San Diego Dui Lawyers And Attorneys
By Ravi, Fri Dec 9th

h2 align="center">San Diego Lawyers and Attorneys

You can find a skilled San Diego lawyer near any of thefour San Diego Courthouse locations. Sometimes it is a good ideato have an attorney who practices regularly in one Courthouselocation. They tend to know the prosecutors and the judges,which can help in negotiating deals or getting favorableevidence rulings at trial.

Finding a good San Diego lawyer to interview is easy;finding the right San Diego attorney is hard work and extremelyimportant as it relates to the overall outcome of your case,both with the courts and with the DMV. Choose your lawyercarefully. Always check out the case win record of yourperspective lawyer as well as their background and experience.

Your location of arrest determines where your case is heard.The four Courts are located in Downtown San Diego,

Video: Nightlife through the eyes of a bouncer
<p>As Britain's bars and nightclubs finish their busiest time of year, a Manchester doorman wears a camera for a night to record what doing his job is like</p>
Government clashes again with its own drug advisers about downgrading ecstasy
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/65878?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+Government+clashes+again+with+its+own+drug+advisers+about+downgrading+ecstasy&ch=Politics&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Drugs+policy+%28Politics%29%2CDrugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CPolitics%2CSociety%2CUK+news%2CScience%2CDrugs+%28Science%29%2CControversies+in+science&c5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPolicy+Society%2CCommunities+Society&c6=Ian+Sample&c7=2009_01_05&c8=1142029&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=Drugs+policy&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FDrugs+policy" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>The government's drug advisers are to recommend ecstasy be downgraded to a class B drug, in a report due to go before ministers at the end of the month. </p><p>The advisory council on the misuse of drugs (ACMD) is expected to urge the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to remove ecstasy from the class A category comprising the most dangerous drugs, following an extensive review of the medical risks associated with taking it.</p><p>The controversial proposal is set to ignite a fresh row with the Home Office, which confirmed yesterday it intended to keep ecstasy a class A drug, alongside heroin and crack cocaine.</p><p>Ecstasy remains the third most popular illicit drug in the UK, with 5% of people aged 16 to 24 claiming to have used it in the past year. The drug is blamed for at least 30 deaths a year, many of which are caused by clubbers overheating. "Ecstasy can and does kill unpredictably; there is no such thing as a safe dose. The government firmly believes that ecstasy should remain a Class A drug," a Home Office spokesman said. "The Home Office has not requested ACMD to review the classification of ecstasy. It is doing it at the request of the science and technology committee."</p><p>The government's refusal to downgrade ecstasy will mark the second time it has overruled the recommendations of its own drug advisers in less than two months. In November, the Home Office pledged to upgrade cannabis from class C to class B, against the advice of the ACMD. The move drew a barrage of criticism from experts, including two former government chief scientists and a former director of the Medical Research Council.</p><p>Many scientists claim the government is failing to base its policy on scientific evidence and undermining its own health warnings about more dangerous drugs such as heroin.</p><p>A draft report circulated among ACMD members includes a review of the most recent evidence about ecstasy. One study published last year in the Lancet ranked 20 drugs according to the risks posed to users and society. It ranked ecstasy lowest of all, concluding it was not only less harmful than other class A drugs, but also less of a threat to health than tobacco or alcohol. A second study from the US found that per capita, fewer people die taking ecstasy than eating peanuts.</p><p>Last year David Nutt, who chairs the ACMD, said people knew ecstasy was relatively safe and putting it in class A made a mockery of the ABC classification system. </p><p>Experts on the ACMD believe another refusal by government to adopt its recommendations will lead to renewed calls for a complete overhaul of the ABC system, which has been criticised by the Commons science and technology committee, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the UK drug policy commission and the leader of the opposition, David Cameron. </p><p>Downgrading ecstasy to class B would see the maximum prison sentence for possession reduced from seven years to five, with the maximum sentence for dealers falling from life to 14 years in prison. </p><p>"Should the ACMD recommend a change it will test again whether drug policy is based on scientific advice and evidence or on more fluid and flaky political considerations," said a spokesman for the DrugScope charity.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/drugspolicy">Drugs policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/drugsandalcohol">Drugs and alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/drugs">Drugs</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/controversiesinscience">Controversies in science</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201815989010600330544960"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201815989010600330544960" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Rehab moves from Priory to suburbia as patient numbers rise
