Sponsorship, advertising and alcohol control in Ireland: the importance of both premises and products in regulating intoxigenic environments

Excerpt

Ireland’s relationship with alcohol is decidedly problematic [1‐7]. Per capita alcohol consumption and binge drinking rates in Ireland are both worryingly high [3‐5]. Such excess results in significant costs in terms of morbidity, mortality, finances and valuable and finite health and hospital resources. It is an unfortunate reality that alcohol impacts not only adults, but also children and youths [7‐10]. In the 2015 European Schools Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) survey, 36% of secondary school respondents had consumed alcohol in the preceding 30 days, while 22% had engaged in binge drinking during the same period [8]. The most recent Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) report indicates that 21.2% of children reported that they have ever been ‘really drunk’ (1.5% of 10–11-year-olds; 7.6% of 12–14-year-olds; 40.7% of 15–17-year-olds) [7]. Results from both the ESPAD survey and the HBSC survey therefore clearly indicate that youth initiation into alcohol use is a significant issue. Further validation of this issue may be seen in results from the National Alcohol Diary Study which indicated that almost two-thirds (63.9%) of males and half (51.4%) of females in Ireland started drinking alcohol before the age of 18 years [2]. These findings are extremely important as evidence examining the impact of alcohol on the developing brain has identified the ‘disrupting effects of adolescent binge drinking on the developmental trajectories of both brain and personality’ [11]. …