The Back Page - a report on the seminar sponsored by the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention

In late July, I attended a three day policy seminar sponsored by the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP), one of the federal government's primary alcohol and drug policy agencies. The following summary reflects the recommendations of the seminar, which are significant because of the potential impact on public policy areas related to taxes, marketing and advertising restrictions. In addition, they are likely to drive the debate and to provide the framework for the Department of Health and Human Services National Alcohol conference, March 23-25, 1992, entitled "Healthy Environments: Advancing Measurements to Reduce Alcohol-Related Injuries."

Michael Pertschuk, an anti-tobacco leader from the Advocacy Institute and moderator for the OSAP government sponsored workshop in Philadelphia, summed up his "synthesis of recommendations" in what he described as a consensus to "work to restrict access and availability of alcohol and tobacco just as the nation is committed to restricting access and availability of other drugs, both directly through limits on outlets, such as vending machines for cigarettes and gas stations for beer, and indirectly but powerfully through frequent and substantial excise tax increases."

With little debate, the entire control of availability agenda was presented as "the strategoy for minimizing mixed messages and reducing their consequences." No one from the wine, beer or spirits industries, ad agencies or the media -- those directly responsible for creating, sponsoring and airing so-called "mixed messages" was invited to participate or recommended policy. Similarly, law enforcement and state regulatory agencies were allowed only one representative each, neither of whom was included in the original list of OSAP invitees. The audience included over 75 public health professionals, a majority of whom are known to support severe restrictions on the marketing and promotion of licensed beverages.

AWARE and the Licensed Beverage Information Council (LBIC) were the only two organizations with any industry association invited to the forum. Trade associations for wine, beer and spirits were not included. Both AWARE and LBIC strongly dissented with the process and findings which fail to adequately represent all of the interests affected by the resolutions. In the rush to judgement, balanced presentations and any diverse points of view were deliberately stampeded and ignored. Discussions in small group sessions, which highlighted distinctions around light and moderate drinking, were discarded. At the conclusion, I acted to disassociate AWARE's name with the reported workshop recommendations and stated an intentin to file a minority report, when the final recommendations are made known.

A partial list of OSAP recommendations includes:

* Ban all alcoholic beverage advertising and promotion;

* Increase, indexing, equalizing and earmarking excise taxes;

* Place further restrictions on access to licensed beverages;

* Make alcoholic beverage packaging more distinctive to separate it from other products;

* Make warning labels more prominent and place on all advertising;

* Encourage other industries to replace the financial support for community projects now sponsored by alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries;

* Provide equal time for health messages;

* Expand efforts by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America to include alcohol and tobacco "in proportion to the damage they cause";

* Require "alcohol impact" statement for every new licensed beverage product and relate to social and health costs.

AWARE continues to provide a balancing view -- information that would not otherwise be provided -- on alcoholic beverage policy issues, and we are coordinating with both industry and non-industry groups. AWARE will have input into the steering committee that will plan the national conference.

On a separate but related issue, AWARE will participate in a series of industry forums with other associations and representatives of government on a variety of issues. Participants will include LBIC, office of the BHHS, and Office of the Surgeon General, OSAP and National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The first topic will be underage drinking, and is scheduled for this September.

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