Alcohol is a key cause of the mortality burden, but relevant policies are under-developed. The authors propose a research agenda focused on the political influence of the alcohol industry and other commercial actors.

Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAPs)  involve partnerships between the alcohol industry and UK local government to reduce alcohol harm. The few existing evaluations do not provide convincing evidence that CAPs are effective in reducing alcohol harms or antisocial behavior.

Responsible drinking is a strategically ambiguous, industry-affiliated term that allows for multiple interpretations and rarely references government drinking guidelines. Public health practitioners should be aware of these distinctions, and use clear language regarding lower-risk drinking.

This study identified a high level of awareness of the 2016 UK’s low-risk drinking guidelines and suggested that linking alcohol consumption to disease-specific evidence was effective. Targeted communication to those from lower socioeconomic groups was also recommended: prevalence rates for disease and mortality due to alcohol harm were the highest in these groups, despite them consuming the least amount of alcohol.

Cumulative impact zones (CIZs) are proposed as a key lever to limit alcohol availability in areas deemed already saturated. This study found no evidence that introducing 3 Cumulative Impact Zones in central London reduced the number of successful applications.

The relationship between alcohol use and cognitive function is non-linear. Consuming more than one UK standard unit of alcohol per day is detrimental to cognitive performance and is more pronounced in older populations.

The present study identified strong associations between life satisfaction (LS) and individual, as well as concurrent, substance use among adolescents. Interventions aiming to reduce adolescent substance use may benefit from incorporating components to improve LS.