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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

USING NEUROBIOLOGY TO REFRAME THE NEED FOR ALCOHOL POLICY INTERVENTIONS
Addiction 102 (9), 1351–1352.




The tobacco field provides a useful lesson for how alcohol prevention experts could implement Dr Giesbrecht's call for educational programs that increase public support for policy-level interventions.

Consumers are remarkably willing to let tobacco and alcohol companies sell them probabilistically dangerous products, so further explication of the health damage of these products may have little impact.

In contrast, the public is less willing to be knowingly tricked or cheated in their dealings. Knowledge that tobacco companies purposely enhanced the addictiveness of their product and withheld information about risks to increase sales fostered support for successful tobacco-control interventions.

Similarly, explaining how alcohol biologically distorts purchasing decisions to trick consumers into paying more for alcohol may facilitate support for controls on alcohol sales and marketing.
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