Sunday, November 18, 2012
Alcohol Taxes Can Reduce Young People’s Drinking
By Celia Vimont | November 16, 2012 | 4 Comments | Filed in Alcohol,Government, Legislation, Marketing And Media, Young Adults & Youth
Raising alcohol excise taxes can help deter young people from drinking, according to a leading expert on preventing drinking in youth.
“These taxes prevent and reduce drinking and death among young people, as well as among heavy drinkers,” says David H. Jernigan, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who has conducted research on the effect of the taxes.
He notes that Maryland, which increased its sales taxes on liquor in 2011 from 6 percent to 9 percent, is a good example of how community coalitions can work together to translate research into action. The passage of the state alcohol sales tax increase was the first rise in spirits taxes since 1955, and the first increase in the beer and wine tax since 1972.
“When alcohol is cheaper at the corner store than milk, orange juice or sometimes even water, it sends young people the wrong message,” Jernigan says. “It makes alcohol look like an ordinary commodity when it is not.” He notes that prices on alcohol used to be much higher than those on other beverages. The most important factor in the price drop has been the inability of alcohol taxes to keep up with inflation.
In a report prepared as part of the campaign to advocate for the Maryland excise tax, CAMY estimated that a dime a drink increase in Maryland’s alcohol excise taxes would reduce alcohol consumption by 4.8 percent, raise $214.4 million in new revenue for the state and result in a savings of an additional $249 million in costs incurred in the state as a result of alcohol consumption. CAMY said that such an increase would prevent almost 15,000 cases of alcohol dependence annually. “The impact could be even larger among youth, since they are less likely to be addicted to alcohol than older drinkers, and also have less disposable income—both factors that make them more sensitive to increases in the cost of alcohol,” the report states.
The Maryland sales tax on alcohol is expected to raise about $75 million this year, about $10 million less than projected when the law was passed. An estimated $14 million collected through the alcohol tax will be used to expand community-based, long-term care for the elderly and those with disabilities. Most of the money is being directed to health-related programs. In addition to the $14 million to expand services for the elderly and disabled, the funds will be used for programs for people with developmental disabilities, and community health services, including a program that covers outpatient primary care, substance abuse and pharmacy benefits.
The coalition promoting the Maryland excise tax increase led the campaign with the public health case for the tax, Jernigan says, including two CAMY reports summarizing research on alcohol taxes. “Our message was, ‘Regardless of what we do with this money, the tax will save lives because that is what these taxes do.’” The coalition immediately got copies of the report out to the media to engage their interest.
In one study cited, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2010, researchers reviewed 72 papers and reports, nearly all of which found an inverse relationship between the tax or price of alcohol and measures of excessive drinking or alcohol-related health outcomes. The results “constitute strong evidence that raising alcohol excise taxes is an effective strategy for reducing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms,” the researchers conclude.
The coalition did polling to assess and demonstrate public support for the tax. “More than half the population supports alcohol excise taxes consistently, and if you earmark the revenue for specific things, that percentage rises to the mid-60s to low 70s,” Jernigan says.
The next step was to write a resolution to support the idea of increasing Maryland’s alcohol tax, and find organizations to sign it. The coalition then made it an election-year issue by asking candidates running for statewide office in 2010 to support the resolution, and was able to obtain backing from one-third of the candidates.
Finally, the coalition began educating policymakers about why alcohol taxes are good for public health. Jernigan cautioned that anyone who receives public funding, whether local, state or federal, cannot use those funds to be involved in direct lobbying, even about public health issues.
Once an alcohol excise tax has been passed, supporters must continue to inform the public about the effect of the tax, according to Jernigan. “The public needs to know how much has been raised, where the money is going and what impact it has. It usually takes three to four years to measure that.”
Jernigan is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on technical tools that are designed to assist states and communities in implementing recommendations of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, a nongovernmental group appointed by the CDC director. One of the recommendations is to raise alcohol excise taxes.
FedEx and UPS Targets of Criminal Investigation Related to Online Pharmacies
By Join Together Staff | November 16, 2012 | Leave a comment | Filed in Legal& Prescription Drugs
Shipping companies FedEx and UPS say they are targets of a federal investigation related to their dealings with online pharmacies, ABC News reports. The probe is part of an international effort to reduce prescription drug abuse.
On Thursday, a federal jury convicted three men of operating illegal pharmacies that used the two shipping companies to deliver drugs without proper prescriptions, according to the news report.
FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said the Drug Enforcement Administration has refused to provide the company with a list of online pharmacies under investigation. Without such information, it is not possible to know which companies are operating illegally, he told ABC News. “We have no interest in violating the privacy of our customers by opening and inspecting their packages in an attempt to determine the legality of the contents,” he said.
In 2011, Google agreed to pay $500 million to avoid being prosecuted for aiding illegal online pharmaceutical sales. In the settlement, the company acknowledged it had improperly and knowingly assisted online pharmacy advertisers, allegedly based in Canada, to run ads for illegal pharmacy sales that targeted American customers.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Letter from an addict
Shelly 6:11am Oct 21
Hi My name is Shelly
I am just the MOM...I thought maybe I would give you a different view on the
Life of an addict..MY VIEW....
I was 15 when I had my first and only child,not yet an adult,but back then
You couldn't have told me that..
Single and living in a shack with an alcoholic father,but I was HAPPY .I was
Happy because I had no supervision,,
What a life huh?Partying my days and nights
Away with no recollections the next morning,not caring that I now had
A child to tend to,because ,why should I worry,I had my dad.Even though my
Dad was a drunk,he always seemed to
Be there for us,and now,, for this child of mine.With dads help ,I was able
To continue the way I wanted to LIVE...
