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  • Legislative Victories 2011

    The following bills were signed into law in 2011 and are expected to have a positive impact on public health:

    TAXES
     
    Connecticut

    Senate Bill 1239 Signed into law 5/4/2011. Effective July 1, 2011.  
    Summary: Raises wholesale tax rates on alcoholic beverages 20% including beer from $0.19 to $0.23 per gallon, wine from $0.60 to $0.72 per gallon, and liquor from $4.50 to $5.40 per gallon.
    Sponsor(s): Senator Donald Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) and Representative Christopher Donovan (D-Meriden)
     
    Maryland

    Summary: Increased the sales tax rate on alcoholic beverages from 6% to 9%. Allocated a portion of the funds to the Developmental Disabilities Administration.
    Sponsor(s): Senators Verna Jones-Rodwell (D-Baltimore), Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery), Ulysses Currie (D-Prince George’s)*
    Approved by the Governor on May 19,2011. Effective date: July 1, 2011.



    DEREGULATION

    Virginia

    Bills left in committee without further action when legislative session ended:

    Summary: Privatizes the wholesale and retail sale of alcoholic beverages.
    Sponsor(s): Senators Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) and John Watkins (R-Richmond)
      
    Senate Bill 1417
    Summary:Privatizes the retail sale of alcoholic beverages. The state will continue to conduct wholesale activities.
    Sponsor(s): Senators Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) and John Watkins (R-Richmond)
      
    House Bill 2182
    Summary: Replaces the Alcoholic Beverage Control board with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. The bill provides a new leadership and hiring structure that is separate from those generally controlling state agencies.
    Sponsor(s): State Delegate David Albo (R-Fairfax)
      
    House Bill 2456
    Summary: Privatizes the retail sale of alcoholic beverages. The state will continue to conduct wholesale activities.
    Sponsor(s): State Delegate Robert Brink (D-Arlington)




     

  • Cancerous Argument: Red Wine and Your Health

    red_wine   
    In complete disregard of the fact that alcohol is known to be the    third leading cause of preventable death in America, the National Foundation for Cancer Research has decided to specifically promote the consumption of red wine, purportedly for its cancer-preventing properties.  Yet even the Foundation acknowledges that the cancer-fighting benefits are not inherent to the alcohol itself, but to the antioxidants that can be found in a wide range of other foods.  Since antioxidant sources are so prevalent andwidespread, it boggles our mind that the National Foundation for Cancer Research specifically pick the one antioxidant source that is also linked to anincreased risk of several cancers.

  • FTC to Review Alcohol Advertising Self-Regulation


    ftc-icon Following the continued proliferation of alcohol advertising in social and traditional media outlets, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced plans to conduct another review of the effectiveness of the alcohol industry's self-regulation of its own advertising campaigns. As noted in the Marin Institute's 2008 report "Why Big Alcohol Can't Police Itself: A Review of Self-Regulation in the Distilled Spirits Industry," the industry's voluntary guidelines fail to protect underage youth from exposure to alcohol advertising. The FTC is currently seeking public comment until April 26, 2011 on the companies' compliance with ad placement provisions; status of third-party review of complaints; and industry data-collection practices. We encourage everyone concerned about the effects of alcohol advertising to submit comments here. Marin Institute's comments are available here.

  • States Propose Bans on Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages


    AEDcans2Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared caffeine to be an unsafe additive to alcoholic beverages, marking a major victory in a three-year campaign by Marin Institute and our allies.  The battle now turns to individual states, to enact legislation banning caffeinated alcoholic beverages. To date, 14 states have proposed such bans: California, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Hawaii, Virginia, Oregon, Illinois, Rhode Island, Maryland, New York and Tennessee. In addition, ten states issued administrative bans in 2010. Please visit our Alcopops Legislative Activity page for details on proposed legislative bans and links to the legislation.

