alcohol

The alcohol market in Lithuania is shrinking, and this is true for both legal and illegal sources of alcohol. Experts say that both alcohol consumption and sales are falling, and they had some insights into why this might be happening.

Imagine your morning routine: you come to the office, swipe your key card to enter the building, blow into a breathalyzer by the door and your boss gets a text message telling him or her your blood alcohol content.

New research shows that Lithuania is not the third most alcohol consuming country in the world as the World Health Organization figures claim.

Activists who are campaigning for a total ban on alcohol advertising in Lithuania will today get the go-ahead from Lithuania’s Electoral Commission to seek to collect enough signatures to force parliament to consider their proposals on restricting alcohol sales and advertising.

A group of Lithuanian activists have presented an initiative to completely ban alcohol advertising in Lithuania to the country’s Central Electoral Commission, as they kick off a campaign to collect enough signatures for the adoption of amendments to the Law on Alcohol Control.

Lithuania is raising excise duty on tobacco and alcohol as of March 1. The government expects the levy to bring in additional €15 million to state coffers.

Lazdijai municipality has banned alcohol marketing at public events and has restricted the sale of alcohol near educational institutions, police stations and hospitals in the municipality.

Kaunas District court fined former National Land Service Director Daiva Gineikaitės and banned her from driving for three and a half years after finding her guilty of drunk driving.

Lithuanian company Stumbras has started producing a high end version of the traditional Chinese drink, baijiu, which is massively popular in China.

While new restrictions on the retail hours for alcohol sales were approved on Monday, more work needs to be put into education as changes in the law will not solve the problem alone, said Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius on LRT radio.

The Lithuanian government endorsed a package of measures aimed at cutting alcohol consumption on Monday. It includes alcohol-free zones, and further restrictions on selling hours and on alcohol advertising.

Some Armenian wines and Ukrainian non-alcoholic beers have been banned by Lithuanian authorities for non-compliance with quality assurance indicators.

Alcolock system and rehabilitation program for drunk drivers will soon be introduced in Lithuania. The road traffic safety draft is being prepared by the Communications Ministry together with the Ministry of Interior and the Road and Transport Research Institute specialists.

Lithuania's Ministry of Health is to draft an action plan for a concerted effort to fight alcoholism within less than a month, the government decided during a cabinet meeting on Monday.

The Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats have proposed that alcohol abusers should lose all social benefits under a plan laid out to combat the epidemic of alcoholism and related social problems in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian government is to draft legislation restricting the sale of alcohol in non-grocery stores, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said.

Equally stringent restrictions on the sale of alcohol should apply to all kinds of alcoholic beverages and all sellers, said Lithuania's Economy Minister Evaldas Gustas.

Police authorities have published new police guidelines for tackling alcohol dependency in the force, ordering officers not to consume alcohol up to 10 hours before service, banning them from buying alcohol in uniform, and pushing them to report officers that are drunk at work.

The ban on selling alcohol in petrol stations, which came into effect on January 1, is just a "small step" in the effort against alcoholism, says Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius. He adds that the government will take more measures to cut the use of alcohol.

With the extent of alcoholism and the damage done by intoxicated persons failing to decrease in Lithuania the government is launching a new initiative in alcohol prevention by establishing the National Public Health Promotion Foundation.