Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Avoid that third drink

Australian health authorities urge drinkers to avoid that third drink. For details, see here.

WCTU and the fight against racism in Australia (article)

Alison Holland, "To Eliminate Colour Prejudice: The WCTU and Decolonisation in Australia," Journal of Religious History 32/2 (June 2008): 256-276.

Robin Room advocates higher taxes to attack Australia's alcohol problem

The well-known sociologist and alcohol expert Robin Room recommends higher taxes to attack Australia's alcohol problem.  He will address Tasmania's first annual conference on alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues.  Room is the inaugural chair of social research in alcohol at the University of Melbourne's School of Population Health and director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research at the Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.  For more, see here.

For more about Dr. Room's career and his return to his native Australia, see here.

Australia to grow cacao trees

Australians have planted cacao trees in northern Queensland where the soils, temperatures, and rainfall are similar to those in West Africa where three-quarters of the cacao is produced. Australia hopes to win a slice in the (Australian?) $75 billion chocolate market. For more, see here.

"Six O'Clock Swill" in Australia (article)

Tanya Luckins, "Pigs, Hogs and Aussie Blokes: The Emergence of the Term 'Six O'Clock Swill'," History Australia 4/1 (2007).

Research Centre for the History of Food & Drink, University of Adelaide

Research Centre for the History of Food & Drink, University of Adelaide, Australia
For its website, see here.

Abstracts of papers (some of them not recent, so the biographical information may not always be accurate).

Several of the papers appear in full in Robert Dare, ed. Food, Power and Community (Wakefield Press), namely those of Andrea Cast, Brett J. Stubbs, and Anna E. Blainey (and can be read via Google)

Anna Blainey, Wowserism Reconsidered: The Ethos of the Total Abstinence and Prohibition Movements in Australia, 1880-1910
Unlike the US anti-alcohol movement, little has been written on the movement in Australia. The one widely read work on this subject, Keith Dunstan'sWowsers, draws largely from the words of the anti-drink movement's opponents who attributed to the teetotallers largely imaginary motives and obscured their true agenda. The so-called "wowsers" themselves, however, did not see drink in terms of the spiritual evils of pleasure as their enemies insisted. Rather, they presented drinking and especially moderate drinking as an unethical act - an act which impacted on and harmed others in various and complex ways. Their anger, however, was directed not at drinking but rather at drink selling which they saw in terms of the infliction of damage on others - comparable to crimes of violence against the person. The anti-drink movement saw alcohol as the expression of the ethos of individualism and the profit motive at the expense of social responsibility and community protection.
Anna Blainey is currently completing a PhD at La Trobe University. She has taught and written teaching texts for History and Women's Studies subjects at Deakin University.

PO Box 257, East Melbourne VIC 3002
hisaeb@lure.latrobe.edu.au

George Bretherton, Food, Drink, Sex and The Body in the Light of Temperance Propaganda in the British Isles, 1830-60
The way temperance advocates developed their notions about what was fit or not to ingest naturally had basic and very profound effects on all sorts of attitudes towards food and drink. Alcohol, which had been regarded as a health and strength giving substance in the pre-temperance days, had to be discredited, which was done mainly in two ways. First by showing that alcohol was unhealthy, an argument put forward in medical treatises--Irish and Scottish physicians were especially important among the first generation of temperance people--and in more homely ways; Joseph Livesy's malt lecture is a good example a talk he gave to many a Mechanics' Institute audience in which he subjected a pint of beer to chemical analysis, revealing that far from deserving the appellation "liquid bread" it consisted entirely of poisons. The relation between food and drink also needed to be rethought. If drinking was healthy and the more you drank the healthier you were then a stout physique and a red face, not atypical results, were signs of health.
Dr. George Bretherton is Associate Professor of History at Montclair State University in New Jersey. He wrote his PhD dissertation on the Irish temperance movement, has published many article and given many conference papers on various aspects of the history of the temperance movement, and is currently working on the role of Theobald Matthew in the temperance movement.

Department of History, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey 07043

Andrea Cast, Drinking Women in Early Modern English Drinking Songs
Drinking alcohol has always been a significant event, imbued with cultural values and meanings. In early modern England everyone drank alcohol every day. What can we learn about early modern English society from looking at the public drinking of women? We do not have access to direct information about alehouse and tavern culture but we do have many of the ballads that were written, sung, sold and displayed there. From these drinking songs historians can glean information that may shed some light on how women participated in what can only be described as the national pastime.
Andrea Cast is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at The University of Adelaide. Her thesis topic is the consumption of alcohol by women in early modern England.

Department of History, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5000
acast@arts.adelaide.edu.au

Valmai Hankel, The Eager Oenographers
Unlike today, most books on wine published in Australia in the nineteenth century were written by winegrowers for winegrowers rather than for consumers. At the same time, in England wine book writers were sometimes wine merchants, whose opinions of Australian wines were often less than flattering. This paper will look at nineteenth-century Australian wine books and the portrayal of Australian wines in English books of the same period. It will draw on the resources of the State Library of South Australia, which has the largest collection of wine literature in the southern hemisphere.
Valmai Hankel is Senior Rare Books Librarian at the State Library of South Australia. She is the wine writer for The Adelaide Review and also writes a column on wine history for the national magazine Winestate. For six years she chaired the Consumer Panel of judges for the Advertiser-Hyatt Regency South Australian Wine of the Year Awards.