  • Usher, Belvedere Vodka, and the Most Hypocritical Product (Red) Product Yet

    BelvedereRedUpcloseIn a stunning display of insensitivity and ignorance, Belvedere Vodka and singer Usher have joined with Product (Red) to launch a special edition bottle and give half its profits to "fight HIV/AIDS in Africa," under the misleading tagline “Helps Save Lives.” Promoting and selling booze to fight HIV/AIDS?! There are just so many things wrong with this, we can hardly decide where to start. Let's consider the facts that are missing from this campaign:
    • Alcohol can also complicate the long-term health outcomes of HIV-positive individuals. People with HIV/AIDS are more likelyto engage in high-risk alcohol consumption, which is associated with increased medical and psychiatric complications, delays in seeking treatment, and poorer treatment compliance and outcomes.
    • In Botswana, a country with a 24 percent incidence of HIV/AIDS, the effects of alcohol on HIV/AIDS have gotten so bad that the president has implemented legislation specifically targeting alcohol consumption in order to decrease the spread of the disease.
    • Black men in the United States have six times the incidence of HIV infection as white men. The population at highest risk of being infected with HIV in the United States is black males between the age of 15 and 49: sounds remarkably like Usher’s target demographic. The idea that increasing this population’s alcohol purchases and consumption will ‘Help Save Lives’ is mind-numbing.
    • If there were any doubt that Belvedere wants more young, black people to drink more of their vodka, just look at who else they’ve brought into the mix: stars like Serena Williams, 50 Cent, and Dr. Dre, who appeal to this very demographic.
    Despite all of these serious campaign flaws, the product’s website proclaims that "Both (RED)™ and Belvedere Vodka are unanimous in our objective to empower global consumers to help eliminate HIV/AIDS with (BELVEDERE) RED Special Edition."
     
    If Usher and Product (Red) really wanted to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa, they would counteract the oversaturation of alcohol advertising, rather than promoting it. Instead, it seems that Belvedere and its parent company, Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) are targeting the populations at highest risk of HIV, to increase sales and consumption of a product that increases both the risk of contracting HIV and the progression of HIV/AIDS disease. All so that LVMH can make a donation and get (wait for it…) more publicity and attention.
     
    This campaign is about the bottom line, pure and simple, and does a disservice to the battle against HIV/AIDS. LVMH and Belvedere Vodka just hope that we are naïve enough to fall for it.

  • Memo to Wisconsin Regarding Whipohol

    Memo to Wisconsin:
    Stop Making it Easier for Kids to Get Alcohol

    thumb_Get_whippedAs if boozed up whipped cream in flavors such as chocolate, cherry, and orange wasn’t appealing enough to kids, in Wisconsin they can just buy a can of it for themselves, at the grocery store, LEGALLY. We sent a letter to our friends in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to tell them the reasoning defies logic and common sense. We copied the letter to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, which seems to think the product should be regulated as a food.

    Read More

  • Whipohol

    Memo to Wisconsin: Stop Making it Easier for Kids to Get Alcohol

    thumb_Get_whippedAs if boozed up whipped cream in flavors such as chocolate, cherry, and orange wasn’t appealing enough to kids, in Wisconsin they can just buy a can of it for themselves, at the grocery store, LEGALLY. We sent a letter to our friends in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to tell them the reasoning defies logic and common sense. We copied the letter to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, which seems to think the product should be regulated as a food.

    Read More

  • Tell the FDA: Include Alcoholic Beverages in Restaurant Menu Labels


    Tell the FDA: Include Alcoholic Beverages in Restaurant Menu Labels

    FDAlogo

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently proposed new regulations that will require all restaurants with 20 or more locations to include the caloric contents of food items on their menus, and to make available further nutritional information upon request. The regulation currently exempts alcoholic beverages from the listing requirements. The FDA is requesting public comment on the proposed rules, specifically the alcohol exclusion. Marin Institute has submitted its own comments and encourages the submission of comments urging the FDA to include alcohol in the new regulation. Click here for Marin Institute talking points to assist with your submission, and here to submit your comments by July 5.

  • Model Bill to Ban Caffeine & Downsize Alcopops

    Model Bill to Ban Caffeine and Bring Alcopops Down to Size

    tilt-sparks2Marin Institute is now offering states model legislation to expand last year’s federal ban on seven dangerous caffeinated alcoholic beverages by the Food and Drug Administration. The model bill also restricts the size and alcohol content of the new reformulated products and other youth-friendly alcopops.

    For more information, see the press release and download the entire bill here.

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