 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
George A. Hacker, JD, Alcohol Policies Project, Center for Science in the Public Interest, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20009-5728, 202-332-9110, ghacker@cspinet.org
This presentation will reflect on the political and policy dynamics of several alcohol-policy debates in the United States Congress and key federal agencies since 1982. Specifically, it will address advocacy to: increase excise taxes on alcoholic beverages, restrict the marketing of alcoholic beverages to young people, combat the emergence of distilled spirits advertising in the broadcast media, promote broadcast messages to “counter” alcohol advertising, and limit the ability of the alcoholic-beverage industry to tout the supposed health benefits of moderate alcohol consumption.
Focusing on those issues, the speaker will discuss the evolution of advocacy strategies and tactics, including issue research, coalition building, lobbying, creative use of scientific experts and other resources, and the stimulation of media coverage. Using concrete examples of actual issue campaigns, the presentation will identify both successful and less successful initiatives, highlight what we learned and how, or whether, that knowledge was used in later campaigns. The presenter will assess the relative importance of each element in the “advocacy pentagon” and consider the impact those lessons will have on future advocacy on alcohol-policy issues at the national level.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Social Activism, Legislative
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.