State Library of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000
valmaih@slsa.sa.gov.au

Annie Harper, Strong Beere and Merry Lads: Drinking Culture and Popular Song in Early Modern England
This paper explores the culture of drinking in Early Modern England through the rich source of popular song. The first part of the paper examines the relationship between drinking and popular balladry. Records from the Jacobean Star Chamber offer evidence about the dissemination and composition of these songs, and indicate that the Alehouse was an important centre for the creation and dissemination of Ballads. Printed urban Broadsides were also heavily flavoured by drinking culture, and Ballad publishers, authors and performers were often associated with urban drinking establishments.
The relationship between drinking and music was symbiotic, as both the audience and the performance space of the Alehouse was reflected in the content of these songs. The second part of this paper looks at this content, examining the two main thematic motifs found in these drinking songs. One emphasises the companionship and community cohesion found in communal drinking ballads; the other represents the problems associated with drink in society, a tradition of social comment through song. In this way I shall explore some of the ambiguities associated with drinking culture at the time.
Annie Harper is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at the University of Melbourne. Her thesis topic is popular ballads in early modern England.

Department of History, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3052
a.harper@pgrad.unimelb.EDU.AU

Cath Kerry, Chocolate: A History
Chocolate, as the confectionary bar we eat today, is barely 100 years old. Chocolate was used by the Aztecs and Mayans as a mainly ceremonial drink. It came to Europe and vied for popularity with coffee and tea. New technology in the 19th century set out to improve its drinkability, texture and handling qualities, and led eventually to a novelty, eating chocolate that quickly came to symbolise love, nurture, luxury and compulsion. Any interest in chocolate and why it's a part of our lives are obvious.
Cath Kerry is a chef who keeps an academic approach to food for consenting adults in private. Her interests and attitude to chocolate are influenced by her passion for knowing why we live as we do, and by her belief that eating well is one of the last affordable and safe pleasures.

Art Gallery of South Australia, North Terrace, Adelaide 5000; Fax 08 8232 7266

David K. Round, Louise Sutherland, and Anne Arnold, Going, Going, Gone: Red Wine Auction Prices in Australia
In recent years in Australia, red wine auctions have resulted in prices which have caught the attention of the public and the press, as selected labels have rocketed in price. The market for red wine in Australia is an incredibly diverse one. A given red wine from one geographic area, from the same vintage, from a particular grape variety, can vary enormously in price from other wines with identical characteristics. Why is this? Economists can explain such price discrepancies easily, at least in theory. In the formal language of economics, they depend on the underlying conditions of supply and demand. This paper presents a preliminary investigation into the operation of the red wine auction market in Australia.
We start by looking at the economic characteristics of the auction process, and then move on to describe the essential features of wine auctions in Australia. Next, we identify the major wine labels which have been driving the auction market, and consider briefly the reasons why these particular wines might be seen as so distinct by buyers. We then move on to a statistical description of the price trends for some of the most commonly auctioned red wines, and analyse the quite marked differences which appear. We conclude with some projections of future prices, and assess, from a price perspective, just what it is that makes a great wine.
David K. Round is Associate Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide, Louise Sutherland is an honours student in the School of Economics, and Anne Arnold is a Lecturer in Economics in the School of Economics. The research for this paper was funded by a grant from the University of Adelaide. Prof. Round's major research interests are in the areas of competition, policy, price fixing, and mergers.

School of Economics, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005
dround@economics.adelaide.edu.au

Brett J. Stubbs, 'A New Drink for Young Australia': The Transition from Ale to Lager Beer in New South Wales, c. 1880 to 1930
One of the most significant twentieth century developments in the Australian brewing industry was the almost complete replacement of the traditional British top-fermented ale style by the Continental bottom-fermented lager style of beer. In the 1880s and 1890s there emerged in Australia a strong demand for lager beer which was met mainly by bottled imports from Germany and the United States of America. There were also several attempts at local manufacture. In New South Wales, at least, these all failed. During the First World War the curtailment of imports left the demand for lager unsatisfied. Perceiving this gap, Tooth & Co., the largest brewer in New South Wales, successfully launched K.B. (Kent Brewery) lager in 1918. This was a crucial turning point in NSW, providing the momentum for lager eventually to supplant the traditional ale style. This trend was paralleled in other Australian states.
Dr. Brett J. Stubbs is a lecturer in the School of Resource Science and Management at Southern Cross University. His publications include "The Revival and Decline of the Independent Breweries in New South Wales, 1946 to 1961," and his current research includes the brewing industry in Australia.

School of Resource Science and Management, Southern Cross University, P.O. Box 157, Lismore NSW 2480; Fax 02 6621 2669
bstubbs@scu.edu.au

Tea in Australian culture (article)

Susie Khamis, "A Taste for Tea: How Tea Travelled to (and through) Australian Culture," ACH: Journal of the History of Culture in Australia 24 (2006): 57-79.

