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San Rafael City Council Passes Alcopop-Free Zone™ Resolution

Earlier this month, San Rafael City Councilmembers took a bold step toward protecting youth from alcopops when they unanimously passed the country’s first city resolution supporting the creation of an Alcopop-Free Zone™. The resolution encourages alcohol retailers to voluntarily stop selling the dangerous, youth-oriented, flavored malt beverages known as alcopops. Following a similar resolution of support from the Marin County Board of Supervisors, various San Rafael, Stinson Beach, and Bolinas retailers pulled most alcopop products from their stores. Alcohol Justice and the Youth for Justice group will continue to fight for the elimination of alcopops from Marin County retailers, and alcohol retailers throughout the country.

U of Iowa President: A-B InBev Sponsorship Deal "A Mistake"

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Back in June, the University of Iowa athletic department decided to renew its multimillion-dollar sponsorship agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev. The deal allowed the use of the Tigerhawk logo on A-B InBev promotional items, as well as on actual beer cans. The announcement of the renewed sponsorship deal provoked media attention along with public feedback from faculty, students, and community members. The Princeton Review also named U of I the #2 "party school" for 2012. Now the University's president, Sally Mason, has changed her mind, saying in retrospect she probably wouldn't have approved the deal, and that "in this particular case…I made a mistake." Unfortunately, her school's deal with A-B InBev still stands. When another renewal comes up in three years, Mason needs to put the health and safety of U of I and the surrounding community first--and cancel the beer sponsorship deal.

New Zealand to Consider Limited Alcohol Content in Ready-to-Drink Bevs

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New Zealand parliamentarian Phil Goff introduced an amendment that would limit the alcohol content of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages to no more than 5% by volume, and no more than 1.5 standard drinks per bottle. The amendment would effectively eliminate the category of beverages known as supersized alcopops, and therefore "significantly reduce the level of alcohol consumed by young people, and the resultant degree of intoxication." The measure would be the first of its kind to address the dangers that alcopops pose to New Zealand youth, 43% of which reported drinking a ready-to-drink alcopop in their last drinking occasion. According to Goff, the amendment is a necessary step to curtail the excessive product manufacturing aimed at youth because "the industry has had years to self-regulate. It hasn’t, and it won’t. It’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house."

National Survey Finds Broad Public Support for Alcohol Regulation

A new bipartisan national poll conducted for the Center for Alcohol Policy recently found that "Americans overwhelmingly agree that alcohol is a unique product that is not like other consumer goods, which is why they believe it needs to be treated differently." Of the 1,010 adult respondents, 72% said that states should regulate alcohol because it is different from other consumer goods, and 78% support the current drinking age of 21 or older. A full 72% believe that the United States should not follow the example of the UK and remove alcohol regulation. To read the full study, click here.