This thematic issue of NAD tackles the dissimilar treatment of different alcohol beverages in alcohol policy making. It stems from a project that came about when a group of researchers started to reflect on the conscious steering of consumption towards specific beverage types (with low alcohol-content). The main impetus was the meeting in Moscow in 2007 on ”Developing Effective Alcohol Policy for Russia: World Experience and Russian Realities”. Nordic researchers were invited by the Russian organisers, who had found that all Nordic countries during the 20th century had moved away from ”spiritsdrinking cultures”. In 2007, shifting from vodka to beer was seen as a possible solution to Russia’s drinking problems. The organisers wanted to know what the Nordic societies had done, and with what effect. While changing beverage choices has been a recurrent topic in Nordic policy, there was however not
enough published evidence to make claims about the underlying reasoning or any success over time. > > > > Read More