Wine in New South Wales (article)

Julie McIntyre, "Camden to London and Paris: The Role of the MacArthur Family in the Early New South Wales Wine Industry," History Compass 5 (2007): 427-438.

International coffee shop chain enters Ukraine

In November 2007 the first international coffee shop chain established itself in Ukraine. It was Australian-owned Gloria Jean's. For more, see here.

Alcoholism in Australia (article)

Ruth McConnell and Steve Mullins, "'We had both been drinking since Christmas' – battered wives and dead abusive husbands in early colonial Rockhampton," Journal of Australian Colonial History 5 (2004): 100-19.

Still true

Australian customs officers have discovered nearly 300 grams of ecstasy tablets hidden inside a Mr. Potato Head toy sent to Australia from Ireland.

Find the full story here.

In a related story, customs officers in the Netherlands discovered cocaine stashed in the backs of more than 100 large, dead bugs sent from Peru to the Netherlands.

“We see a lot of things, but this was a first for us,” customs spokesman Kees Nanninga said Thursday.

“It looked like they were cut open, the drugs hidden in their backs and then they were glued back together again,” he said.

The insects held only about 10 ounces of cocaine, worth about $11,000, Nanninga said.

Read more here.

Resources for study of WCTU in South Australia

For resources for the study of the WCTU in South Australia, see here.

'Adopt out' the children of drug addicts

A major parliamentary inquiry in Australia has recommended young children be taken away from drug-addicted parents permanently and adopted out.

The Canberra Times reports.

Sydney's Pubs (museum exhibit)

The Justice and Peace Museum in Sydney, Australia, will hold an exhibit starting February 2008 called "Sydney's Pubs: Liquor, Larrikans and the Law." In February 1916 a riot by military recruits prompted a reaction that led to the passage of a referendum to close pubs at 6 pm, a policy that remained until 1954. For more, see here.

Aussie shearers using drugs

A shearing contractor in Western Australia, worried about shearers using cannabis, crystal meth and "speed balls," has introduced random drug tests. At first, 40% of the shearers were positive for drugs, but under the pressure of testing, this figure has declined, and the contractor thinks his men have become much more healthy. For more, see here.

Does "fairtrade" hurt coffee, tea, and cocoa produced in underdeveloped countries?

Two University of Melbourne academics claim that "fairtrade" benefits the "fairtrade" branding organization and those producers who pay fees to it while hurting the bulk of producers of coffee, tea, and cocoa in underdeveloped countries. The professors recommend "free trade" competition as the only sustainable alternative. See the article in the Australian, April 28, 2007, here. By the way, the Australian newspaper makes "fairtrade" one word in contrast to the American usage "fair trade."

Coca Cola Beer

Coca Cola Amatil has announced that it is planning to produce local versions of imported beers and develop new local brands. Managing director Terry Davis says a move into the production of alcoholic drinks will be highly profitable for the company.

ABC News Online reports.

Inaccuracies in historical claims of Australian breweries

Brett Stubbs, " Do Brewers Know their Own Histories?," Brewer & Distiller International (January 2007): 36.    From Brewery History Society Newsletter 38, spring 2007.

Alcohol and the colonial cricketer (article)

Gregory M. de Moore, "The Sons of Lush: Tom Wills, Alcohol and the Colonial Cricketer," Sport in History 25/3 (2005): 354-374.

Cannabis loses appeal for young people

A new study has found a third of young Australians think using cannabis is unacceptable, and the majority believe it is a dangerous drug.

The report by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has found half of people think cannabis can lead to schizophrenia and depression.

It also found half of people under 30 have friends who use cannabis, but a third of those surveyed find the practice unacceptable.

ABC News Online reports.

Safe injection sites for heroin addicts

The (London) Independent, 19 February 2007, reports a trend of public health authorities providing safe injection sites for heroin addicts. This occurs in parts of Western Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland) and sometimes elsewhere (Australia, Canada(. For more, see here.

RADAR

RADAR, a project of the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia, aims to promote awareness of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs research in Australia.

The register contains up-to-date records of current and recently completed research projects with details of published research. There is also information about researchers, their organisations and research funding bodies.

Special thanks to Steven Thompson for the link. 

Alcohol 'time-bomb' of Aborigines

A report from one of Australia's most respected research bodies has shown that alcohol abuse claims the life of an Aborigine every 38 hours.

The BBC reports.

Italy exports wine valued at a billion dollars to the USA

In 2006 for the first time Italy exported a billion dollars' worth of wine to the United States. Italian wine exports to America were twice those of France, four times those of Chile, and seven times those of Spain. Australia ranks next to Italy in exporting wine to the USA. Italy surpassed France in wine exports to America beginning in 1983. For more, see here.

Tobacco control in Australia and New Zealand (article)

Donley T. Sudiar, "The Political Dynamics of Tobacco Control in Australia and New Zealand: Explaining Policy Problems, Instruments, and Patterns of Adoption," Australian Journal of Political Science 40/2 (2005): 255-274.

