Classifying Alcohol Control Policies Enacted Between 2000 and 2020 in Poland and the Baltic Countries to Model Potential Impact

Overview

Journal Addiction

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2022 Dec 5

PMID 36471145

Authors

Jurgen Rehm

Shannon Lange

Inese Gobina

Kinga Janik-Koncewicz

Laura Miscikiene

Rainer Reile

Relika Stoppel

Alexander Tran

Carina Ferreira-Borges

Domantas Jasilionis

Huan Jiang

Kawon Victoria Kim

Jakob Manthey

Maria Neufeld

Janina Petkeviciene

Ricardas Radisauskas

Robin Room

Vaida Liutkute-Gumarov

Witold A Zatonski

Mindaugas Stelemekas

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aims: The study's aim is to identify and classify the most important alcohol control policies in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and Poland between 2000 and 2020.

Methods: Policy analysis of Baltic countries and Poland, predicting potential policy impact on alcohol consumption, all-cause mortality and alcohol-attributable hospitalizations was discussed.

Results: All Baltic countries implemented stringent availability restrictions on off-premises trading hours and different degrees of taxation increases to reduce the affordability of alcoholic beverages, as well as various degrees of bans on alcohol marketing. In contrast, Poland implemented few excise taxation increases or availability restrictions and, in fact, reduced stipulations on prior marketing bans.

Conclusions: This classification of alcohol control policies in the Baltic countries and Poland provides a basis for future modeling of the impact of implementing effective alcohol control policies (Baltic countries), as well as the effects of loosening such policies (Poland).

Citing Articles

Economic development, alcohol consumption and life expectancy in low- and lower-middle-income countries in the Western Pacific Region: a structural equation modelling study.

Rehm J, Jiang H, Hassan A, Rovira P, Shield K BMJ Public Health. 2025; 3(1):e001453.

PMID: 40017965 PMC: 11816530. DOI: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001453.

Evaluation of the national alcohol control strategy (Green Paper on Alcohol Policy) of Estonia.

Rehm J, Reile R, Correia D, Neufeld M, Jiang H Drug Alcohol Rev. 2025; 44(3):891-896.

PMID: 39962034 PMC: 11886489. DOI: 10.1111/dar.14024.

The impact of an integrated alcohol policy: The example of Lithuania.

Rehm J, Lange S, Miscikiene L, Jiang H Drug Alcohol Rev. 2024; 44(2):403-410.

PMID: 39586650 PMC: 11813685. DOI: 10.1111/dar.13980.

The impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities in Lithuania.

Lange S, Jiang H, Miscikiene L, Tran A, Stelemekas M, Rehm J Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2024; 48(10):1923-1928.

PMID: 39179515 PMC: 11464170. DOI: 10.1111/acer.15429.

The role of alcohol control policies in the reversal of alcohol consumption levels and resulting attributable harms in China.

Rehm J, Shield K, Hassan A, Franklin A Alcohol. 2024; 121:19-25.

PMID: 39009173 PMC: 11633449. DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2024.07.002.

References

Neufeld M, Ferreira-Borges C, Gil A, Manthey J, Rehm J . Alcohol policy has saved lives in the Russian Federation. Int J Drug Policy. 2020; 80:102636. DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.102636. View

Miscikiene L, Gostautaite Midttun N, Galkus L, Belian G, Petkeviciene J, Vaitkeviciute J . Review of the Lithuanian Alcohol Control Legislation in 1990-2020. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(10). PMC: 7277450. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17103454. View

Rehm J, Gmel Sr G, Gmel G, Hasan O, Imtiaz S, Popova S . The relationship between different dimensions of alcohol use and the burden of disease-an update. Addiction. 2017; 112(6):968-1001. PMC: 5434904. DOI: 10.1111/add.13757. View

Sauliune S, Petrauskiene J, Kalediene R . Alcohol-related injuries and alcohol control policy in Lithuania: effect of the year of sobriety, 2008. Alcohol Alcohol. 2012; 47(4):458-63. DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/ags033. View

Tran A, Jiang H, Kim K, Room R, Stelemekas M, Lange S . Predicting the Impact of Alcohol Taxation Increases on Mortality-A Comparison of Different Estimation Techniques. Alcohol Alcohol. 2022; 57(4):500-507. PMC: 9270989. DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agac003. View

