"ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO ADVERTISING: WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE"

Date: February 17, 2000
Presented by: Mike DeVillaer Director, West Region Community Health & Education Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

In February, Mike DeVillaer, Director, West Region Community Health and Education Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health spoke on: "Alcohol and Tobacco Advertising: What's Wrong with this Picture?" Mike began his presentation with an overview of the numbers both in usage and in costs to the health care system. Despite the high profile given to illicit drug use, the data indicate that tobacco and alcohol account for 93% of the total cost of substance abuse in Ontario, currently estimated at $7,000 million annually. Among teens, substance use peaked in 1979 and was followed by over 15 years of stable or declining use. In 1995, the numbers began to climb; they currently rival the 1979 numbers indicating that drug use among teens is as prevalent now as it was in their parents' generation. Again, what stands in stark contrast to the media message about drug use are the high numbers surrounding alcohol and tobacco compared to those of the illicit drugs such as cannabis, hallucinogens, cocaine and heroin. Over the same period, adult drug use appears more stable, with a notable decline in the use of tranquillizers. Alcohol and tobacco use, again, outnumber that of illicit substances. Tobacco use contributes to lung, bladder, laryngeal, oral and esophageal cancers and is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. In addition, smoking is a contributing factor to stomach and pancreatic cancer, pulmonary disease, reduced fertility, ulcer, pregnancy complications and sudden infant death syndrome. Environmental tobacco smoke introduces these risks to non-smokers, particularly children.

The manner in which these products are aggressively marketed for consumption contributes significantly to their widespread usage, particularly among teens. Marketing techniques rely heavily on a mythology which combines glamour, machismo, athleticism and sexuality with alcohol and tobacco use. Research has shown that positive reinforcement (ie: sexual, physical, mental, and social) are linked with heavier drinking, adverse psychosocial consequences, poor treatment progress, and diminished long term treatment outcomes. This mythology is firmly embedded in North American culture and contributes to a marked ambivalence which stands as a barrier to constructive change. And although it must be stressed that substance misuse is best understood as a complex web of biopsychosocial determinants which elude concrete causal links, studies on beliefs support a public health perspective which assumes that patient beliefs about alcohol and tobacco are neither neutral nor benign.