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/21113?ns=guardian&pageName=Society%3A+Rehab+moves+from+the+Priory+to+suburbia+as+patient+numbers+rise&ch=Society&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Drugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CDrugs+policy+%28Politics%29%2CPolitics%2CUK+news&c5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPolicy+Society%2CCommunities+Society&c6=Owen+Bowcott&c7=2009_01_03&c8=1141459&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Society&c12=Drugs+and+alcohol&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FSociety%2FDrugs+and+alcohol" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>A big rise in the number of drug and alcohol addicts entering withdrawal treatments has led to an increase in residential rehab centres, which have moved away from the Priory-style model of country house retreats towards using ordinary houses in suburban streets.</p><p>Rehab centres have sprung up in towns with relatively cheap housing, where the spread of multiple-occupation houses - known as "sober living homes" - for chaotic, reforming addicts in residential streets has resulted in friction with neighbours who resent their presence. </p><p>There are also concerns that there is no industry standard for what constitutes a long-term cure for addicts, few comparative performance figures and rarely refunds for failure. </p><p>In some cases patients have died after taking overdoses while attending treatment programmes. Some inside the industry say such problems reflect the inevitable difficulty of weaning patients off severe addictions. </p><p>About 200,000 people attended "structured" courses last year at daycare and residential centres, according to the NHS's National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse - more than double the number of a decade ago. </p><p>The increase is largely a result of a government strategy aimed at placing more addicts on community treatment programmes in order to reduce drug-related crime and long-term health costs.</p><p>Several rehab centres have been set up recently in Luton, Bedfordshire, where the debate on the issue is highly charged and a local MP has been lobbying for government action. </p><p>"We need proper legislation to incorporate [these rehab businesses] in an overall framework," said Margaret Moran, the Labour MP for Luton South. "Families spend lots of money and make the assumption that these places are regulated. They are just desperate to get their sons or daughters off drugs. </p><p>"When people are being shipped in [to Luton] from other parts of the country, this is a bit like dumping the problem on someone else's doorstep. Where there's addicts, there's drug pushers.</p><p>"As a minimum, some form of licensing [for treatment centres] is the only way forward. Anybody could pop up and claim they could do it. It looks like a lucrative business and it's feeding on people's desperation." </p><p>She would like to see companies forced to obtain a government licence before operating.</p><p>One local dispute has focused on a terrace house in Luton run by Trust The Process Counselling (TTP) as accommodation for recovering addicts attending its 12-week courses. Moran has supported a resident in the street who complained about antisocial behaviour at the neighbouring address. </p><p>"People agree there's a need [for treatment]," said Gavin Cooper, TTP's operations director, "... but there's a general 'not in my backyard' response." </p><p>Referring to the specific house, he added: "The environmental health department have been around and have been unable to find evidence of the problem complained about. We even wrote to [the neighbour] extending an offer to buy out his house."</p><p>TTP, established in 2006, was set up by people in recovery who wanted to help addicts. It is proud of the high proportion of clients completing its 12-week course. "We have had anywhere between 70% and 85% finishing," Cooper said. "We are reducing addiction. The longer you keep people in treatment the better the chance of keeping people clean. It's about empowering people to take control of their lives."</p><p>TTP's 12-step programme is based on the formula devised by Alcoholics Anonymous. "There are very few thoroughbred alcoholics these days. Those between 18 and 40 tend to be poly-substance abusers, often alcohol plus cocaine. The disease of addiction knows no financial boundaries. We have schoolteachers, bankers, lawyers and people of no fixed abode," he said.</p><p>TTP, which has registered parts of its operation as a charity, charges &pound;6,444 for a 12-week residential course. "It's a big chunk of money," admitted Cooper, "but one of our motivations is to provide more affordable treatment. Some private clinics charge &pound;4,000 a week."</p><p>Geoff Mullins, the head of counselling at TTP, said that measuring success was difficult. "It can depend so much on a client's opinion of himself," he said. "It's difficult to follow people up.</p><p>"We fully support tighter legislation. The CSCI [Commission for Social Care Inspection, a government agency] recently changed the way it registers these facilities. It's voluntary but we are registering. There are people who are unethical and substandard.</p><p>"Most young people see Amy Winehouse as role model but 99% of the population would be ashamed if people knew they were going for treatment. It's not glamorous - unless you are in a band."