www.alkoholpolitik.ch

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is requiring 14 major alcoholic beverage producers to provide information about their online marketing. The FTC will use the information for a study that will guide recommendations on how the alcohol industry should regulate itself, both online and offline.

The last time the FTC completed an alcohol marketing study was in 2008, using data from 2005, according to The Kansas City Star. That study found only 1.9 percent of alcohol marketing expenditures went toward Internet efforts.

The marketing landscape has changed dramatically since then, with a much greater emphasis on social media. For example, Bacardi has at least seven Facebook pages, with a total of 1.7 million fans, according to David Jernigan, Director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. He notes that Captain Morgan Rum has a video game app for iPhones. Many companies connect with consumers through Twitter. …
(Source: Join Together, 05/3/12)

Los Angeles emergency rooms are reporting a growing number of teenagers coming in drunk after drinking cheap liquid hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizers, which contain over 60% ethyl alcohol and can make a 120-proof liquid, are becoming an increasingly popular route for getting drunk.

According to the Los Angeles Times, six teens have been reportedly taken to emergency rooms in the San Fernando Valley and treated for alcohol poisoning after drinking the hand sanitizers. In some cases, salt was used to separate the alcohol, so that it could be drunk straight, like a shot. Learning how to distill the sanitizer is not so difficult if you know how to look things up online.

Public health officials in the San Fernando Valley have described these cases as possibly a signal of a dangerous trend. ….
(Source: Medical News Today, 04/24/12)

TELL L.A. City Public Safety Committee to Stop Sitting on the Motion to Ban Alcohol Ads on Public Property. Last summer, with your help, we banned alcohol ads from 6,000 bus benches in the City of Los Angeles. Now let’s ban alcohol ads completely from all Los Angeles public property.

Councilmember Richard Alarcón introduced a motion to ban alcohol ads city-wide last year, but the Public Safety Committee is refusing to bring the motion forward.
It’s time to mobilize, and organize to protect our children from “city-authorized” alcohol ads!

SEND your letter to the L. A. Public Safety Committee Telling them to MOVE THE MOTION to Ban Alcohol Ads from All L.A Public Property!
TAKE ACTION NOW (Source: Alcohol Justice, 04/19/12)

Last month the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that flavored malt beverages, also known as alcopops, are distilled spirits and should be classified and taxed as such, instead of the beer tax rate the state has been using. The ruling meant 12 times more alcopops tax revenue for the budget-beleaguered state, and less access to alcopops for youth, whom producers target with these products.

A ruling like that should have policymakers celebrating, wouldn’t you think? After all, their responsibility is to serve the health and welfare of the public they represent, along with keeping a balanced budget for the state. Or is it? Just one month after the ruling, state legislators effectively overturned the Nebraska Supreme Court’s decision with LB 824. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman approved the legislation April 6. The new law keeps the status quo intact: taxing alcopops at the beer rate and keeping the products available wherever beer is sold. …

It’s no surprise to see certain legislators going out of their way to please the powerful alcohol industry lobby at the expense of the communities they are supposed to represent. However, we don’t often see a legislature deliberately override the state supreme court in order to make alcohol companies happy. Welcome to the Doghouse, Nebraska Legislature and Governor Heineman.
(Source: Alcohol Justice, 04/17/12)

Policy makers must not rely on self-regulation, but rather follow up through more statutory measures to protect the consumers.

Last week, major producers from the alcohol industry together with the World Federation of Advertising presented The Responsible Marketing Pact which scales up self-regulation[1]..

As a response, Civil Society Organisations with diverse backgrounds are now reminding policy makers at European and Member State level about the need for better regulation and co-regulation, and urge the European Commission and Member States officials not to jump on easy solutions in a new EU Alcohol Strategy 2013-2020.

