For many of us good health is the most important aspect in life. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made maintaining good health an even higher priority for people and governments.
But the *products and practices of the alcohol industry are a serious obstacle to good health, causing millions of deaths every year.
In the United States (U.S.), alcohol kills an estimated 95,000 Americans, every year, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death in the country.
Despite this, alcohol deaths are overshadowed in conversation and attention by the country’s drug overdose crisis. However, in the U.S. many more people are killed from alcohol than other drugs. For example in 2020, drug overdoses caused 93,000 deaths, while alcohol alone killed 95,000 Americans.
Alcohol harm in the U.S.
Already from before the pandemic the U.S. was showing some worrying trends in alcohol use.
- A 2018 government survey found that over a quarter of American adults reported a binge alcohol use episode in the past month.
- About 20 million American adults could be having an alcohol use disorder.
- Over half of Americans consume alcohol every month.
- A study of death certificate data between 1999 and 2017 found, the number of annual alcohol-related deaths doubled during this period. Death certificate data is usually an underestimation of the extent of the problem.
An expert panel in 2015 found that alcohol was the most harmful drug in terms of harm to others. Heroin came in second.
Pandemic makes matters worse
The pandemic has made the alcohol problem in the U.S. even worse. During the crisis people are more worried, anxious and stressed due to various fears. Fear of virus infection is compounded by fear of job loss, stress due to pay cuts and additional childcare or eldercare responsibilities.
- A nationwide survey commissioned by the American Psychological Association in February found that, nearly 1 in 4 adults reported using alcohol more, in this past year to manage their stress.
- A study by RTI International for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) found that,
- General alcohol use increased by 39% in November 2020 compared to pre-pandemic in February 2020.
- Binge alcohol use increased by 30% during the same time period.
- The largest increases in alcohol use and the most at risk were,
- Women with children under age five in the household (323%),
- Black and Hispanic women (173% and 148% increases, respectively),
- Black men (173%), and
- Men who selected something other than White, Black or Hispanic for their race/ethnicity (209%).
Products and practices of the alcohol industry: A threat to American lives
The alcohol norm is pervasive in the country and pushes alcohol onto everyone, everywhere through widespread availability and marketing.
Analyzing the target groups of alcohol industry marketing and identifying where the harm is placed and where the profits are earned clearly reveals the industry’s part in diseases and deaths caused by their products.
For instance, the University of Michigan health system reported that alcoholic liver disease is up by 30% over the last year. Women and young people – specific target groups of Big Alcohol – are at higher risk to die from alcoholic liver disease, according to the data.
Alcohol industry targets women
Despite alcohol causing very specific harms to women, such as the fact that women can get addicted to substances with smaller amounts and in shorter time than men, the alcohol industry continues to aggressively push their products on women.
Big Alcohol uses various strategies to get more women to use alcohol, such as:
- Pink-washing of alcohol,
- Marketing alcohol with other products, such as makeup,
- Promoting “low calorie” alcohol as better for women, and,
- Marketing alcohol as a gender equalizer by aligning with women empowerment.
As a result of these industry practices in the U.S., women’s alcohol use is now almost at men’s level with catastrophic consequences for women. For example, the alcohol-related death rate among women is increasing faster than for men. One study published in JAMA Network found, between 2000 to 2016, alcohol-induced deaths among women increased between 3.1% and 3.6% a year, about 3 times that of men. Another study done by researchers at the NIAAA found that between 1999 and 2017, women’s alcohol-related death rate increased by 85% compared to a 35% increase among men.
Alcohol industry preys on children and youth
The alcohol industry uses various strategies to hook youth to using alcohol. One example is the Ready-To-Drink (RTD) product category, which are the present day alcopops, or misleading “wellness” alcohol products that target millennial and Gen Z, who are generally more health conscious.
Supersized alcopops are a menace in the U.S. fueling many underage alcohol poisoning cases. One can of these supersized alcopops contains an alcohol content of 5.5 standard alcoholic beverages. This means that consuming one can is binge alcohol consumption.
A study found that between 2010 and 2019, nearly one-half of calls to the U.S. poison control centers involving supersized alcopop consumption (46.3 %) were made for consumers who were below the legal age for alcohol use.
Marketing by the alcohol industry is a major driver of under-age alcohol use. A growing body of scientific findings illustrates that alcohol marketing is driving youth alcohol consumption, earlier initiation to alcohol use and high-risk alcohol use. With social media and internet becoming increasingly popular, digital alcohol marketing has been linked to increased alcohol use.
Recently, it was exposed that the in the U.S., the alcohol industry earned $17.5 billion or 8.6% of their sales revenue from alcohol sold to under-age adolescents in 2016.
Alcohol policy improvements needed to protect American citizens from harm caused by the products and practices of the alcohol industry
Alcohol policy in the U.S. is a patchwork of policies which differ from state to state. It is proving insufficient to tackle the growing alcohol burden in the country. The Federal government is often bending to the pressure of the alcohol industry which places citizens in harms way.
Even though excise taxes exist for alcohol in the U.S., studies have proven they remain insufficient. A study from Boston University School of Public Health, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs found, found inflation has reduced American alcohol tax rates by 70% since 1933.
Despite this, in December 2019, the United States Congress extended the major tax break for the alcohol industry, losing billions of dollars in government revenue.
Added to this, the alcohol industry has been swift and aggressive in pushing for the weakening of alcohol laws during the raging pandemic, leading to swift weakening in state alcohol laws.
At the current state of alcohol policy, the U.S. stands to loose more lives to alcohol at a growing cost to society. Urgent federal action which prioritizes public health over private profit is vital to reduce this alcohol burden and to protect more people from alcohol harm.