WCTU evicted at Brisbane, Australia

The Queensland state WCTU is being evicted from its Brisbane offices because its dwindling and ageing membership no longer can afford city rents. The records of the 121-year-old state WCTU will be put in storage. For more, see here.

Ecstasy in Australia

Australia is a leader in consumption of the so-called party drug Ecstasy. About three per cent of the population use it fairly regularly. A hundred thousand pills are consumed each weekend. For more, see the article in the (Melbourne) Age, 7 January 2006, here.

German style brewery architecture (article)

Lynn Pearson, "Ale and Farewell: The German Style of Brewery Architecture," Brewery History no. 123 (Summer 2006): 35-43. Lynn Pearson published British Breweries: An Architectural History (2000). She is editor of the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society Journal.

Drug to block appetite for alcohol

According to the BBC, in experiments with rats scientists in Australia have found a drug that blocks the appetite for alcohol. For more, see here.

Single-serve wine bottle sealed with an upturned plastic cup

One of Australia's largest wine companies, Hardy Wine, has launched a single-serve wine bottle sealed with an upturned plastic cup for drinking. Called the "shuttle," it is aimed at serving large crowds quickly at special events. For more, see here.

Marijuana in Australia (books)

John Jiggens, Marijuana Australiana (2001) and one of his other books, The Sydney Connection, are available from Hemp PO Box 7 Ashgrove Qld Australia 4060. Both are $20 plus $5 postage and packaging. (Australian $ obviously).

Cost of drug prohibition in Australia (paper)

John Jiggens, "The Cost of Drug Prohibition in Australia," paper presented to the Social Change in the 21st Century Conference, Centre for Social Change Research, Queensland University of Technology, 28 October 2005. For text of paper, see here.

Around the World in eight hangovers

The task: investigating the 'cultural and traditional aspects of alcohol around the world'. In other words, getting very drunk in six of the world's most formidable drinking capitals. The man for the job? The Independent's Dom Joly.

drinking in Australia (article)

Diane Kirkby, "Drinking the Good Life: Australia c. 1880-1980," in Mack P. Holt, ed., Alcohol: A Social and Cultural History (Oxford and New York: Berg, 2006).

Australia's country pubs disappear (article)

Australia's country pubs are disappearing.   Nearly 20% of the country pubs have closed in the past five years, while country and urban licensed clubs have disappeared even more rapidly.  Poker machines are crowding out the old functions of the pub in cities.  For details, see the 5 July 06 story in the Age which is posted here.

More ecstacy use in Australia

Australia's The Advertiser reports (May 25) that more Australians are using Ecstasy. Link here.

WCTU in Australia (book)

Judith Pargeter, For God, Home and Humanity: National Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Australia: Centenary History, 1891-1991 (Golden Grove, South Australia: the Union, 1995).

coffee in Australia (book)

Andrew Brown-May, Espresso! Melbourne Coffee Stories (Melbourne: Arcadia, 2001).

Australian breweries (book)

Keith M. Deutsher, Breweries of Australia: a History (Port Melbourne, Victoria: Lothianm, 1999).

Heroin users in Australia (article)

Kaya, C. Yalçin, et al. "Heroin users in Australia: Population Trends." Drug & Alcohol Review 23, no. 1 (2004): 107-116.

Petrol sniffing in the Australian desert

Nicolas Rothwell reports for the Australian (April 15, 2006) on the increase in "petrol sniffing" among Australian Aborigines.

Aboriginal Australian Encounters with Europeans, Southeast Asians, and Tobacco (article)

Maggie Brady, Jeremy Long, “Mutual Exploitation? Aboriginal Australian Encounters with Europeans, Southeast Asians, and Tobacco.” Drugs, labor, and colonial expansion. Ed. William Jankowiak and Daniel Bradburd. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2003, pp. 31 - 58.

Les Murray, Australian poet

For the Australian, Rosemary Neill interviews Les Murray, "Australia's greatest living poet." The interview ends with Murray quoting Hunter S. Thompson: "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol or insanity to anyone, but they've worked for me."

What, was the skywriting guy busy?

ANDREW Knight wanted his marriage proposal to combine something he and his girlfriend both enjoyed. In true Aussie style he stocked the fridge at his New South Wales Central Coast home with beer for the occasion - but not just any beer. Andrew designed a special beer label that carried his marriage proposal and a picture of the engagement ring.

Read more.

From men with nothing happening down below, to women with too much happening

The rise of erectile dysfunction correlates nicely with an increase in cigarette smoking, researchers in Australia report. Read more.

A woman has been caught at Sydney Airport with heroin hidden in her underwear, police say. The Age reports.

Heroin ship set to be sunk

THE North Korean ship used in an attempt to smuggle 150kg of heroin into Australia was last night moved out of Sydney Harbour in preparation for its sinking.

Despite at least one offer to buy the Pong Su, the Australian Federal Police has ordered the 743-tonne vessel, which has cost $2500 a day to maintain since its capture three years ago, be destroyed.