Rehm J, Stelemekas M, Ferreira-Borges C, Jiang H, Lange S, Neufeld M . Classifying Alcohol Control Policies with Respect to Expected Changes in Consumption and Alcohol-Attributable Harm: The Example of Lithuania, 2000-2019. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(5). PMC: 7967552. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052419. View

Stelemekas M, Manthey J, Badaras R, Casswell S, Ferreira-Borges C, Kalediene R . Alcohol control policy measures and all-cause mortality in Lithuania: an interrupted time-series analysis. Addiction. 2021; 116(10):2673-2684. PMC: 8873029. DOI: 10.1111/add.15470. View

Wall M, Casswell S . Affordability of alcohol as a key driver of alcohol demand in New Zealand: a co-integration analysis. Addiction. 2012; 108(1):72-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.03992.x. View

Rehm J, Stelemekas M, Badaras R . Research Protocol to Evaluate the Effects of Alcohol Policy Changes in Lithuania. Alcohol Alcohol. 2018; 54(1):112-118. DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agy068. View

10.

Manthey J, Hassan S, Carr S, Kilian C, Kuitunen-Paul S, Rehm J . Estimating the economic consequences of substance use and substance use disorders. Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2021; 21(5):869-876. DOI: 10.1080/14737167.2021.1916470. View

11.

Neufeld M, Bobrova A, Davletov K, Stelemekas M, Stoppel R, Ferreira-Borges C . Alcohol control policies in Former Soviet Union countries: A narrative review of three decades of policy changes and their apparent effects. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2020; 40(3):350-367. PMC: 7936953. DOI: 10.1111/dar.13204. View

12.

Naimi T, Blanchette J, Nelson T, Nguyen T, Oussayef N, Heeren T . A new scale of the U.S. alcohol policy environment and its relationship to binge drinking. Am J Prev Med. 2013; 46(1):10-6. PMC: 3878154. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.07.015. View

13.

Grabauskas V, Prochorskas R, Veryga A . [Associations between mortality and alcohol consumption in Lithuanian population]. Medicina (Kaunas). 2010; 45(12):1000-12. View

14.

Rehm J, Imtiaz S . A narrative review of alcohol consumption as a risk factor for global burden of disease. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2016; 11(1):37. PMC: 5084343. DOI: 10.1186/s13011-016-0081-2. View

15.

Khaltourina D, Korotayev A . Effects of Specific Alcohol Control Policy Measures on Alcohol-Related Mortality in Russia from 1998 to 2013. Alcohol Alcohol. 2015; 50(5):588-601. DOI: 10.1093/alcalc/agv042. View

16.

Chisholm D, Moro D, Bertram M, Pretorius C, Gmel G, Shield K . Are the "Best Buys" for Alcohol Control Still Valid? An Update on the Comparative Cost-Effectiveness of Alcohol Control Strategies at the Global Level. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2018; 79(4):514-522. View

17.

Manthey J, Hassan S, Carr S, Kilian C, Kuitunen-Paul S, Rehm J . What are the Economic Costs to Society Attributable to Alcohol Use? A Systematic Review and Modelling Study. Pharmacoeconomics. 2021; 39(7):809-822. PMC: 8200347. DOI: 10.1007/s40273-021-01031-8. View

18.

Jiang H, Feng X, Lange S, Tran A, Manthey J, Rehm J . Estimating effects of health policy interventions using interrupted time-series analyses: a simulation study. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2022; 22(1):235. PMC: 9429656. DOI: 10.1186/s12874-022-01716-4. View

19.

Okan O, Rowlands G, Sykes S, Wills J . Shaping Alcohol Health Literacy: A Systematic Concept Analysis and Review. Health Lit Res Pract. 2020; 4(1):e3-e20. PMC: 6960007. DOI: 10.3928/24748307-20191104-01. View

20.

Neufeld M, Rovira P, Ferreira-Borges C, Kilian C, Sassi F, Veryga A . Impact of introducing a minimum alcohol tax share in retail prices on alcohol-attributable mortality in the WHO European Region: A modelling study. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2022; 15:100325. PMC: 9088199. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100325. View