Public health "experts have warned current regulation allowing alcohol brands to advertise during live sports are damaging to young people and called for a global ban," according to Rosie Baker of AD NEWS. A collection of 14 new global reports published in science journal Addiction claim young people around the world are "exposed to extensive alcohol marketing" despite regulations in place, adding that current controls "appear ineffective" in blocking the association between youth exposure and subsequent drinking. It calls for a global ban on all alcohol advertising, promotion and sponsorship and an end to self-regulation. Instead, it wants "more government intervention and regulations to be set outside of the alcohol industry." The reports "call for governments around the world to strengthen alcohol advertising regulations and believes alcohol advertising should be statutory and enforced by a public health agency." The alcohol industry has "hit back," saying the calls for a blanket ban on alcohol advertising are "wrong" and "not based on fact." Alcohol Beverages Australia added that it "ignores recent government statistics that show a steady decline in underage drinking." ABA Exec Dir Fergus Taylor said, "Anti-alcohol activists have been trying for years to blame alcohol advertising as the cause of underage drinking, but the inconvenient truth for them is this claim is simply not supported by official data." ABA added that data from the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare shows "fewer people aged 12-17 years old are drinking alcohol and the number of young people choosing not to drink alcohol at all is increasing significantly" (AD NEWS, 1/11).