The Australian reports.

One in 50 drivers on ecstasy

SECRET police tests [in Victoria, Australia] have caught up to 300 motorists driving under the influence of ecstasy. The shock results have persuaded the Bracks Cabinet to include ecstasy in new roadside drug-drive test laws introduced in State Parliament yesterday. The new laws will come into force from July 1.

The Herald Sun reports.

Speaking of food, I'll have the heroin fish and chips

A MAN has appeared in court charged over the alleged attempted import of about $2 million of heroin found hidden inside fish fillets.

Anh Kiet Tran, 40, from Sydney appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today charged with importing a border controlled drug.

It was alleged Customs officers at Brisbane Airport found the drug when they inspected Mr Tran's luggage after he arrived on a flight from Cambodia yesterday.

Read more.

Boozy daters

A recent survey shows that Aussies, more than anyone else in the world, believe that liquor is an aphrodisiac.

It seems that 80% of Australian men surveyed by romance publisher Harlequin think that bucket-loads of booze make the heart beat faster, while 70% of woman get sloshed as they search for a soul mate.

Read more.

Drug mules to face firing squad

TWO young Australians who led a gang of drug mules in smuggling heroin through the Indonesian holiday island of Bali were sentenced yesterday to death by firing squad.

The London Times reports.

Post-work dope smoke 'affects brain'

PEOPLE who smoke cannabis after work short circuit the brain's ability to dump the bad memories accumulated during the day, a Sydney drug expert said today. Dr Jon Currie, director of western Sydney's health services dealing with drug addiction, says smoking marijuana after work leads to emotional instability and abnormal brain function the following day.

The Australian reports.

NSW claims 'toughest' cannabis laws

NEW South Wales will have the toughest laws in the country for the commercial cultivation of hydroponically grown cannabis, Premier Morris Iemma has said. But the penalties for growing less than five plants of hydroponic cannabis will not increase. He said the new laws were drafted in response to growing concerns of the drug's link to mental illness.

Read more.

Slow news day at ABC?

The smell of roasting coffee beans in one of Tasmania's ritziest suburbs is causing an unprecedented stink among the latte sipping set. At issue: a local cafe's coffee-roasting machine which some residents say is causing a pong and breaching planning regulations. Others say it's just a storm in a coffee cup.

For ABC News, Tim Jeanes investigates

Asia drives wine exports to fresh high

Australian wine exports hit new highs last year but prices for growers continued to fall. New figures show winemakers are also holding record quantities of wine in storage. New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the red grape harvest dropped 5 per cent in 2004-05 but an increase in white grapes of 7 per cent nudged the total crush just above last year. Domestic sales climbed 3 per cent and the UK and the US remain Australia's biggest wine importers, but there was also 40 per cent growth in exports to Asia.

Read more here.

Smokers kick the habit, but tobacco firms buck the trend

The smoking bans that have been introduced in countless countries around the world would presumably bode ill for the global tobacco industry, yet shares in major cigarette companies have performed well over the past year, and some are trading near all-time highs. The Independent explains why.

Canadian-style mulled wine?

A Canadian man and woman tried to smuggle half a kilogram of cocaine through Sydney airport in wine bottles, federal authorities say.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

1801 Australian Pub

The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, 28 November 2005, reports that construction workers at Parramatta uncovered the cellar of the Wheatsheaf Hotel, a pub from 1801 to 1808.  It started business only 13 years after the first European settlement in Australia.

Mental illness high among heroin users: report

According to ABC News Online, a recent report into drug use in Australia has found heroin users have a significantly higher rate of mental illness than the rest of the community. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found that more than half of the participants who used heroin in the past month were diagnosed or treated for mental illness within the past year.

It is the first time researchers have proven such a strong link. Report author Dr David Batts says the figure is disturbing. "These people are needing help and possibly not getting it," he said. Researchers surveyed children as young as 12 and found a significant increase in the level of drug use when teenagers turn 15. It also found drug users suffer from much poorer health than non-users, including higher rates of heart disease and asthma.

A $60,000 cup of coffee

IT was Sydney's lifeline for Hollywood heavyweights - providing fuel for gruelling movie shoots. But the might of the coffee world's big boys was too much for the owners of Fox Studio's mobile cafe - who yesterday lost a Supreme Court fight.

Justice John Hamilton ruled Maia Andreasen and her husband Juan Renshaw were liable for damages of $60,327 because they changed their brand of bean, allegedly following complaints from famous customers of the Expresso Fox coffee shop. Cantarella Bros - suppliers of Vittoria coffee - sued Expresso Fox for breaching a three-year contract when they ditched their product after just 10 months.

News.com.au reports.

Wine industry joins 'risky' drinking campaign

The wine industry is joining other alcohol producers to fund a new national body to address "risky" drinking. Wine, beer and spirit producers are spending $7 million initially on the DrinkWise campaign to change Australia's drinking culture. ABC News reports.