</p><p>One of TTP's clients died earlier this year while on a residential course. The man, a schoolteacher, "had relapsed and took an overdose", Mullins explained. Another client, he added, died six months after leaving the scheme. </p><p>Darren Rolfe, the director of another rehab centre in Luton, the Perry Clayman Project, said: "We are seeing more and more clients. The demand is greater because of the stresses of modern life. We are here to give them their life back." </p><p>The body that represents the rehab industry, the European Association for the Treatment of Addiction UK (EATA), is now backing enhanced inspection procedures to reassure families that patients are receiving effective care.</p><p>One early consequence has been a drive by the CSCI to register more residential drug and alcohol treatment centres - including those where accommodation is not at the same address as the treatment centre. The commission's main focus for regulation has been the infrastructure of residential homes but it is now checking that there are "professionally validated" treatment programmes and a "credible quality assurance system".</p><p>There is no national licensing system. Paul Hayes, chief executive of the National Treatment Agency, said: "The NTA recognises there's an anomaly, whereby some residential drug treatment services fall outside the current regulatory framework. </p><p>"We have been discussing with the Department of Health and CSCI how this might be addressed." </p><p>EATA has more than 500 members, not all residential. It runs an accreditation scheme and has applied for NHS funding to extend its work. </p><p>Sharon Carson, its chief executive, believes there is a need for a complaints procedure for dissatisfied clients and their families. She said: "As the sector has developed there's a need for better measures [for] assessing the quality of courses. If there are problems with services the public need to be able to take their issues further. But I don't know what the perfect model [of regulation] would look like."</p><p>A Department of Health spokeswoman said rehab centres were already subject to regulation: "Drug treatment services need to submit data in line with the national drug treatment monitoring system. Services need to meet national and local performance measures on waiting times, retention, care planning and discharge."</p><h2>Dubious glamour</h2><p>The first rehabilitation courses for addicts are generally considered to have been those developed by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous in the late 1930s. The organisation's 12-step programme is still a commonly followed model.</p><p>Many interventions have been tried, including psychotherapy, acupuncture, exercise or diet regimes, meditation and counselling. No quick chemical fix has been found. Absolute abstinence, rather than moderating drug or alcohol consumption, is advocated.</p><p>Rehab as a retreat for drugged-out rock stars has attained a dubious glamour, with awareness boosted by the troubled soul singer Amy Winehouse, who celebrated her resistance to "rehab" treatment with the chant "I won't go, go, go".</p><p>The roll call of celebrities who have checked into exclusive rehab centres in Britain and the US, such as the Priory in south-west London, is lengthy and includes Robbie Williams, Kate Moss, Britney Spears and Charlie Sheen.</p><h2>Case study: 'I feel as if I have some hope'</h2><p><strong>Steve, 40, has been addicted to various substances for 28 years </strong></p><p>I've been addicted to lots of things: alcohol, heroin, methadone and benzos [benzodiazepines]. I was eight when I started gambling. Then it was glue-sniffing, then speed and benzos and heroin. I've been taking stuff for 28 years.</p><p>I was a horrible person: conning and fraud and shoplifting. I needed my drugs. Nothing would get in my way. If I had &pound;200 it would be gone by the next day. Drugs and alcohol made me stop being lonely.</p><p>I had just had enough. I used to wake up in the morning, saying 'Oh no, do I have to go through this again?' I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I just broke down in front of my mum one day. She must have seen something different. Normally I would be after her money. </p><p>I found the TTP course on the internet. They don't give you funding where I come from, so it was my mother who paid for me. I did a Subutex and Diazepam detox over 14 days. I was a chronic junkie. </p><p>Since the beginning of the programme I haven't taken anything mind-altering at all. I feel good now. I feel as if I have a chance. I feel as if I have some hope in my life. It was what I was given here. If I put any drugs in my body again I would be off and running. I still say I'm an addict. Now I'm out. My girlfriend's going to have a kid. So life is all right; sometimes it's brilliant. It took me a wee while. I was ill to begin with. Now I know that taking drugs will take me to a horrible, dark place. </p><p>Life begins at 40. What I have got today is absolutely amazing. Never could I have dreamt that I would be where I am today. Some people, though, are just not ready to stop.</p><p>? Steve, not his real name, is now a trainee counsellor at TTP.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/drugsandalcohol">Drugs and alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/drugspolicy">Drugs policy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816016010600330544960"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816016010600330544960" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Parents who took baby on seven-hour drinking binge given community sentence
