Madam, - In his defence of actions taken by the Irish drinks industry to promote "responsible drinking", Michael Patten of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (March 14th) cites a number of measures taken by his industry to try to reduce the exposure of young people to alcohol advertising. These include the drinks industry's support for codes of practice intended to control both the content and location of alcohol advertising and what he terms "the control and management of sponsorships by alcohol-related companies".
Does Michael Patten seriously expect us to believe that alcohol advertising codes have anything but the mildest impact on the current level of alcohol abuse in this country? These codes are designed primarily to protect schoolgoing children from exposure to alcohol advertising and while laudable in themselves, they do nothing to tackle the real alcohol abuse crisis affecting young men and women in their 20s and 30s.
The drink industry's support for such codes is perfectly understandable for several reasons. Firstly, by acting in the interests of children, it can claim that it is taking measures to promote "responsible drinking".
All very fine, but the real alcohol abuse crisis is in the18-plus age group. There is no evidence whatever of any let-up in the marketing drives aimed at these young people.
Secondly, the adoption of "voluntary" codes of practice is far more attractive to the drinks industry than its being forced to accept the imposition of stringent legislative measures - measures that one day may even include a ban on all alcohol advertising in this country.
To counter that possibility, the drinks industry has accepted that it is better "to give an inch here and there" in the form of small concessions rather than be forced into "giving a mile" in terms of legislative control on the advertising and promotion of its products.
Our legislators would do well to take note of the report in your Health Supplement (March 14th) which cites substantial public support for Government actions aimed at tackling the drinks crisis in Ireland: 85 per cent of Irish people believe that the Government should fund an agency which specifically tackles alcohol-related problems and some 54 per cent say that they would be prepared to accept an increase in taxation if the money collected was used to tackle the alcohol problem.
These figures suggest that it is high time that our legislators woke up and smelled, not the coffee in this instance, but the alcohol. - Yours, etc,
Dr MICHAEL LOFTUS, Crossmolina, Co Mayo.