We worry about substances, but what about alcohol?
LORIAN HARDCASTLE
With overdose awareness day having been Aug. 31 and the Ontario government’s recent promise to devote $222 million to the opioid crisis, substance abuse is at the forefront of the minds of policy-makers and the public.
Despite evidence to the contrary, many people don’t see alcohol as a particularly harmful substance. This perception is wrong.
The LCBO is a hugely profitable entity, raking in a whopping $5.89 billion in revenue last year. It handed $2.06 billion of this over to the provincial government. The LCBO’s year-inreview highlights proudly state that wine sales were up by 5.9 per cent, craft beer sales were up by a staggering 27.6 per cent and the province now has 660 LCBO stores.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, about 77,000 Canadians were hospitalized last year due to conditions caused entirely by alcohol, a figure higher than the number of hospitalizations for heart attacks.
The LCBO supports alcohol awareness campaigns and fundraising initiatives, the proceeds of which go to organizations such as children’s hospitals and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. But when it comes to advertising, the LCBO falls short of fulfilling the “social responsibility” part of its mandate. Last year, the LCBO spent more than $43 million in sales and marketing. In other words, the government stood by while the LCBO, a Crown corporation, undertook active efforts to encourage alcohol consumption. In the process, the government made billions of dollars.
Although LCBO employees may have refused to sell alcohol to 258,628 people last year, most of whom were minors, it simultaneously encouraged them to drink through advertising. The link between advertising and consumption is well-established.
The province’s own guidelines on alcohol advertising are concerned with ads targeting adolescents and ads in places they frequent. However, the government stands by (and profits) while the LCBO advertises on billboards and at bus and streetcar shelters near shopping malls, schools and parks.
The kinds of products that the LCBO advertises also often appeal to children. Who exactly does the LCBO think is drinking whipped cream and cotton candy flavoured vodka, and boozy pops such as cream soda and root beer? Evidence shows that flavoured alcoholic beverages are staggeringly popular among underage drinkers given their overall market share.
The LCBO’s marketing efforts include the publication of Food & Drink, a glossy, free magazine available in LCBO stores, which is filled with alcohol ads and recipes highlighting alcohol as an ingredient. The LCBO stores themselves are well-appointed with tasting areas and kitchens to entice customers to try new products and enroll in tasting programs.
While I don’t advocate a return to prohibitionera laws on alcohol, the government need not allow the enthusiastic promotion of a product with significant public health costs, particularly given its financial conflict of interest. — Lorian Hardcastle is an assistant professor in the faculty of law at University of Calgary.