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/43327?ns=guardian&pageName=UK+news%3A+Couple+who+took+baby+on+seven-hour+binge+given+community+sentence&ch=UK+news&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Crime+-+UK+%28News%29%2CDrugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CChildren+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CUK+news&c5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society%2CChildren+Society&c6=David+Batty&c7=2008_12_31&c8=1140478&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=UK+news&c12=Crime&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FUK+news%2FCrime" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>A couple who took their four-month-old son on a seven-hour drinking session were today given a two-year community order.</p><p>At an earlier hearing at Mansfield magistrates' court, Mark Tyler, 46, and his 24-year-old wife, Petra, of Mansfield, admitted being drunk in charge of a child in September.</p><p>CCTV operators were asked by a landlord to check on the couple's son, Callum, and called police when they saw the boy's buggy tipping from side to side.</p><p>The couple had planned to have a couple of drinks, but "one thing led to another" and they ended up drinking for seven hours, the court heard.</p><p>Officers found Callum with a dirty face, soiled nappy and wearing grubby and soaking clothes.</p><p>? This article was amended on Wednesday 31 December 2008. We have altered the headline.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/ukcrime">Crime</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/drugsandalcohol">Drugs and alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/children">Children</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=News&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816051010600330544960"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=News&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816051010600330544960" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
4 in 5 drivers fear they are over drink limit
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/38281?ns=guardian&pageName=Society%3A+4+in+5+drivers+fear+they+are+over+drink+limit&ch=Society&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Drugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CUK+news%2CMotoring+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CSociety&c5=Society+Weekly%2CMotoring%2CPersonal+Finance%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society&c6=Jo+Adetunji&c7=2008_12_30&c8=1140068&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Society&c12=Drugs+and+alcohol&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FSociety%2FDrugs+and+alcohol" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Four out of five drivers suspect they may have driven while over the alcohol limit the morning after a night of drinking, according to an AA survey. </p><p>More than 11,000 AA members took part in the online Populus poll, which also indicated that nearly half of all motorists know someone who drinks and drives. While evening drink-driving convictions have decreased over the last decade, the AA said, morning convictions were increasing. </p><p>The president of the AA, Edmund King, said: "We asked, have you ever thought you were over the limit after a night out and still drove? Eighty per cent considered that they could've been but still chose to drive. </p><p>"You go to a party until 2 in the morning and have to be up at 6.30am to go to work. Government guidance says it takes at least one hour for half a pint of beer, a glass of wine or one measure of spirit to get out of your system. One and a half bottles of wine is around nine of those units. It then depends on how much you've eaten, how strong the wine was, what your metabolic rate is. Apparently mood can also affect your alcohol absorption. The problem is the difficulty in judging - you can't have 100% certainty." </p><p>The survey also found that drivers aged 25-34 and those in Scotland were the most likely to often consider that they might be over the limit the morning after. The over-65s were the least likely to consider if they were still too drunk to drive. </p><p>"Most people have the message of not drinking and driving in the evening but in the morning most people say they don't feel drunk. But you're still groggy and your reaction times are slower. A surprising number of people are over the limit when they are breathalysed in the morning. People are going to go out and party but if you know you have to be up at 6am, at 11pm you need to stop drinking," King said. </p><p>Chief Inspector Donald McMillan, head of road policing for Central Scotland police, said the survey results were "extremely worrying". </p><p>"This just gives me more drive to work towards stamping out this irresponsible behaviour which causes people to die and suffer life-changing injuries on our roads," he added.</p><p>The national secretary for the Campaign Against Drinking and Driving, Carol Whittingham, said: "It's shocking but not surprising in the least. Over the last seven or eight years more and more people are taking this risk."</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/drugsandalcohol">Drugs and alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/motoring">Motoring</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816124010600330544960"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816124010600330544960" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
AA survey reveals 80% of drivers may have been over alcohol limit the morning after night out
