WE see them every day.
We probably don't even notice them, but they're there: Alcohol ads. On our televisions, in our magazines, on the radio, they pop-up and roll past us as we surf various social media sites. We read them on billboards as we drive in our car and they're, at times, posted in our transit shelters. But adults are not the only viewers, so are our children and our youth.
In February and March of this year, a transit shelter in North Vancouver, located one block from a high school, was furnished with an ad featuring an attractive looking array of cans, followed by the request "Want to Play? Enter today!" On first pass you might think the ad was featuring a new soda or energy drink, but upon closer inspection you realized the drink was actually alcohol. The ridership of this stop is almost exclusively the students from the high school, all of whom are legally ineligible to purchase the product.
We know that alcohol is the most common illegal substance used among Canadian youth. We know that heavy episodic drinking is the chief contributing factor in motor vehicle accidents, injuries, unwanted sexual activity, violent crime, suicide and death among youth. More than half of all youth who binge drink experience five or more alcohol related problems per year in the domains of home, family and community compared to their peers who do not engage in risky drinking behavior.
Closely linked to increased consumption rates in youth is the influence of alcohol advertising. Particularly, the way alcohol is portrayed.
Research done by the World Health Organization has indicated that the youth of today experience repeated high level promotion of alcohol as a positive, even glamorous activity with little or no risk involved. This can instill a pro-drinking attitude and increase the likelihood of heavier drinking and a greater intention to drink as adults.
While some of these issues are larger than just us here on the North Shore, we can begin by entering into a dialogue with our children and youth, our friends, the stores and businesses we frequent, and even with ourselves. What do we want to portray to our children and youth about alcohol? What role do we want alcohol to play in our community for all age levels?
This year, in collaboration with numerous community partners, the North Shore Action on Prevention Task Force is meeting alcohol advertisers on their own turf. Starting in early June, all across the North Shore drivers and transit riders will see a poster related to the annual antibootlegging campaign.
This year's theme is "Think Before You Let Them Drink" and focuses on discouraging adults from purchasing or selling alcohol to minors. Related posters will be hung in approximately 20 transit shelters and smaller posters will be in community centres, libraries, municipal halls, private liquor stores and other supporting businesses.
To kick-off the campaign, a community launch event has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 5 at 11 a.m. at North Vancouver City Civic Square. A variety of speakers will address those in attendance, including Dr. Marvin Krank, a University of British Columbia psychologist who studies the social and cognitive factors related to substance use in adolescents, City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto and MLA Naomi Yamamoto.
This year's anti-bootlegging campaign was made possible through the support of the Substance Abuse Working Group, Vancouver Coastal Health, Squamish Nation, District of North Vancouver, District of West Vancouver, City of North Vancouver, North Vancouver RCMP, West Vancouver Police Department, Rotary Club of North Vancouver, North Vancouver School District, West Vancouver School District and Pattison Outdoor Group.
Kerrie Watt is a prevention consultant for Vancouver Coastal Health, the District of West Vancouver and West Vancouver School District.
