Most States Don’t Address Youth Exposure to Alcohol Marketing: Report

Most states do not address youth exposure to alcohol marketing, according to a new report. Researchers at the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore say this represents a missed opportunity to improve public health.

Only 11 states use more than one of eight recommended strategies to reduce youth exposure to alcohol, the report found. These strategies include prohibiting false or misleading advertising; banning alcohol ads that target minors; restricting alcohol ads on alcohol retail outlet windows and outside areas, and restricting alcohol sponsorship of civic events.

Other strategies including prohibiting alcohol ads on college campuses, restricting outdoor alcohol ads in areas where children are likely to be present, and establishing jurisdiction over in-state TV and radio ads, UPI reports.

No states used more than five of these strategies, the report found.

“We know quite a bit about how to reduce youth exposure to alcohol marketing and advertising,” CAMY Director David Jernigan said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this report shows states have a long way to go towards using that knowledge to reduce youth exposure.”