141st APHA Annual Meeting

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279025
There ought to be a law: A report from the 16th alcohol policy conference on policy lessons across alcohol, tobacco, and food

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM

Linda M. Bosma, MA, PhD , Bosma Consulting, LLC, Eagan, MN
Norman Giesbrecht, PhD , Public Health and Regulatory Policy Section, Social, Prevention and Health Policy Research Department, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
Research and practice demonstrate that many alcohol policy options can help reduce consumption and problems related to alcohol use and abuse. While much is known, reduced funding, multiple priorities, industry opposition and continuing reluctance among policy-makers contribute to keep alcohol from making needed progress in the policy arena. Parallels exist between alcohol and other legal substances, namely tobacco and food. In an effort to create deeper understanding of similarities between alcohol, tobacco, and food policy efforts, leaders were convened at the Alcohol Policy 16 conference in April 2013 to dialogue about how the fields can move past silos and create a synergy that can advance policy goals in all three areas. Dialogue focused on four areas: 1) price/taxation, 2) availability and access, 3) marketing, advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and 4) building local capacity and advocacy efforts. This presentation will present the main findings and recommendations from this discussion.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe the recommendations from Alcohol Policy 16 on policy interaction across legal substances, specifically alcohol, tobacco, and food; Identify lessons learned that can be applied across legal products to reduce risks and problems

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Co-convener of workshop at Alcohol Policy 16 conference that is the topic of this presentation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.