Smoke costing wine industry millions

ABC News reports that researchers hope to wipe out a multi-million dollar burden on the wine industry by investigating how smoke from prescribed burns and bushfires affects wine grapes. Winegrowers in the Manjimup and Pemberton regions of southern Western Australia have raised concerns in recent years that their vintages have been partially or entirely ruined by smoke from nearby fires. The Department of Agriculture says it will now try to isolate which chemical compounds are causing the damage.

The department's viticulture research and development officer, Kristin Kennison, says it is a problem for several wine regions across Australia. "Over the past couple of years we've estimated that's cost the industry about $7 million," she said. "If we have a better understanding of when smoke can be damaging to the grape vine during its growth cycle, we'll have a better understanding of when, say, different prescribed burning events can go ahead."

Classy new drink alternative arrives in New Zealand: wine in a can

Wine-in-a-can is one of the latest products to hit the New Zealand ready to drink (RTD) market with varieties such as Cabernet Shiraz Merlot, Chardonnay Semillion and red and white sparkling wine all coming in a convenient 250ml can. Stuff reports.

Australians like their meth

About 73,000 Australians are now addicted to methamphetamines, more than double the number dependent on heroin, new research shows.

Drawing on interviews with more than 400 users, dealers, health workers and law enforcement officers, the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) report is the most comprehensive study undertaken on the Australian methamphetamine market.

Released in Sydney, the report examines the importation, distribution, demand, price, criminal involvement and health and social concerns surrounding methamphetamine use.

The Age reports.

Aussie to hang for heroin smuggling

A 25-YEAR-OLD Melbourne man who said he smuggled heroin in an effort to pay off his twin brother's debts will within days become the first Australian to be executed in Singapore after a final presidential appeal for clemency was rejected.

Nguyen Tuong Van is expected to be hanged within 10 days, despite pleas for mercy to Singaporean President Sellapan Rama Nathan by John Howard, Governor-General Michael Jeffery and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

Nguyen was sentenced to death last year. He had been caught with 396g of heroin strapped to his back and in his hand luggage while in transit at Singapore's Changi airport in December 2002, on his way from Cambodia to Melbourne.

News.com.au reports.

Drunk crocodiles?

Croc attacks linked to alcohol. Almost a third of crocodile attack victims in Australia have been affected by alcohol, a study shows. Research by Northern Territory-based crocodile experts Charlie Manolis and Adam Britton reviewed 62 croc attacks, including 17 fatal ones, in Australia from 1971 to 2004. Dr Britton today said 29 per cent of the attacks involved alcohol, from "a whiff of wine to being blind drunk".

Mr Manolis said the figures suggested that, in some cases, alcohol had dampened the victim's sense of danger. This had perhaps influenced them to swim in croc-infested waters they might have otherwise left alone, he said. "Alcohol makes people have a tendency to do something they might not normally do," Mr Manolis said. Read more at News.com.au

Danger labels proposed for alcohol

A national alcohol watchdog in Australia is seeking to have health warning labels placed on all alcohol products and advertisements. The label messages, to help consumers make informed decisions on drinking, would be similar to the following:

"Using machinery after drinking is risky. Avoid drinking before working with machinery." "Drinking while pregnant, when trying to become pregnant or while breastfeeding might harm your baby."

Geoff Munro, director of the Community Alcohol Action Network, the advocacy wing of the Australian Drug Foundation, said his organisation would write to health ministers across Australia this week, advocating the warning labels. He said he hoped the labels, which could save lives, would be in place within a year.

The Age reports (18 Oct 2005).

Beer and Gender in Australia (Article)

Diane Kirkby, "'Beer, Glorious Beer': Gender Politics and Australian Popular Culture," Journal of Popular Culture 37/2 (2003): 244-256. Ocker culture.

Artist rises and falls on cocaine

AN internationally acclaimed Brisbane artist yesterday paid a high price for getting too close to his subject matter.

Painter and stained-glass expert Mitchell Lee Foley – whose recent works includes a series entitled Cocaine, Cocaine 035 and Cocaine on a Rainy Day – yesterday pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to nine counts of importing trafficable amounts of cocaine into Australia.

Justice Mackenzie sentenced the 50-year-old father of three to 10 years' jail with a non-parole period of 3½ years. The Courier-Mail reports.

Young drivers and alcohol in Australia

The Australian reports (19 Sept 2005) that rehabilitation services for young drink drivers in Victoria are below international standards, leading them to re-offend and risk lives on the road, according to a new report. Find the full story here.

Historic tobacco plant to close

Hawkes Bay Today reports (10 September 2005) that as many as 170 jobs are set to be stubbed out with the announcement that the landmark British American Tobacco factory in Napier is to shut down. BAT will close its Ahuriri manufacturing site and transfer production to its Sydney factory, completing transfer of tobacco product lines by July next year. BAT New Zealand managing director William Toh blamed declining tobacco sales, saying there was a need to "consolidate production, following declining volumes for tobacco products in New Zealand and across Australasia." Find the full story here.

'What do you have to declare?'

'Wall cabinets, iron chairs, cushions...and 6.5 tonnes of Indonesian tobacco.' The Border Mail reports (31 August 2005) that customs officers have thwarted an attempt to smuggle 6.5 tonnes of tobacco from Indonesia to Sydney in what is believed to be one of the biggest shipments of its kind seized in Australia. Read more here.

