The next Archbishop of Canterbury has described his shock at discovering the truth about his father’s secret life.

In his first interview since becoming the incoming leader of the Anglican Church, Bishop Justin Welby revealed the struggles he had faced as a teenager at Eton, nursing his alcohol-dependant father whose behaviour had become increasingly erratic.

Since the age of three, Justin had been brought up alone by his businessman father, Gavin Welby, a divorcee. But he had no idea of his father’s remarkable life story, which The Sunday Telegraph has pieced together for the first time.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Archbishop of Canterbury • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • CoE Bishops • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Children • Marriage & Family

In... [British Columbia], if you blow .08 or beyond, you can avoid the justice system – and a criminal record – if you fit certain criteria. Conditions include not having killed or injured anyone or caused property damage as a result of your actions. If you qualify, you can opt for administrative sanctions over the courts.

If you choose this path, you have to go through a rehabilitation program, which could lead to treatment for alcohol abuse. When the person is given the right to drive again, it can only be in a car outfitted with an ignition interlock system, for a minimum of one year. The device prevents the car from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol level is above a certain limit.

“The focus is very much on rehabilitating the driver and not simply punishing him,” says Mr. Murie. “I don’t think just punishing drivers works.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Law & Legal Issues • Teens / Youth • Travel • Young Adults • * International News & Commentary • Canada

Despite high rates of alcohol abuse, the Army has delayed for nearly three years a plan to offer all soldiers access to confidential counseling for drinking problems, a move that leaders in alcohol abuse treatment say is a mistake.

The Army began a pilot program in 2009 for confidential treatment, but it continues debating what to do next because of a high dropout rate.

One in four GIs now have a drinking problem, and alcohol has been linked to record numbers of suicides, sexual assaults and domestic abuse cases, Army research shows.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Children • Marriage & Family • Military / Armed Forces • Psychology • * Economics, Politics • Defense, National Security, Military

Several months back, Catholic University President John Garvey announced in this WSJ opinion piece that the school was eliminating coed housing for incoming freshman this term.

Why? Garvey believes the move will help reduce binge drinking and casual hook-ups at the school.

In June, John Banzhaf, a professor at George Washington University Law School, told the Law Blog that he intended to sue Catholic University, contending that the same-sex plan violates D.C.’s Human Rights Act.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Religion & Culture • Sexuality • Young Adults • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A. • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Binge drinking among teenage girls has become a serious public health problem for the UK and a source of public disorder, a report compiled by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University has concluded. It warned that Britain’s alcohol culture was spawning a violent and promiscuous generation with 30 per cent of teenagers bingeing at least weekly.

The study of over 11,000 15 and 16-year-old teenagers in the North West found that 88 per cent of teen girls had consumed alcohol, as compared to 80 per cent of boys. “Compared to European neighbours, 15 and 16-year-olds [British teens] are far more likely to drink alcohol and do so more frequently,” the report found.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Teens / Youth • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

We asked...[Brenda Wilhelmson] why she decided to go public with her alcoholism.

"I don't know that I thought it was the best thing for me," she said. "I thought it would be good for the millions of people who are struggling like I did, and are looking for something to connect and identify with, and speaks to where they are. ... I didn't want to put myself out there at first. I sat on my journals for a year and a half before I started working on them."

Read it all

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Alcoholism • Blogging & the Internet

Research shows that around 2.6 million children in the UK are living with parents who are drinking hazardously and 705,000 are living with dependent drinkers. (1)

The Children’s Commissioner for England and The Children’s Society have today published the first booklet of its kind for use by children affected by a parent or carer drinking too much alcohol. It will help them to have frank discussions with teachers, professionals or an adult who they trust when they are worried about a parent or carer and the problems caused by their alcohol consumption.

Read it all and follow the links from The Children's Society.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Blogging & the Internet • Children • Marriage & Family • * International News & Commentary • England / UK

This year, the United Methodist Church is recommending that persons conduct an alcohol-free Lent.

