New evidence: Policies on alcohol marketing are failing youth

[poledriver]

New evidence: Policies on alcohol marketing are failing youth

A report series published today in the scientific journal Addiction presents the latest evidence on alcohol marketing, its impact on children and the policy mechanisms to address it.

Conclusions from these papers have a direct bearing on the negotiations of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). As a MEP you will determine the Directive’s level of ambition and its effectiveness in promoting public health, and the European Public Health Alliance encourages you to take account of the findings when making your decision in the forthcoming votes on the Directive.

Key relevant findings from the peer-reviewed articles include:

1. Exposure to alcohol marketing is associated with youth alcohol consumption.

“Young people who have greater exposure to alcohol marketing appear to be more likely subsequently to initiate alcohol use and engage in binge and hazardous drinking.” Jernigan et al. (2016)

2. Alcohol industry self-regulatory codes do not sufficiently protect children and adolescents from exposure to alcohol promotions

“Taken together, the findings suggest that the current self-regulatory systems that govern alcohol marketing practices are not meeting their intended goal of protecting vulnerable populations.” Noel et al. (2016) [1]

“The current alcohol industry marketing complaint process used in a wide variety of countries may be ineffective at removing potentially harmful content from the market-place.” Noel et al. (2016) [2]

3. Effectively enforced statutory regulation, including marketing bans, have greater potential

An evaluation of the French Loi Évin concludes that countries should develop controls and monitoring systems to ensure advertising restrictions are respected, should be ready to counteract alcohol industry lobbying and that prohibitions are probably effective ways of minimising exposure. Legislative inaction and liberalisation of provisions are likely to have the opposite effect. Gallopel-Morvan et al. (2017)

https://epha.org/new-evidence-policies-on-alcohol-marketing-are-failing-youth/

 

[Jabberwocky]

Alcohol is a piece of shit substance to abuse.

I spend so much money on this substance a week that it's just not funny. Then when I am on it, it forces me to do things I don't like doing on it such as passing out on bus benches, bottom of my street, gambling, eating shit food and smoking to name a few. Yet according to the government this is perfectly allowed.

Getting drunk has become so damn expensive these days because of the tax increases. For me I try and save money by getting a 6 - 8 pack of something from the bottlo first and going across the road to the beach and downing it there and then hitting up the local pub. Otherwise I can be prepared to lose $150 guaranteed every drinking session from downing them all at the pub. I know a lot of others in a similar boat. I spend minimum of $300 on getting wasted on booze a week. I combine this with cigarettes I buy as well. More if I can afford it.

Yet the government knows people like this exist and don't have much resources for harm reduction. Even AA is not government funded, they get some small donations from time to time but it's not much.

I've gotten help, tried AA and still I fail. From time to time I think the government failed me, as they make this so available and put in my face on a daily basis as it's engraved in the Aussie culture that you must drink or you are a pussy if you don't.

 

[poledriver]

I think alcohol needs to follow tobacco in the same things like no sponsorships of sporting or other events, graphic warning labels, plain packaging, products sold from behind closed doors out of sight and earlier closing times for all shops for take away.

It seems pretty weird to make tobacco do all those things and not alcohol companies.

I sometimes spend $100 a week on alcohol but I also go through phases of not drinking. When I stop for periods I just drink more water and other drinks to stop me wonting a beer or other alco drink. After a few days I feel much better and dont even think about buying booze.