Apparently God does look after fools and drunks

News 24 reports (8 September 2005) that an Australian tourist who was feared killed in hurricane-lashed New Orleans, turned up safe and well after riding out the storm in a jail cell. Australian officials had held grave fears for Ashley McDonald, 30, who had been missing since Hurricane Katrina battered the United States Gulf Coast, shortly after he arrived in the area to visit his sister. McDonald, however, had been picked up for drunk and disorderly conduct in New Orleans and rode out the storm in a city jail, before being evacuated to a Louisiana jail for his own safety. Read more here.

Crystal meth is the new heroin

But, as it turns out, crack cocaine is not the new cannabis. The Australian reports (5 September 2005) that Chinese drug syndicates are targeting Australia as a growing market for crystal methamphetamine - a cheap, addictive and highly dangerous drug that police and doctors warn is the new heroin on Australian streets. Read more here.

Pub smoking in Australia

On Line Opinion, Australia's e-journal of social and political debate, traces the history of club and pub smoking bans in Australia. Find the full story here.

Karratha pubs deal with violent brawl

ABC News Online reported on 24 February 2005 that bars and hotels in Karratha were temporarily shut down by police in February after a violent brawl broke out between 60 labourers. Two thousand contract workers in Karratha had walked off the job and many of them chose to spend the day at Karratha's 11 licensed venues. By 7:30pm, about 60 drunken men became involved in a violent riot at a tavern. One man ended up in hospital. The officer in charge said he'd never seen anything like it.

Beer and wine do make a heady mix

The Australian reports (30 May 2005) that if Lion Nathan chief executive officer Robert Murray had been in charge of Foster's, he would not have bought Southcorp. He believes that while the beer and spirits business have a close correlation, wine is a completely different market and historically mass-marketing wine companies have not produced good returns on the capital employed. Find the full story here.

Foster's takes on the wine world

The Herald Sun reports (23 April 2005) that Foster's has become the world's biggest table wine company with a "to the cent" bid for Southcorp. Find the full story here.

Police operation highlights border drugs corridor

ABC News Online reports (3 May 2005) that the officer in charge of the Tweed-Byron police command says a cross-border operation has highlighted the drugs problem that exists in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland. Tim Tarlinton says 81 people were arrested on 133 drugs-related charges during the weekend operation codenamed Vikings 05. He says amphetamines were found in trucks and other heavy vehicles and officers located cannabis and drug laboratory equipment in a number of cars. Find the full story here.

Track marks to death

The Australian reports (3 March 2005) that what began as a journey designed to end in the back alleys of inner-city Sydney - high-grade heroin cut down and shelled out to hollowed-eyed men and women for $50 a cap - finished instead in a blaze of publicity at Denpasar International Airport in the tourist centre of Bali, with nine young Australians facing the prospect of the firing squad.

But while the "Bali Nine" never got off the ground for the final leg to Sydney, the 8.3kg of heroin strapped to the stomachs and thighs of four couriers had already travelled thousands of kilometres and passed through hundreds of hands.

Like most heroin trafficking that originates in poppy fields in the fertile mountains of Southeast Asia, the journey that finished on the body of a mule began on the back of a donkey. Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty named Burma, part of the infamous Golden Triangle encompassing Laos and northern Thailand, as the origin of the Bali Nine's haul. The University of NSW's National Alcohol and Drug Research Centre's senior lecturer, Louisa Degenhardt, estimates 95 per cent of Australia's heroin is produced in the Golden Triangle - and the "vast majority" of that is from Burma.

With Australians unable to cultivate opium poppies at home, but consuming three to eight tonnes of heroin annually, this has been the case for many years, Dr Degenhardt says.

Find the full story here.

'Light' wine on the cards

ABC News Online reports (24 April 2005) that Australian scientists are working on a low-alcohol wine in response to demands from the wine industry and drinkers. The managing director of the Australian Wine Research Institute, Sakki Pretorius, says people may drink more wine if it is lower in alcohol, thus boosting wine sales. Professor Pretorius says Australian wines are known for their high sugar content, which results in higher alcohol levels than overseas wine.

Wine glut gives Aussies a hangover

The New Zealand Herald reports (25 April 2005) that Australia's booming wine industry has become a victim of its own success with the proliferation of new vineyards leading to a chronic oversupply of grapes. Growers in some of the country's most famous wine regions, including the Hunter Valley, Margaret River and the Barossa Valley, are facing the prospect of watching their grapes wither on the vine because of a lack of buyers. Find the full story here.

Tobacco thieves tie up elderly farmers

News.com.au reports (21 April 2005) that an elderly couple were threatened at gunpoint and bound to chairs by armed robbers who made off with almost $1 million worth of tobacco from their northern Victorian farm at Cheshunt near Wangaratta. Victorian Tobacco Collective general manager John Moore said the stolen tobacco was worth only about $70,000 to the farmers, but it was worth about $1 million on the black market, where illegal tobacco or 'chop chop' fetched up to $10,000 a bale. Excessive Government tax on tobacco was driving the demand for cheap untaxed tobacco, and the big rewards were attracting organised crime syndicates, Mr Moore said. Find the full story here.

