Pubdate: Mon, 30 Jul 2012
Source: Long Beach Post (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Long Beach Post
Contact:  http://www.lbpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5286
Author: Greggory Moore

PROMOTION OF DRUG USE REACHES NEW HEIGHTS IN LONG BEACH

If you want to get attention in Rainbow Harbor, hovering over the sea 
with a water-propelled jetpack is a pretty effective means of doing 
so. And that's just the tactic deployed Friday afternoon in an effort 
to promote drug use.

That drug is alcohol -- specifically, Air (Alcohol Inspired 
Refresher), a mixture of alcohol and carbonated water with citrus and 
berry flavors, according to the product's website. But the fact that 
alcohol is a society-sanctioned multibillion-dollar industry doesn't 
make it any less a drug than crack and heroin -- the two substances 
directly behind alcohol in a 2010 study published by The Lancet 
naming alcohol as the drug responsible for the greatest amount of 
combined personal and societal harm (While the study focused 
specifically on the United Kingdom, there is no evidence suggesting 
that harms caused by alcohol don't translate across the Pond).

"As a way to promote Air in a fun and unique way, we have a 
water-powered jet pack flying around local waterways and festivals," 
reads the press release received by the Long Beach Post.

That's exactly what it was: a guy maneuvering over the harbor for a 
couple of hours, while a 20-something girl in skimpy shorts and 
tight, white T-shirt handed to curious onlookers can-shaped promo 
cards with a QR code linking to the product Website and an 
exhortation to "Drink Air."

It's hard to imagine the target demographic for such a stunt being 
anybody but young males, three of whom -- ages 21, 20, and 16 -- were 
skateboarding as the promotion passed toward Shoreline Village.

"They got my attention by it," said the 21-year-old.

"Yeah, they got my attention," agreed the 20-year-old. "It leaves an 
imprint in your head."

What about the girl? Did her presence increase the appeal of Air? 
"Yeah, probably yeah," they told me. "Hey, sex sells."

I wondered: Did these young men see any hypocrisy in alcohol's being 
advertised so freely, while marijuana use is criminalized?

"There's more death from alcohol than from marijuana," said the 
16-year-old, who neither drinks nor smokes. "I mean, alcohol's 
probably 10 times worse than weed, but weed's still illegal and 
alcohol's not. It makes no sense."

"Who's overdosed on weed?" chuckled the 21-year-old (who does smoke). 
"No one. From weed you just get fat. From the munchies."

Of course, the story with alcohol is quite different. The World 
Health Organization estimates that 2.5 million deaths per year result 
from alcohol use (for those of you keeping track, that's 2.5 million 
more than result from marijuana), with 9% of all deaths of males aged 
15 to 29 attributable to the drug (categorized as a depressant for 
its effect on the central nervous system).

And there can be little doubt that alcohol-related advertising is a 
contributing factor. According to recent report published by Johns 
Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health,

The alcohol industry spends more than $4 billion each year marketing 
its products. Underage youth receive substantial exposure to this 
marketing, and multiple longitudinal studies have correlated this 
exposure with greater likelihood of drinking, or if young people have 
already initiated alcohol use, drinking more. Reducing the impact of 
alcohol marketing on young people is an important public health goal 
since underage drinking is a significant contributor to youth 
alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and other forms of injury, 
violence, suicide, and problems associated with school and family.

The report goes on to discuss a relatively recent, "dramatic shift in 
advertising strategy, termed branding, where the advertiser 
establishes an emotional connection between the brand and the 
targeted audience. The brand becomes embedded in the audience's 
experience, cultural icons, and values."

A retired primary-school teacher I encountered at Rainbow Harbor 
frowned on the Air stunt for just that reason. "It's associating the 
excitement of being on the jet-whatever-it-is with drinking and fun," 
she said. "The kids think about fun and they are being led to the wrong idea."

Not only do I use alcohol, but I have too many misgivings about any 
kind of censorship ever to be a crusader against free-market 
advertising. But on Friday -- and every day -- Long Beach is a prime 
stage on which to witness our society's hypocrisy when it comes to 
drug use. Friday's profit-driven spectacle promoting one particular, 
commonly lethal drug just so happened to take place three weeks in 
advance our police force getting Chief McDonnell's longstanding wish 
to divert some his ever-depleting resources toward shutting down 
medical-marijuana dispensaries (even as violent crime is trending 
upward citywide).

By example we are teaching our young people to associate alcohol with 
sex and glamour and good times, all while sending the message that a 
substance less destructive to the point that the California Medical 
Association has called for its legalization is deserving of attention 
by our overburdened criminal justice system.

If we're going to be hypocrites, let's at least be honest about it. 
Truth is the least we should do for our children.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom