The Experts More Laws Won’t Prevent Alcohol Abuse @ by Richard F. Keating, Vice President, Senior Government Affairs Officer, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (NAPSA)—When it comes to reducing alcohol abuse, there are two schools of thought. The first argues for more laws, suggesting that more tough laws will deter those from abusing alcohol beverages. The second approach argues that more laws only get in the way of allowing existing laws to func- tion properly. Increasingly, there is a shift away from adding more laws to refocusing resources on enforcing existing laws, using more andbetter educational efforts, and creating incentives as a means to encourage responsible behavior. And, these approaches are beginningto pay off. While it’s difficult to pinpoint whattriggered this shift in think- ing, there’s no doubt debates from the courthouse to the statehouse are now contemplating choices that up until a few years ago would have not been seriously considered. For example, legislators in Minnesota recently decided it was than punishments. Specifically, if a teen remains alcohol-free until they turn age 21, they will receive a reduction in the price of college tuition. Not surprisingly, response to this program has been over- whelmingly positive, because parents and teens themselves say a cheaper college education is a major motivator. But there are those who believe even tougher legislation is required to control undesirable behavior such as underage drinking without fully considering the unintended consequences of such heavy-handedtactics. City officials upset about inci- dents of public drunkenness may consider banning the sale of large containers of alcohol beverages. However, these bans typically cause the alcohol abuser to purchase a six pack instead of a single large container of beer, making a problem worse without doing anything to address the real need of providing alcohol treatment to abusers. What has been consistently shown to work in reducing alcohol abuse, however, are efforts to time to start from scratch in increase parental involvement islative framework to address drinking; improved enforcementof existing laws; use of rewards instead of punishments to incent developing an entirely new leg- drunk driving. While it’s too early to determine if this will become a trend, it’s clear that legislators in Minnesota realized that passing dozens—if not hundreds—of laws with teens to prevent underage desired behavior; and consistent and steady educational efforts. can inadvertently create loopholes, cause delays in prosecuting It is efforts like these which have helped reduce drunk driving by 41 percent since 1982 and reduce teen drinking by 47 per- unintended consequences which And, we’re committed to making drunk drivers and have other make reducing drunk driving moredifficult. Taking a completely different approach, a new program was announced recently in Florida to address underage drinking. This approach uses incentives rather cent over the same time period. sure that policy leaders are aware of the benefits of these approaches so they can fully consider all options when determining how best to addressalcohol abuse. To learn more, visit the Web site at www.beeresponsible.com.
