scholarly journals Vested Interests in Addiction Research and Policy. The challenge corporate lobbying poses to reducing society's alcohol problems: insights from UK evidence on minimum unit pricing

Addiction ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim McCambridge ◽  
Benjamin Hawkins ◽  
Chris Holden
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
Corporate Lobbying ◽  
Unit Pricing ◽  
Research And Policy

scholarly journals Vested interests in addiction research and policy. Alcohol brand sponsorship of events, organizations and causes in the United States, 2010-2013

Addiction ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 109 (12) ◽  
pp. 1977-1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Belt ◽  
Korene Stamatakos ◽  
Amanda J. Ayers ◽  
Victoria A. Fryer ◽  
David H. Jernigan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
Research And Policy

scholarly journals Alcohol policy and public health

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 402-411
Author(s):  
Jason Luty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Alcohol Problems ◽  
Alcohol Policy ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Education Industry ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
History Of ◽  
Financial Power ◽  
Effective Public Health

SummaryAlcohol is the most commonly used recreational drug in the world and the third leading cause of preventable death. Alcohol consumption and alcohol problems have increased steadily over the past six decades. Methods likely to reduce alcohol problems (e.g. minimum pricing, restricting licensing hours and increasing the availability of alcohol treatment) tend not to be supported by the drinks industry. Methods favoured by the industry (e.g. public education, industry self-regulation and product warning labelling) are less effective or do not work. The recent history of alcohol policy clearly demonstrates how the financial power of industry can influence governments and undermine effective public health measures, for instance by lobbying, political donations, confusion marketing and creating fnancial vested interests by grants from industry-sponsored 'social aspect organisations'.

scholarly journals The Scottish case: minimum unit pricing for alcohol

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Hilton ◽  
S V Katikireddi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Alcohol Policy ◽  
Unit Price ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Pricing Policy ◽  
Licensed Premises ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
Unit Pricing

Abstract There have been longstanding social and public health concerns about the levels of harmful alcohol consumption in Scotland. The Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 targets all alcohol sold through licensed premises in Scotland by ensuring it cannot be sold below a set minimum unit price. The pricing policy is currently set at 50p per unit of alcohol. Following a legal challenge and a vote in the Scottish Parliament, minimum unit pricing was implemented in Scotland on 1 May 2018. The aim of the Scottish alcohol policy has been to reduce the adverse public health consequences of alcohol consumption. It has also been identified as a potential measure for reducing health inequalities since alcohol-related harms are strongly socially patterned. The Scottish alcohol policy is important case to consider for a number of reasons. First, the nature of the policy differs. Rather than the introduction of a variable floor price, which may encourage switching in consumption from one product to another to maintain alcohol intake, minimum unit pricing introduces a price threshold that is uniform across all alcohol products. Second, minimum unit pricing is being introduced into a competitive commercial environment with strong vested interests, rather than a government-controlled monopoly. Third, the policy has been framed as a public health intervention, rather than primarily for revenue-raising reasons. Research on its development and evaluation will be considered to inform broader discussions on policy advocacy. Here we show a visualisation of the minimum unit pricing policy network to highlight how the public health community could work in more coordinated manner to support alcohol policy interventions.

scholarly journals Government Options to Reduce the Impact of Alcohol on Human Health: Obstacles to Effective Policy Implementation

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2846
Author(s):  
Tim Stockwell ◽  
Norman Giesbrecht ◽  
Kate Vallance ◽  
Ashley Wettlaufer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Alcohol Policy ◽  
Alcohol Policies ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
Unit Pricing ◽  
The Impact

Evidence for effective government policies to reduce exposure to alcohol’s carcinogenic and hepatoxic effects has strengthened in recent decades. Policies with the strongest evidence involve reducing the affordability, availability and cultural acceptability of alcohol. However, policies that reduce population consumption compete with powerful commercial vested interests. This paper draws on the Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation (CAPE), a formal assessment of effective government action on alcohol across Canadian jurisdictions. It also draws on alcohol policy case studies elsewhere involving attempts to introduce minimum unit pricing and cancer warning labels on alcohol containers. Canadian governments collectively received a failing grade (F) for alcohol policy implementation during the most recent CAPE assessment in 2017. However, had the best practices observed in any one jurisdiction been implemented consistently, Canada would have received an A grade. Resistance to effective alcohol policies is due to (1) lack of public awareness of both need and effectiveness, (2) a lack of government regulatory mechanisms to implement effective policies, (3) alcohol industry lobbying, and (4) a failure from the public health community to promote specific and feasible actions as opposed to general principles, e.g., ‘increased prices’ or ‘reduced affordability’. There is enormous untapped potential in most countries for the implementation of proven strategies to reduce alcohol-related harm. While alcohol policies have weakened in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, societies may now also be more accepting of public health-inspired policies with proven effectiveness and potential economic benefits.

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