alcohol, tobacco, & other drugs

the problem

Despite tremendous progress over the last 50 years, tobacco remains the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, and alcohol is the No. 1 drug used by kids. Both industries survive by replacing their dying customers with new ones. Although age restrictions are in place to limit access and use, children and teens are not only able to obtain tobacco and alcohol, but many become addicted to these products in their youth. One of the key factors that influences whether youth will begin — and continue — using tobacco or alcohol is marketing. And with the rapid growth of digital marketing, advertisers are focusing their attention on new ways to reach young consumers — especially youth of color who use digital media more than their white counterparts — without parents or policymakers even knowing. Research also shows that e-cigarettes, which are on the rise among youth, may be driving up youth smoking rates. Marketers often target teens with kid-friendly vaping flavors, such as cotton candy and gummy bears.

Still, tobacco and alcohol are far from the only drugs that affect our communities. Opioid use, for example, has become a major public health problem — one that is receiving significant media coverage. However, current news reports rarely discuss the underlying social, political and economic factors, such as a lack of jobs and educational opportunities, that drive up drug use. Without this context, it is harder for people to understand and support solutions that address root causes.

the path to success

To decrease drug use over the long term, we must support social determinants of health like quality housing, transit infrastructure and education access. These and other factors form the social fabric that prevents drug use. We must also hold drug makers accountable for their products’ harms and change the environments those products are sold and consumed in. Steps to do that include passing excise taxes to increase the cost of tobacco and alcohol, regulating aggressive marketing practices aimed at youth, and reducing exposure — for alcohol, that might mean reducing the number of places that sell it; for tobacco, it could be decreasing the places where people are exposed to cigarette smoke.

For opioids, reducing harm requires us to approach the issue of addiction as a public health problem rather than strictly a law enforcement matter. Doing so means we must also confront our country’s racialized history with drug use, including disparities in sentencing policies and practices, which disproportionately harm communities of color.

BMSG’s connection

To make these changes happen, advocates need to pressure decision makers to take action, often using the media as their megaphone. That’s where BMSG comes in. We study the media to better understand how opioids appear in the news and how the tobacco and alcohol industries are portrayed; conduct research to keep up with changes in digital marketing (via social media, online video, mobile phones and virtual communities) and how tobacco and alcohol advertisers use it to reach youth; and then use our findings to help advocates get their perspectives and policy suggestions into the media and onto the radar of policymakers.