Briefing

Cannabis liberalisation: Lessons for alcohol policy

Introduction This briefing was based on a roundtable meeting hosted by the Institute of Alcohol Studies on 29th June 2023. At the roundtable, Dr Elle...

Alcohol through the life course: Older drinkers

Summary Introduction How much, what, where, when, and why people drink alcohol differs considerably across the lifespan. This is likely influenced both by changing social...

Alcohol through the life course: Young drinkers

Summary Introduction How much, what, where, when, and why people drink alcohol differs considerably across the lifespan. This is likely influenced both by changing social...

Alcohol through the life course: Underage drinkers

Summary Introduction How much, what, where, when, and why people drink alcohol differs considerably across the lifespan. This is likely influenced both by changing social...

Ethnic minorities and alcohol

Summary Introduction According to the 2011 Census, one in five people in England and Wales belong to an ethnic group other than White British [1]....

Alcohol and health inequalities

Summary Introduction Health inequalities are usually defined as systematic differences in health outcomes between socioeconomic groups, categorised by indicators such as household income, educational qualifications,...

The costs of alcohol to society

Summary Introduction A number of studies have attempted to calculate the cost of alcohol to society. This is tricky for two reasons. First, because many...

Men and alcohol

Summary Introduction Men are more likely to drink alcohol, more likely to drink at levels above recommended low-risk guidelines, and more likely to have alcohol...

Women and alcohol

Summary Introduction In recent decades, the historical gender gap between men and women’s alcohol consumption has closed. 79% of women in England reported drinking in...

Alcohol and the family

Summary Alcohol can impact family life in a wide variety of ways. To understand, we must consider: Children and parents: Relationships and partners: Families and...

Alcohol-related crime reporting – what do we know?

Summary Introduction The level of alcohol-related crime that occurs in the UK annually is likely to be an underestimate for several reasons linked to the...

Alcohol, the emergency services and the criminal justice system

Summary Introduction Survey data suggests that alcohol takes up most of emergency service frontline staff’s time, at huge cost to the UK taxpayer. Emergency service...

Crime and disorder in the night time economy

Summary Introduction The most recent official statistics on violent crime in England and Wales found that vast majority of violent incidents that occurred over the...

Domestic abuse, sexual assault, and child abuse

Summary Introduction There is a large and growing body of literature that suggests alcohol is a main factor in many, if not the majority of...

Driving factors of alcohol-related crime

Summary Introduction Aspects of the on- and off-trade have been identified as influencing rates of alcohol-related crime. In recent years, two important parallel trends in...

Alcohol and air travel

Summary Introduction There has been increased focus on the problems caused by drunk, disruptive passengers in recent years in the media and amongst UK parliamentarians....

A brief history of drink-driving policy

Summary Introduction Otherwise known as Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), drink-driving in the UK is defined as the act of...

The alcohol industry: Social and political activities

Summary As well as making and selling alcohol, many participants in the alcohol industry seek to influence politics and society in different ways. This factsheet...

The alcohol industry: an overview

Summary Introduction This briefing provides the following overview of the alcohol industry: What is the alcohol industry? The alcohol industry can be defined in different...

Alcohol-related accidents and injuries

Summary Introduction Alcohol-related health harm is not just limited to chronic disease or physical illness. The presence of alcohol in the body has also been...