Most states weak on teen alcohol marketing

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BALTIMORE, May 2 (UPI) -- Most U.S. states fail to address youth exposure to alcohol marketing and it's a missed opportunity to improve public health, researchers say.

David Jernigan, director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues reviewed state alcohol advertising laws.

They examined the extent to which states' laws incorporated eight best practices to reduce youth exposure to alcohol advertising and marketing.

The list includes:

-- Prohibiting false or misleading advertising.

-- Prohibiting alcohol advertising that targets minors.

-- Establishing jurisdiction over in-state electronic media (TV and radio).

-- Restricting outdoor alcohol advertising in locations where children are likely to be present.

-- Restricting alcohol advertising on alcohol retail outlet windows and outside areas.

-- Prohibiting alcohol advertising on college campuses.

-- Restricting alcohol sponsorship of civic events.

-- Limit the alcohol industry's ability to provide free goods.

The review authors then assessed each state's use of these strategies and found only 11 states use more than one of the eight and no state uses more than five.

"We know quite a bit about how to reduce youth exposure to alcohol marketing and advertising," Jernigan said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this report shows states have a long way to go towards using that knowledge to reduce youth exposure."

The report is available at: www.camy.org.