This practice would bring about spiritual benefits as persons think about the sacrifice of Jesus in his crucifixion, consider how much importance the use of beverage alcohol has in their lives, and free up money that would have been spent on beverage alcohol to be used for the relief of human suffering. This is in keeping with the historic stance of the Methodist movement, and offers to people an opportunity to consider how the way they live their lives impacts the world around them in positive or negative ways.

In our local congregation in Bath, we support the church’s position in several ways. We support and affirm several of our members in recovery from alcohol addiction, both in our congregational gatherings as well as in small groups; our facilities are always available at no cost for recovery groups to meet; and like all other Methodist churches, our communion services are conducted using unfermented grape juice, so that all persons can participate.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Church Year / Liturgical Seasons • Lent • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Methodist

“It isn’t that alcohol in and of itself is bad; Jesus drank wine..." [the Rev. James Howell] said. “We emphasize the role it plays in our lives.”

Part of that discussion, Howell and others have found, involves acknowledging a fact that some Methodists prefer not to talk about: some Methodists drink—even if many don’t like to admit it.

From teetotaling Baptists to Episcopalians who uncork champagne in the parish hall, what to do with the bottle can be a tricky question for religious groups to answer—especially during holy periods or holidays.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Alcoholism • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Methodist • * Theology • Pastoral Theology

Call it a buzz kill, but anyone younger than 21 who brings alcohol to the Carolina Cup next month in Camden will find it harder to slip in and party.

Kershaw County deputies will be cracking down at the April 2 event by checking coolers and IDs. They will confiscate booze and arrest violators. And those particularly wily kids will find they no longer can hire a local adult to carry their booze onto the site.

Kershaw County officers are focusing on “College Park,” an area where thousands of young people — high school through young adults — have met for years to overindulge during the horse races, said newly elected Sheriff Jim Matthews.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Sports • Teens / Youth • Young Adults • * South Carolina

Holy God, we offer thanks for the vision of Samuel Shoemaker, priest and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous; and we pray that we may follow his example to help others find salvation through knowledge and love of Jesus Christ our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • * Christian Life / Church Life • Church History • Spirituality/Prayer • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Alcoholism

Almost one in 10 sports fans has a blood alcohol content above the legal limit as they exit the stadium after football and baseball games, a study found.

There are 100 stadiums in the U.S. that schedule 5,000 games each year attended by more than 130 million fans, according to a report today in the journal Alcoholism. The New Meadowlands stadium, where the New York Giants football team plays, has a capacity of 82,500. If this study holds, about 6,600 people, or 8 percent, leave drunk after watching a game.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Sports • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

There has been a lot of speculation about whether Jared Lee Loughner, the man arrested for the Arizona shooting, has a severe mental illness. But is mental illness a sufficient explanation for his actions? Recent research has found that mental illness is, in fact, tied to an increased risk of violence—but it is not a simple relationship....

...the vast majority of patients with severe mental illness are not violent during their lifetimes. The largest and longest study of schizophrenia and violence, conducted in Sweden over the course of 30 years, found that only 13% of patients had violent convictions after receiving their diagnoses. For most patients, the risk of becoming a victim of violence is higher than the risk that they will commit violence.

Nor should we make the mistake of assuming that a correlation between mental illness and violence somehow establishes a causal connection between them. It may be that schizophrenia is simply a marker for other factors that increase the risk of violence. Of these factors, one of the strongest is alcohol and drug abuse. Estimates from the U.S. indicate that around half of patients with schizophrenia also have problems with substance abuse. One study in American urban centers found that nearly a third of patients who were discharged from the hospital and also diagnosed with substance abuse were violent within one year.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Health & Medicine • Prison/Prison Ministry • Psychology • Mental Illness • Stress • Violence

Two decades after declaring victory in the war over biblical inerrancy, Southern Baptists are battling about booze.

Seeking to remain relevant in today's culture, many Baptists have abandoned former taboos against social activities like dancing and going to movies. Now some are questioning the denomination's historic position of abstaining from alcohol, prompting others to draw a line.