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/24780?ns=guardian&pageName=Society%3A+Four+out+of+five+drivers+may+have+been+over+alcohol+limit+on+morning+after&ch=Society&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Drugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CTransport+UK%2CUK+news&c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society&c6=Jo+Adetunji&c7=2008_12_29&c8=1139905&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Society&c12=Drugs+and+alcohol&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FSociety%2FDrugs+and+alcohol" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Four out of five drivers suspect they may have driven while over the alcohol limit the morning after a night of drinking, according to an AA survey.</p><p>More than 11,000 AA members opted to take part in the online Populus poll, which also indicated that nearly half of all motorists know someone who drinks and drives. While evening drink-driving convictions have decreased over the last decade, the AA said, morning convictions were increasing.</p><p>The president of the AA, Edmund King, said: "We asked, have you ever thought you were over the limit after a night out and still drove? Eighty per cent considered that they could've been but still chose to drive.</p><p>"You go to a party until 2am in the morning and have to be up at 6.30am to go to work. Government guidance says it takes at least one hour for half a pint of beer, a glass of wine or one measure of spirit to get out of your system. One-and-a-half bottles of wine is around nine of those units. It then depends on how much you've eaten, how strong the wine was, what your metabolic rate is. Apparently mood can also affect your alcohol absorption. The problem is the difficulty in judging ? you can't have 100% certainty."</p><p>The survey also found that drivers aged 25-34 and those in Scotland were the most likely to often consider that they might be over the limit the morning after. The over-65s were the least likely to consider if they were still too drunk to drive.</p><p>"Most people have the message of not drinking and driving in the evening but in the morning most people say they don't feel drunk. But you're still groggy and your reaction times are slower. A surprising number of people are over the limit when they are breathalysed in the morning. People are going to go out and party but if you know you have to be up at 6am, at 11pm you need to stop drinking," King said.</p><p>Chief Inspector Donald McMillan, head of road policing for Central Scotland police, said the survey results were "extremely worrying. We have been concentrating on 'the morning-after issue' very heavily during this year's drink-drive campaign. This just gives me more drive to work towards stamping out this irresponsible behaviour which causes people to die and suffer life-changing injuries on our roads."</p><p>The national secretary for the Campaign Against Drinking and Driving, Carol Whittingham, said: "It's shocking but not surprising in the least. Over the last seven or eight years more and more people are taking this risk. People are going out and drinking vast amounts and on the night may do all the right things, like having a designated driver or catching a taxi home, but in the morning they think, I've got a bit of a headache but I'm OK. The number of people stopped, charged and convicted on the morning after is astounding."</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/drugsandalcohol">Drugs and alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/transport">Transport</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816150010600330544960"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816150010600330544960" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Regular binge drinking can cause long-term brain damage - study
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/39556?ns=guardian&pageName=Society%3A+Regular+binge+drinking+can+cause+long-term+brain+damage+-+study&ch=Society&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Health+%28Society%29%2CNeuroscience%2CMedical+research+%28Science%29%2CDrugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CNHS+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CScience&c5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society%2CHealth+Society&c6=Denis+Campbell&c7=2008_12_29&c8=1139705&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Society&c12=Health&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FSociety%2FHealth" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Just a few sessions of heavy drinking can damage someone's ability to pay attention, remember things and make good judgments, research shows.</p><p>Binge drinkers are known to be at increased risk of accidents, violence and engaging in unprotected sex. But the study is the first to identify brain damage as a danger of consuming more alcohol than official safe limits.</p><p>The research, to be published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, is significant because binge drinking is so widespread in the UK. Twenty-three per cent of men and 15% of women drink more than twice the government's recommended daily limit. For men this means consuming more than eight units a day and for women more than six, according to the Office for National Statistics.</p><p>Binge drinkers aged between 18 and 24 are a key target of the government's alcohol strategy because a minority of people in that age group cause the majority of alcohol-related crime and disorder.</p><p>Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "We know large numbers of people in this country binge drink. This should be a wake-up call to the millions of people whose lifestyle means they get drunk regularly."</p><p>Gilmore, who is also the chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance of key medical organisations and specialist alcohol charities, added: "We are all already aware of the immediate impacts of binge drinking: accidents, violence, admission to hospital and unwanted pregnancies. But this opens up the spectre that drinkers who binge regularly may be at risk of long-term brain damage."