Mescaline,Acid,Mushrooms,Thc,and the occasional
MR.RUSH.I wasn't out there stealing and hurting people,going through
Medicine cabinets, in and out of jail,, I MY FRIEND
WAS HAVING FUN!!!! I cared about nothing but where the next hit of acid
Was coming from,
Because I wanted to LAUGH..I never bothered to find out what this stuff was
Why would I...I knew it was fun,and fun we had,yes we did..
This continued from 13 to 25,and of course we cant forget the booze...I was
Drinking in bars at 14..Back then it was like nobody cared.
We were making memories...Where was my son?HMMMMMM,I am sure my dad was
Taking care of him in between beers.
My son moved on when I was 27,He decided that he wanted to live with his dad
I moved around so much ,I could understand why
He wanted stability..Pretty hard to make friends when mom
Is so f........ up she doesn't know you exist,(although there was all of the
Fun times we had)..So here I was
Alone at 27 finally,nobody but ME...I got a job,and a 1 bedroom apartment
(WHICH I STILL MISS BY THE WAY)
And I met people,One of them introduced me to cocaine,That first time ,
Ohhhh I still remember that first time.Within minutes I was wanting more..
I don't know how long I kept it at the simple little 1/2 gram,but I kept it
That way for maybe ohh a few weeks..then it wasn't enough..I wanted more
It called my name.And I got it,I graduated to 8 balls.
Now how was I going to pay for this?I know Ill sell it,I would sell 3 keep a
1/2 ,,yes this was working for me ,,and I could now feed my addiction.Never
Caring that things just werent right in my world.I was super human,,stay up
All night doing lines,and going to work the next day..Easy life,When it got
To hard to stay awake,I would just do more lines.I could handle this way of
Living.it was the best ,or so I thought...it just wasn't enough I needed
More,and then more on top of that.
I came home to visit my dad and told him what I was doing ,he asked me to
Stop..
But I couldn't,it called my name every waking moment,it called to me...It
Took me about 2 years to really realize I was hooked..I needed to get out of
This mess I was in,So I ran back home ,way UP north,to where I knew I was
Safe,I have been clean now for 22 years.that is just a little bit about my
F........... up life,
In the meantime,I didn't even stop to think about what my son was doing.It
Was years before I really knew the truth about how bad it really was for him
I never believed my son would get into way more than I ever could have
Dreamed of.I first heard about the cocaine he was shooting,when he was 27,of
Course I didn't want to believe this.I am just now finding out that he was
Shooting starter fluid along with the cocaine.my god,how bad is it out
There?when did he graduate to the thing that I never could have imagined
HEROIN???I watched as he lost everything,a job ,a car ,a home,and most of
All his life,no he didn't die,but he may as well have been dead..He was
Scrambling,working hard to find that next hit.When did it all get this bad?
And why couldn't I fix it?I wanted my son back.over the years I have done a
Lot of stupid things,turning him in ,making his life hell,but I didn't know
The answers,I only know for the next 10 years,I enabled my son to keep going
.I thought I was helping him to get better,but in fact ,I was making things
worse for him.In the past 2 years,i have taken a step back,and I am working
on me.I am allowing my son to work on himself.Even if he relapses,this is
his choice,not mine..I cant live under the constant stress anymore.I am
living the few years left here for ME.taking care of ME.I guess I really
wanted you all to know what goes on in a moms head and heart,when they are
watching their child spin out of control..It hurts ,,there are days I would
have rather been dead.I cant go backwards,,I must move on,with or without
him in my life.as a mom ,of an addict,I have lost grandchildren that I will
never know..how fair is that to me?I didn't ask for this.so ,why should I
have to suffer?I want you all to imagine ,for one minute,,what if this was
Your child??how would you feel? I want to help save my son,but I cant..this
isnt fair..
When did life become all about drugs..when did family become unimportant
well,I wish
you all the best of luck in your sobriety.I pray for each and everyone of
you to make your life count.
Thanks for being here,and thank you Silver,for everything that you do for so
many...
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Lets Support This One
CLPRM Scholarship Benefit Concert
Woodside Church AND Christian Life Prison and Recovery Ministries PRESENTS…
A Benefit Concert for the CLPRM Scholarship Fund
Featuring DAVE PETTIGREW
With special guest Kris Ballerini
Buy tickets NOW for this very special event!
Also Featuring Special Guest Kris Ballerini
When: Saturday, November 17, 2012 @ 7pm (Doors open at 6:30)
Where: Woodside Church, 1667 Edgewood Rd., Yardley, PA
Tickets: $25
For info and tickets order now or email: daveptix@verizon.net
What is the CLPRM Scholarship Fund?
The CLPRM Scholarship Fund helps place men and women struggling with addictions into Christ-centered recovery houses or programs, and funds the first month of treatment. It is our hope that this type of environment will gives recipients a fresh start, guides them to overcome addiction and brings them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This scholarship is open to anyone struggling with addictions, including those recently released from prison.
To apply, click here for an application.
About Dave Pettigrew
Dave Pettigrew has become a good friend of CLPRM and a fan favorite. We’re so grateful he’s part of this exciting event.
Call him “the poet for the common man’s search for Christianity.” Dave Pettigrew proves worthy of the title through his collection of thought-provoking music for life.
His multiple releases, The Walk, Every Minute Miracles, Somebody I’m Supposed To Be, Solo Volume 1 & the Christmas EP, show that he is a consistent and lyrically wide-reaching breath of fresh air in Christian music as he pursues his ongoing ministry mission through song to bring the “rubber meets the road” realities of everyday life into focus with God.
His latest single “There Is Hope” has been played nationally on stations like KLOVE and Sirius XM’s “The Message” and was featured in over 3,000 churches across the nation for the 10th anniversary of September 11th.
Read more about Dave…
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