(UK) MPs push for tighter rules on alcohol ads and sponsorship
Source: The Guardian
Tough curbs on alcohol advertising and a possible ban on drinks companies sponsoring sporting and cultural events are needed to reduce the 6,500 deaths a year caused by drinking, MPs say today.
The Commons health select committee also warns drinks firms to do more to tackle the damage their products cause or risk being seen as "paying only lip service" to the need to reduce the "insidious and pervasive" health effects linked to drinking too much, which cost the NHS more than £3bn a year.
Existing restrictions on TV advertising should be applied more widely, especially in cinemas, to stop ads encouraging under-18s to drink, the cross-party group of MPs recommends in a review of the coalition's alcohol strategy.
They say "serious consideration" should be given to reducing to 10% the proportion of a film's audience that can be under-18 and still allow alcohol to be advertised, or to prohibiting alcohol advertising in cinemas altogether except when a film has an 18 certificate.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jul/19/mps-tighter-rules-alcohol-ads-1
The first comment: "Alcoholism in under 18's is not just about advertising - it's about the culture of this country. It's about young people having nothing better to do, seeing no value in their lives, being depressed and wanting to drink themselves silly because their peers/ parents do. The government are constantly coming up with knee jerk reactions that are tantamount to putting a sticky plaster on a stinking, rotting, maggot infested wound that lies deep in the heart and history of this country where all it's past and current sins remain."
