The busy winter holiday season is upon us, full of celebrations and parties with family, friends, and co-workers. Holiday parties and New Year’s Eve events often include alcohol, and that comes with risk. Making informed decisions about alcohol consumption can be life-saving.
We in Colorado drink a lot (9th highest rate of excessive drinking in the United States) and we pay the price for it. The risk from alcohol consumption that is most often highlighted during the holiday season is that of drunk driving; 30% of Colorado’s fatal car crashes are alcohol related. However, alcohol consumption causes much more than car crashes.
More than 2,200 Coloradans die each year from alcohol-related health problems. Colorado’s death rate due to alcohol has doubled in the past decade and is currently twice that of the United States. Alcohol is associated with all forms of injury, suicide, liver and heart disease, and breast cancer (among other health problems).
Alcohol also causes serious problems in non-drinkers, being a major factor in intimate partner violence, assault, child abuse, and birth defects.
Most of what we are told about alcohol comes from marketing by the makers, distributors, and retailers of alcohol products. The industry spends nearly $80 million each year to market alcohol in Colorado and devotes only a tiny fraction of its advertising dollars to communication about “responsible drinking.” By comparison, there is no public funding to provide information on the health risks of alcohol.
Alcohol is heavily marketed at Colorado’s sporting events and ski areas. Colorado’s professional and major college sporting teams all have alcohol industry sponsors, as do many Colorado ski areas. Holiday concerts and other performances often include alcohol marketing and the broad availability of alcohol for purchase. RTD, the metro area’s public transportation system, has ads for alcohol that cover an entire light rail car. Alcohol marketing is everywhere and all the time.
It is time to do something about alcohol’s adverse effects on health in Colorado. We need balanced public information about alcohol. Other states have passed sensible limitations on alcohol marketing, and we have none in Colorado.
These restrictions include prohibitions on false or misleading claims, images of children in alcohol advertisements or images that portray or encourage intoxication. Other states restrict outdoor advertising near places where children are likely to be present like schools, parks, and playgrounds, restrict advertising at retail alcohol outlets, and prohibit alcohol sponsorship of civic events such as college football games and public transportation.
The Colorado Alcohol Impacts Coalition has brought together concerned institutions and individuals to raise awareness, evaluate policies that can decrease alcohol’s adverse effects, ensure access to treatment, and produce data on the impacts of alcohol.
We do not in any way advocate for a return to prohibition; it was a completely failed policy. Balanced public information and appropriate policy changes can make our state a safer place.
So, have a joyous holiday season, and make an informed decision about what role alcohol will play in those celebrations.
William J. Burman is a public health and infectious diseases physician at Denver Health, the former executive director of Denver Public Health and a founding member of the Colorado Alcohol Impacts Coalition.
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