Blog
Wyoming Study: Cost of Alcohol-Related Harm Tops $843 Million
- Details
- Created: Tuesday, May 14 2013 21:37
The Wyoming Department of Health and the University of Wyoming teamed up to conduct and publish a study of the economic costs of substance abuse in the state. Alcohol-related harm constituted the largest percentage of the burden, accounting for over $843 million in economic costs in 2010, of which $589 million was attributed to productivity losses, $206.2 million to health care costs, $30.4 million to crime-related costs, and $17.4 million to other costs like motor vehicle crashes. The full study is available for download here.
Ireland: Doctors Demand Ban on Alcohol Sponsorship of Sports
- Details
- Created: Tuesday, May 14 2013 21:37
In Ireland, a group of doctors is demanding a ban on alcohol sponsorships of sporting events, warning that alcohol companies are “grooming child drinkers.” Dr. William Flannery of the College Psychiatrists of Ireland (CPI) presented to the Oireachtas Transportat and Communications Committee about the link between alcohol sponsorship and the early onset of alcohol abuse, as well as the resulting myriad of alcohol-related complications. And yet, according to Dr. Flannery, sporting bodies are “in the pocket” of the alcohol industry, despite there being “no product on the planet that could cause more harm.” The CPI is calling for a total ban on alcohol sponsorship in sports. For more on the dangers of alcohol marketing and youth, click here.Urban Outfitters Corporate Prescription to Harm Youth
- Details
- Created: Tuesday, May 14 2013 14:48
Urban Outfitters is known for selling controversial merchandise. But its latest product line has ventured into a new realm: a series of medical-themed drinking products that includes prescription shot glasses, pint glasses, and syringe shot-shooters. A sleeve designed to hold a can of beer resembles a prescription medicine bottle, with the following content listed on the Rx label:
Drug name: Beer.
Quantity: As much as you can stomach.
Instructions: Take one can by mouth. Repeat until intoxicated.
Refills: Sure!
Shot glasses with a big Rx logo on the front repeat these same instructions.
Many individuals and groups are upset about a teen-focused company selling products with prescription drug imagery, and rightfully so. But there is an important, and glaring, additional danger with Urban Outfitters' new line that must be called to the forefront as well. These products are not only promoting, normalizing, and downright giggling about youth using prescription drugs. By using shot and pint glasses and other alcohol products labeled with prescription language, they are promoting alcohol as the self-prescribed drug of choice.
Urban Outfitters claims that its target customer is between the ages of 18 and 30 - a demographic that contains both underage youth, for whom the supposed "directions" for using the alcohol paraphernalia are illegal, and young people who by definition are at higher risk for drinking, drinking more, and experiencing alcohol-related harm. These products promote drinking as not only cool and normal behavior for youth, but also a legitimate anecdote to one’s problems. The prescription beer can sleeve labeled “Liquid Happiness 12oz” tells youth directly that alcohol should be consumed in order to feel good.
Guess we shouldn't be too surprised by this latest atrocity, when another Urban Outfitters product is a flask that screams F- MY LIVER.
More Articles ...
Subcategories
Help us hold Big Alcohol accountable for the harm its products cause.
| GET ACTION ALERTS AND eNEWS |
STAY CONNECTED    |
CONTACT US 24 Belvedere St. San Rafael, CA 94901 415-456-5692 |
SUPPORT US Terms of Service & Privacy Policy |