The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina recently passed a motion to "study a policy of the social use of alcohol" related to funding of church plants, employment of personnel and nomination of persons to committees and boards of trustees.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Pastoral Care • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Religion & Culture • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Baptists

For teenagers, friends play a big role in the decision to take that first drink. And by the 12th grade, more than 65 percent of teens have at least experimented with alcohol. But what parents do during the high school years can also influence whether teens go on to binge drink or abuse alcohol. Researchers at Brigham Young University have found that teenagers who grow up with parents who are either too strict or too indulgent tend to binge drink more than their peers.

"While parents didn't have much of an effect on whether their teens tried alcohol, they can have a significant impact on the more dangerous type of drinking," says Stephen Bahr, a professor of sociology at BYU, and the author of the study that was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Marriage & Family • Teens / Youth

A new report out today from the National Institute of Drug Abuse shows teenage drug use is up, especially among eighth-graders, the primary culprits: marijuana, ecstasy, and prescription drugs. Teenagers are also now less likely to believe that marijuana use is dangerous.

At the same time, previously reported declines in cigarette smoking have stalled. There was some good news. The rate of binge drinking, consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a row, is down.

Here to discuss the findings is Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Drugs/Drug Addiction • Psychology • Teens / Youth • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

October has been a bad month for college towns.

On Oct. 2, a raid by New Haven, Conn., police to break up a party by Yale University students led to claims of police brutality and excessive force.

One week later, a party by Penn State University students turned violent when a fight between two women spilled out onto the streets of State College, leaving two students with stab wounds.

Last week, Pace University football player Danroy "DJ" Henry was shot and killed by police outside a popular eatery frequented by students from the nearby Pace campus.

What they have in common is alcohol — a common component in encounters between police and college students that can fuel tensions.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Education • Law & Legal Issues • Young Adults

When the going gets tough, the tough, um, go drinking. That's the word from a new Gallup poll showing that 67% of Americans are hitting the bottle, the most since 1985. Another sign of challenging economic times: more and more of those rounds are happening in the kitchen, not at the corner pub.

A new report by Mintel International, a market-research firm, shows that a growing number of Americans are guzzling down wine and spirits at home as opposed to in bars and restaurants, and many are trading down to cheaper brands as they seek fiscally conscious ways to party in a sluggish economy.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

Meeting in Gisborne today, the Anglican General Synod invited Professor Doug Sellman from the National Addiction Centre to speak about binge drinking culture.

He put forward a number of solutions to deal with the issue: raising alcohol prices, raising the purchase age, reducing the accessibility to alcohol, reducing marketing and advertising, increasing drink-driving countermeasures and increasing treatment opportunities for heavy drinkers.

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change the way we regulate alcohol in society. It is a national crisis and way of life, and you have a role to address what science tells us what needs to be treated as a Class B drug," he said.

The Synod today backed Prof Sellman's proposals, and members also voted to increase their own vigilance of alcohol consumption and to hold each other to account.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Alcoholism

The Anglican Bishop of Auckland, The Right Reverend Ross Bay, has welcomed the Law Commission's Report "Alcohol in our Lives, Curbing the Harm" presented to Parliament this week.

Bishop Bay has long carried a concern about the negative trends in drinking behaviour among some New Zealanders. He considers that the shift to a lower legal age in 1999 has been a big factor in the growing youth alcohol problem. He is supportive of the legal drinking age returning to 20 years.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia • * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking

Over the course of the election campaign, the Today programme will be investigating the big trends in British society over the past 13 years, and how the trends have influenced the choices that politicians have made on our behalf.

In the first in a series of reports, John Humphrys visited Cardiff on a Saturday night, to see how the government has attempted to tackle the rise in binge-drinking.

Listen to it all (almost 8 1/2 minutes).

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Alcohol/Drinking • Violence • Young Adults • * International News & Commentary • England / UK • --Wales