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Tag Archives: news

‘Responsibilty deals’ announced but health groups withdraw

The Government's public health Responsibilty Deal was announced today, but has been surrounded by criticism as health groups pulled out from the partnerships.

News and updates March 2011: Drug strategy blog; Nutt says ’safe drinking level’ a myth; minimum price plans in Northern Ireland; beer consumption…

Home Office 'drug strategy blog' launched The Home Office drug [and alcohol] strategy blog is open until Monday 21st March to capture comments from delivery partners.

Proposed Electronic Cigarette Ban to be Voted on by New York State Assembly Health Committee

Electronic cigarettes have been all over the news lately and on Tuesday, January 25th, the New York State Assembly Health Committee will vote on bill A01468, which seeks to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes in the state of New York. The proposed bill has two sections. Section 1 of the bill proposes to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.

Licensing news Nov 2010: DBOs extended, Licensing Reform tensions & new Community Pubs Minister

Drinking Banning Orders extended The power to impose Drinking Banning Orders (DBOs) on conviction has been rolled out to a further 25 local justice areas, the Home Office has announced . DBOs are designed to tackle persistent alcohol related anti-social behaviour, allowing magistrates to attach conditions such as banning people from drinking in public or visiting licensed premises

Star Scientific "Wins" US Patent Office Ruling – Game on! (CIGX)

Yesterday the US Patent & Trademark Office revoked/ “vacated” its prior notice to terminate Star Scientifics patent, pertinent in their dispute with RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. This act will now reopen the reexamination process and will allow the commencement of the pending jury trial; an appeal is currently pending before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and written briefing is completed.

Alcohol in the news Aug 2010: hospital admissions, consumption and pricing reports

The release of the latest alcohol figures last week prompted a range of media coverage. Reacting to the updated Local Alcohol Profiles ( LAPE ) showing 954,469 alcohol-related admissions in 2009/09, headlines included 'Two admitted to hospital for alcohol a minute' (The Telegraph) and that 'problem drinking shows a north south split' (BBC).

Alcohol news and updates: June 2010 pt. 2

'Double' tax hike for drinkers expected in budget According to the Telegraph , 'drinkers face a “double whammy” of tax rises in the forthcoming emergency budget which will see the cost of beer, wine and spirits increasing sharply for the second time in three months.' A 5% duty rise combined with an increase of 2.5 percentage point rise in the rate of VAT rate would be thought to put 19p on a bottle of Chardonnay, while a bottle of Gordon's gin would rise 65p to £13.80.

Alcohol news and updates: May 2010

Licensing to return to the Home Office Responsibility for the Licensing agenda may be transferred back to Home Office under reforms by the new Government, the Morning Advertiser reports . Licensing is currently owned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport who oversaw the controversial 2003 Licensing Act . The Conservative party had pledged to 'overhaul' the current licensing regime.

Tories propose to scrap units and stop ‘below-cost selling’; New licensing powers to come in, but not mandatory code

Tories propose to replace units and stop loss leading Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that the Conservatives will replace the current units system for measuring alcohol consumption. The Conservative's new green paper on public health says: “We will change labelling in order to take account of social norms and to abolish systems of labelling that do not help consumers understand the amount of alcohol they drink.