taking money for cheap liquor?

Addendum:
The Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs found:

Police found no evidence of illicit drug use in her flat nor were any traces of such drugs found in her body. However, three empty vodka bottles were found next to her bed. Her family believed that she had died of seizure due to alcohol withdrawal. If an alcoholic suddenly stops drinking this can lead to a condition called delirium tremens which can be fatal.


Reaching for responsibility – are we there yet?

17/10/2011

Last Melbourne Cup Day – yes, it is a proclaimed public holiday here – Race Goers crossing Flinders Street from Young & Jackson’s famous bar, were handed a brochure proclaiming a fictitious Point 08 Pedestrian Limit for Race Day and how all Responsible Servers of Alcohol would, quite reasonably, provide an easy mechanism for Users to be able to accurately self test the amount of drug in their system via their Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) Level.
Many of the Users were already so inebriated – at 10 in the morning – that they:

  1. Took the ‘Limit’ literally [they believed it] :) ;
  2. Confessed that they were already ‘over the limit’;
  3. Look really worried – and plainly paused for thought;
  4. Took the brochure.

A year has gone on and as the Melbourne Age reports (Oct 14, 2011) the Melbourne Race Club has moved to doing something like the above hoax, this time for real:

Race-goers at tomorrow’s Caulfield Cup will be able to see whether they exceed the blood-alcohol level as part of a plan to help prevent the racing carnival turning into tragedy.

Two breath-testing devices were today installed in the members pavilion at Caulfield racecourse to give some of the expected crowd of 40,000 the option of getting an alcohol reading before they got behind the wheel.

It is believed the devices, which charge people $2 for a breath test and are claimed by their manufacturers to be as reliable as the ones police use, have never before been installed for a major metropolitan race meeting.


And the motivation?:

Melbourne Racing Club spokesman Josh Rodder said the innovation was a “good cultural thing” to help people know how much alcohol they had consumed.

“It’s good to have just as a guide, so they’ve got an idea how much they’ve had if they are driving, or if they want to avoid having too much to drink,” Mr Rodder said.


And regular readers can see the holes:

  1. Not enough machines for the massive, massive crowd;
  2. No published pedestrian limit (what’s the guideline for a pedestrian?);
  3. No mention of the behaviour changing mechanism of:
    a) Clearly and simply proclaiming a max legal pedestrian limit;
    b) Advertising and marketing the pedestrian limit;
    c) Modify so called RSA guidelines to include a minimum number of BAC Testing machines, that guarantees immediate testing;
    d) Include point of sale audio visual education messages on the BAC Testing machines;
    e) Providing police for Pedestrian Random Breath Testing (RBT).

This more complete plan of law, education, testing and action would truly ensure “a good cultural thing”.

Avoiding incidents as reported in Herald Sun (Oct 16, 2011):

More than 60 people were thrown out of Caulfield Racecourse and three arrested as police cracked down hard on public drunkenness.

However, one woman had to be helped into a wheelchair by two St John Ambulance paramedics and pushed to a first aid station because she was so drunk.

And a fight between a group of young men had to be broken up by police.


By the way, we had our 10,000 visitor, on these pages recently.
Thanks so much for your interest and support.


Can $450k per year change your eyesight, hearing and policy options?

19/03/2011

Although her police and ambulance officers and A & E staff are getting bashed most nights by the alcohol afflicted, NSW Premier Kristina Keneally recently said “wowsers” to Scott Weber, the NSW Police Union, Ambulance Paramedics and their colleagues, the Doctors, Nurses and Security Staff at our Accident and Emergency Departments.

As Scott rightly pointed out in his Punch Article, Who are you calling a wowser Kristina?:

The facts speak for themselves.

  • Alcohol-related violent incidents are growing by over 6 per cent a year;
    The number of paramedics assaulted a year has increased by over 60 per cent since 2006-07;
  • There were 2,855 assaults against police in NSW;
  • And it’s estimated that 70 per cent of these assaults against police were alcohol-related.
  • But Premier Keneally cannot see these statistics, hear the cries of the victims nor speak ill of the perpetrators – Big Liquor.

    Getting BAC Testing into the survey options list
    An interesting survey at Adelaide Now.

    5.3% doesn’t look much, but, some of our now successful political parties and politicians started with less…

    Democracy Doesn’t Come Cheap!
    New MatildaI suggest you read Norman Thompson’s article on NSW party political funding in New Matilda.

    A Quote for those too busy to click:

    In the past 10 years while Labor has been in power, the AHA and hotels companies have contributed over $4.5 million to the NSW ALP. The Coalition only managed to obtain a little over $2 million during this period.

    Every alcohol dollar given to Labor, Liberals and others in NSW was based on Addiction and or Binge Drinking. That’s the rub. That’s why funding of political parties by the purveyors of addictive substances is so wrought with moral dilemmas. Have no doubt, the money received was based to a large degree on the grief of addicts and their families and the strangers they hit, hurt, killed or injured.

    Obviously, this sort of spending would cause ructions in any association. But as a former AHA President said: “Democracy doesn’t come cheap!”. And here.

    Spending $450 k a year on most things can go a long way to achieving your aims.

    What’s this got to do with Pedestrian 08?

    It’s important to realise the connections between Big Liquor, Advertising, Sponsorship, Media Involvement, Politicians and political parties and the fact that laws and regulations are written to INCREASE binge drinking. Thereby creating a greater need for pedestrian 08.


    Big Liquor – killing 2.5 million people per annum

    16/02/2011

    The wrist wringing, the grasping for ineffective, impotent, half-hearted measures by our polling addicted politicians has to end.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that alcohol is killing 2.5 million people per year.

    Too few countries use effective policy options to prevent death, disease and injury from alcohol use.

    - World Health Organisation

    Millions more are harmed or injured.

    These deaths, these injuries and harms are occurring every year.

    World Health Organisation Report

    In Big Liquor’s nirvana, the Russian Federation, 1 in 5 deaths are due to alcohol.

    Media identities who insist on not aggressively pursuing Liquor companies, politicians and political parties who continuously champion deflecting, ineffective measures and continuously ignore the short list of policies known to be effective ought to hang their heads in shame.

    This is a world wide challenge eclipsing AIDS and tuberculosis.

    Alcohol is the world’s third largest risk factor for disease burden; it is the leading risk factor in the Western Pacific and the Americas and the second largest in Europe.

    It is against your national interest to permit:

    1. The advertising or promotion of alcohol
    2. Sporting sponsorship by Big Liquor
    3. Extended trading hours
    4. Ubiquitous availability of liquor licences
    5. Minimum drinking ages below the age of 21
    6. Not having a set maximum, on street BAC level for pedestrians – especially in built up areas.
    7. The bribing/fund-raising for politicians and media by Big Liquor

    There is a world of difference between prohibition of a drug of addiction and allowing the rampant promotion, advertising and sponsorship by the corporate producers of this toxic, cancer causing drug.

    Controlling alcohol is not, nor has it ever been confused with, prohibition.

    Any self respecting government should pull out all policy options to minimise the consumption of alcohol and therefore minimise the harms of alcohol.

    As the World Health Organisation states:

    no [amount of] drinking is entirely safe.

    - Shekhar Saxena, the director of WHO’s mental health and substance abuse department

    Links:

    The WHO report.

    The Economist Article

    Rasta Livewire


    Follow

    Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.