“It cannot be left to the producers of a harmful product to decide how, when and where it will be marketed. Policy makers must not rely on self-regulation, but rather follow up through more statutory measures to protect the consumers. The content of this pact is basically the old ineffective measures of self-regulation in a new package. What we are witnessing are two powerful industries formally coming together to fight regulation- this is alarming”, says Mariann Skar, Secretary General of the European Alcohol Policy Alliance. …
Source: Eurocare.org, 04/25/12)
also: press release Active, 04/25/12)

Conclusion new research: Introduction of a legal ban on alcohol advertising is the only real solution

Young people in Europe are regularly confronted with alcohol advertising on television. New European research shows that the functioning of the so called self-regulation of alcohol marketing does not protect young people against the exposure of alcohol commercials.

This conclusion is in conflict with recent statements of the alcohol industry. This industry claims that self-regulation is functioning perfect and has to be expanded. The AMMIE researchers conclude that only a total ban on alcohol advertising can prevent the harmful impact of alcohol advertising on the drinking levels of young people.

The new research is a part of the AMMIE project (Alcohol Monitoring Marketing in Europe); the project is co-financed by the European Commission and coordinated by the Dutch Institute for Alcohol Policy (STAP). The research has been implemented in Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in cooperation with the John Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health in the US.

The summary report of the AMMIE project ‘Commercial promotion of drinking in Europe’ will be presented Thursday the 26th of April at the European Alcohol and Health Forum of the European Commission. …
(Source: EUCAM, Press release, Wednesday 25th of April 2012)

Europe’s eight biggest drinks makers have agreed to introduce continent-wide rules on the marketing of alcohol.
AB InBev, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Carlsberg, Diageo, Heineken, Pernod Ricard and SAB Miller will work with the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and national trade associations to establish and implement common standards on social media marketing and age appropriate advertising and scheduling in each of the 27 member states (see below).

Although a voluntary agreement, the move follows pressure from the European Commission’s flagship alcohol harm reduction initiative, the European Alcohol Health Forum (EAHF) to establish a set of harmonised rules across the European Union following concern that standards were fragmented. …
(Source: Alcohol Reports, News 16/2012) marketingweek.co.uk., 04/16/12

A new online tool from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determines the extent of exposure to radio alcohol advertisements among young people ages 12 to 20 in 75 different media markets.

This free and user-friendly tool is the first service to provide parents, health departments and other key audiences with access to customizable information on youth exposure to radio alcohol advertising.

“Despite the proliferation of things like smart phones and tablets, radio continues to be a popular source of media among youth,” said David Jernigan, PhD, CAMY director. “This tool gives users in dozens of cities across the U.S. the ability to determine the scope to which young people in their community are exposed to alcohol marketing.” … Use the radio tool to measure exposure.
(Source: Google alcohol news, 04/11/12) innovations-report.de, 04/11/12

Following the recent release of the Government Alcohol Strategy, here’s a selection of some of the comments and reaction.

Statements and responses

Alcohol Concern have released a short briefing responding directly to some of the specifics in the strategy, and also a press release which called for more public health spend on alcohol. It argues that alcohol remains the “Cinderella issue in competition with drugs, obesity, mental health and other issues” and more than the current average 0.1% of PCT’s budgets must be invested in alcohol treatment and prevention. …
(Source: Alcohol Policy UK, 04/04/12)

Tell State Legislators to Vote NO on LB 824!

In early March, the Nebraska Supreme Court confirmed that flavored malt beverages, AKA “alcopops,” are distilled spirits according to Nebraska law. That wise ruling allows the state to tax alcopops at the $3.75 per gallon spirits rate, which is 12 times higher than the beer tax of 31 cents per gallon.

Increasing the price of alcohol reduces the amount of access young people have to these products, and is one of the most effective policies to reduce alcohol-related harm.

Unfortunately, Nebraska senators immediately went on the defensive and advanced a bill (LB 824) to negate the court’s decision. LB 824 would re-define beer to include alcopops, keep them cheap and widely accessible to youth.

It’s time to tell the senators to place the health and safety of our youth ahead of Big Alcohol’s concerns for profits. It’s time to tell the senators to kill this bill and let the Supreme Court ruling stand. It’s time to tax alcopops as distilled spirits.

Protect Nebraska Youth From Alcopops — Tell State Legislators to Vote NO on LB 824!
(Source: Alcohol Justice, 03/23/12)