I've got to talk to my barista

The Daily Telegraph reports (20 April 2005):

On the inside the sun may not shine, but at least there is a Gloria Jean's coffee shop to warm the spirits at Sydney's newest women's prison. Unfortunately the prisoners won't be able to drink the product unless it's bought for them. Instead, they will be the ones making it for the guards and visitors.

It's an Australian first for a prison as well as for the corporate coffee giant, which has opened a coffee counter at Dillwynia correctional centre at Windsor, The Daily Telegraph has learned.

Its mission is to train a new army of baristas from the prison's general population, who can apply for jobs in stores on the outside when they are released.

Find the full story here.

Man faces court over pickled heroin

ABC News Online reports (18 April 2005) that a New South Wales man has faced the Melbourne Magistrate's Court charged with importing heroin by hiding it in bottles of pickled fish. Police made the discovery at Melbourne airport on Saturday, after the 45-year-old man arrived on a flight from Vietnam. The man, from the Sydney suburb of Fairfield, has been charged with importing and possessing a prohibited import. He will appear in court again in July.

Coffee is top of our addictions

Hospitality Magazine reports that, whether it's a regular coffee fix or a chocolate craving, Australians are a bunch of addicts - according to a new survey by the publishers of Reader’s Digest. The survey of 750 adults found that 95 per cent of Australians admit to having an everyday addiction to everything from coffee to chocolate to sporting activities. The survey was split into three categories: eating, retail therapy and timeout activities. About one-quarter of respondents said they indulged in all three types of compulsive behaviour. The demographic least likely to get hooked was older men. Find the full story here.

Tackling alcohol issues in the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Australia

Golden Mail reports (25 March 2005) that the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has joined forces with the National Drug Research Institute to tackle local alcohol consumption issues. With a population of about 30,000, Kalgoorlie-Boulder has an above average level of alcohol consumption - in addition to alcohol-related violence and hospital admissions. During the next four years, a special joint community prevention initiative - the Kalgoorlie Alcohol Action Project - will be aimed at drastically changing community attitudes on drinking. Find the full story here.

History of Alcoholics Anonymous in Australia

A history of Alcoholics Anonymous in Australia can be found here.

Designer drug cocktails on the menu

The Herald Sun reports (21 March 2005) that young Victorians are increasingly popping, injecting and smoking a dangerous cocktail mix of drugs. Speed, ice, cannabis, ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, cocaine, heroin and LSD are all on the menu for young people in a world of ever-increasing choice. And the list of ecstasy pills making their way on to the market is rising all the time. Blue DVDs, red and green Mitsubishis, orange butterflies, red/pink Russians and white VWs are just a handful of the designer drugs available in Melbourne recently. Find the full story here.

Wine trail puts South Australia on global tourist map

The Advertiser reports (11 March 2005) that South Australia is a national pacesetter in international wine tourism. Nearly 40 per cent of international travellers to South Australia visit at least one winery and the state ranks highly in the percentage of domestic visitors who call at wineries. Find the full story here.

Alcohol key in pedestrian injuries

News.com.au reports (14 March 2005) that more than half of the pedestrians injured on Sydney's inner-city roads were affected by alcohol, a study has shown. Find the full story here.

Alcohol, gambling a part of rugby life

ABC Sport Online reports (8 March 2005) that a majority of Australian Super 12 players believe they have team-mates who are battling serious alcohol and gambling problems, according to a survey released by their players' asssociation. Find the full story here.

Australian Kava

d'Abbs, Peter. "The Power of Kava or the Power of Ideas?: Kava Use and Kava Policy in The Northern Territory, Australia." Canberra Anthropology 18:1-2 (1995), 166-183.

Aboriginal Minorities

Craufurd-Lewis, Michael. "Treaties with Aboriginal Minorities." Aboriginal History 19:1-2 (1995), 41-78. [Recounts the prevalence of alcoholism among indigenous populations in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States during the last four centuries.]

Australians no longer getting the vapours...but many are still feeling vaclempt

Australia's National Nine News reports (12 March 2005) that the sale and supply of alcohol in vapour form will be banned in Victoria, the state government announced. Find the full story here.

Wine exports lifting the cork

The National Business Review reports (7 March 2005) that according to New Zealand Winegrowers, wine exports for the year to February 2005 exceeded 44 million litres for the first time, a 55 per cent growth on the previous year. Find the full story here.

Hate to break it to you: cannabis is linked to psychosis

The Age reports (7 March 2005) that cannabis is not the harmless drug many people believe it to be, with new evidence showing today's genetically engineered crops are more potent and may trigger psychotic illnesses, Australian scientists say. Find the full story here.

The Australian heroin trial feasibility study (Article)

An article by Gabriele Bammer, entitled "When science meets politics: the Australian heroin trial feasibility study," in The International Journal of Drug Policy 7/1 (1996), can be found here.