Updated November 2007
Alcohol
Health Impact
Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with a variety of adverse health conditions including liver disease, heart disease, cancer and mental health problems. According to recent Center for Disease Control reports, more than 75,000 deaths per year can be attributed to alcohol abuse and related illnesses, which is considered the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Of these fatalities, 45% are caused by chronic conditions such as liver disease and 54% by acute conditions such as traffic accidents or violence. According to the Marin Institute's policy reports, alcohol abuse is among the world's most costly drug use problems. With the exception of nicotine addiction, alcoholism is more costly to most countries, including the United States, than all other drug use problems combined. As with tobacco, a great deal of alcohol advertising is targeted at women, African-Americans and Latinos, gay and lesbian people, and youth, contributing to the health disparities these populations experience.
Youth Drinking and the Alcohol Industry
Underage drinkers consume twenty percent of all alcohol sold in the United States. Research by the Harvard University's College Alcohol Study has linked youth alcohol consumption with violence & accidental injury on college campuses. Specifically, the culture of binge drinking among high school and college students has been associated with drunk driving fatalities, alcohol poisoning and campus-based sexual assaults. Moreover, underage drinkers do not escape the long-term health effects of alcohol abuse. It is believed that youth who begin drinking in adolescence are four times as likely to develop long-term alcoholism and associated chronic health conditions than those who begin in their early twenties (American Academy of Family Physicians). Further, a recent study by the University of Michigan's Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health demonstrated a grater prevalence of liquor stores in poorer and minority urban neighborhoods than in wealthier, white areas. This may increase the likelihood of minority youth drinking. Despite the serious social and health consequences of underage drinking, the alcohol industry continues to spend billions each year marketing beer and distilled liquor products that, as a recent Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth study illustrates, are more likely to appear in magazines or on television programs with primarily underage audiences.
Resources
Top 3 Domestic Alcohol Manufacturers
Anheuser-Busch
2006 product sales: $17.9 billion
2005-current campaign contributions: $448,868
Brown-Forman Corporation
2006 product sales: $2.4 billion
2005-current campaign contributions: $73,958
Molson-Coors
2006 product sales: $5.84 billion
2005-current campaign contributions: $22,799
Industry Allies
The Beer Institute
The Century Council
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
Government Agencies Involved in Alcohol Control
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Federal Trade Commission
Highway Traffic and Safety Administration
NATIONAL RESOURCES
Organizations and Campaigns Challenging Industry Practices
American Cancer Society Commercial Alert
American Medical Association
Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY)
Center for Science in the Public Interest-Alcohol Policies Project:
Beer Soaks America
Health Care for Children or Tax Breaks for Big Beer?
Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV
Beer Money in Congress
CorpWatch
Harvard Center for Society and Health
Join Together
The Marin Institute:
The National Latino Council on Tobacco and Alcohol Prevention
INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES
Organizations and Campaigns Challenging Industry Practices
Global Alcohol Policy Alliance
Global Exchange
Institute of Alcohol Studies (UK)
International Center for Alcohol Policies
Multinational Monitor
WHO Global Alcohol Database
The World NGO Network on Alcohol and Public Health
Selected References on Alcohol Industry Practices and Health
This list of references is based on a literature review conducted in 2006 and 2007 by Corporations and Health Watch staff. We invite readers to send us additional references.
Corporate Practices, Alcohol and Health: Suggested Resources [pdf]
Archives
View the Corporations and Health Archives for more information on the Alcohol Industry.