</p><p>The study was undertaken by two experts in alcohol's toxic effects on the brain: Professor Fulton Crews, director of the Bowles Centre for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina, and Dr Kim Nixon of the department of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Kentucky.</p><p>They reviewed previous studies in which rats were used in experiments to examine the impact of binge drinking and then related those findings to humans. For four days in a row the rats were given the same amount of ethanol that someone imbibing 15 units of alcohol - about seven pints of normal-strength beer - would consume in one drinking session. Losses in key mental abilities were noted in the weeks after the experiment had ended.</p><p>"It is fair and credible to extrapolate the research findings from tests on rats to humans," said Dr Jonathan Chick of the alcohol problems service at the Royal Edinburgh hospital, who is the chief editor of Alcohol and Alcoholism.</p><p>"From this research we can infer that humans who have a few heavy drinking sessions in a row may sometimes undergo subtle brain changes which make it harder to learn from mistakes and to learn new ways of tackling problems because their brain function has been subtly impaired."</p><p>The research also suggests that loss of brain function in people under 20 brought on by binge drinking increases their chances of becoming alcoholics in later life, Chick added.</p><p>Alcohol-related brain damage is becoming a growing burden on the NHS as per capita alcohol consumption increases. Patients with the condition who do not die early need long-term care, which can cost £1,000 a week, for the rest of their lives.</p><p>The findings underlined the need for the NHS to do more to identify and help heavy drinkers early on, Gilmore said.</p><p>However, the study also found that binge drinkers who then abstained from alcohol did not suffer long-term brain damage.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/health">Health</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neuroscience">Neuroscience</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/medicalresearch">Medical research</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/drugsandalcohol">Drugs and alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/nhs">NHS</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816188010600330544960"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Society&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231201816188010600330544960" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
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<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/91300?ns=guardian&pageName=Comment+is+free%3A+Through+a+glass%2C+darling&ch=Comment+is+free&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=US+news%2CWorld+news%2CWomen+and+women%27s+interests%2CDrugs+and+alcohol+%28Society%29%2CFood+and+drink+%28Life+and+style%29%2CSociety&c5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CWomen%2CCommunities+Society%2CFood+and+Drink&c6=Tracy+Quan&c7=2008_12_29&c8=1138896&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Comment+is+free&c12=blog&c13=&c14=CIF+America&h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FCIF+America" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>At a recent Manhattan gathering, in a Whartonesque east side triplex, I sat beneath a 15-foot Christmas tree and just said yes to a whisky-based cocktail garnished with pine needles, even though I had promised myself I wouldn't drink anything stronger than water. Whisky isn't my particular weakness, but I'm a fool for pine cuttings ? and it's sheer madness to resist a hostess with her own signature cocktail. The Divine Oh Nine tastes like a "chick <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sazerac">Sazerac</a>". It's quite good but my problem in life isn't whisky, it's gin martinis. So, having sampled the holiday cocktail, I progressed unscathed ... to white wine. </p><p>Yes, I'm afraid it's come to that. Martinis were my undoing. Pinot Grigiot has been a kind of solution, Sancerre my salvation.</p><p>The latest reports about American women and our drinking patterns should make me feel quite smug about my decision to drop hard liquor from my diet. Feminist peer pressure is turning educated women into aspirational sots: the more degrees you have and the higher your income, the more likely you are to become a lifelong drinker. Since American men drink less than in the past, and we keep tippling ahead, the sexes are finally achieving alcoholic parity. It's an area in which women lagged. We've come so far that it's fashionable (or soon will be) to <a href="http://nymag.com/news/features/52758/">bemoan our new equality</a>.<br /> <br />But we're equal only in terms of consumption. Remember when <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Feminist-Issue-Susie-Orbach/dp/0883659875">fat was a feminist issue</a>? It still is. The reason we'll never be men's equals ? ie, get away with drinking the way they do ? is our body fat. We get drunk faster and can get hooked more easily with smaller amounts. Even if we don't plan on having children, which would be a good reason to cut down, freedom from reproduction isn't the get-out-of-jail-free card we were banking on. The hedonistic gal who lives only for herself will eventually have to tone down her act and start being a sensible (white wine?) drinker simply because she's a woman ? if she <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2008/12/17">cares for health and happiness</a>.</p><p>Why does alcohol matter so much?