Editorial - About smoke and mirrors: the alcohol industry and the promotion of science
Addiction 103 (2), 175–178.
This editorial was prompted by the publication of
Drinking in Context: Patterns, Interventions, and Partnerships [
1], a book emerging from a collaboration between four organizations: the International Harm Reduction Association, the World Federation for Mental Health, the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) and the Institut de Recherches Scientifiques sur les Boissons. This is not the first time that some of these organizations have come together. The International Harm Reduction Association supports the ‘Dublin Principles’, which proposes working cooperation between the alcohol industry and ‘governments, and the scientific and academic community’ (
http://www.icap.org/BuildingPartnerships/DublinPrinciples/tabid/249/Default.aspx). The ‘Principles’ result from a collaboration between the National College of Ireland, ICAP and the Institut de Recherches, which is also a participant in the creation of the ‘Principles’. These two latter organizations acknowledge their sponsorship by the alcohol industry.
The book is organized into 10 chapters, addressing drinking patterns, assessment of drinking, targeted and tailored interventions, alcohol-impaired driving, public disorder related to drinking, drinking by young people, interventions minimizing harm, key players and partnerships and ‘finding common ground’. Although four ‘authors’ are listed on the front cover of the book (G. Stimson, M. Grant, M. Choquet & P. Garrison), each from one of the partnering organizations, 22 other individuals are identified as ‘contributing authors’. These come from a variety of organizations, including those already mentioned above, plus universities and the alcohol industry.
The authorship arrangement deserves some attention because it is rather unusual. Further information in the book's ‘Foreword’ indicates that there was also an ‘Editorial Advisory Group’ with 15 of the 26 authors, which met twice ‘under the chairmanship of Professor Norman Sartorius’ (who is not listed as an author). This group produced the overall plan for the book and reviewed a draft manuscript. This draft was produced under the ‘guidance’ of the main editor, Professor Stimson, who wove together the ‘many contributions, some greater, some smaller’ from the other authors. According to the Foreword, this process created a ‘sense of collective responsibility’, which ‘led to the decision not to attribute authorship of particular chapters to particular individuals’. This may have been the case, but as can be inferred from the description herein it has also resulted in a rather obfuscating process that does not seem to reflect accepted authorship attributions, which implies creative input, individual ownership and public responsibility for the contents of the chapters.
Concerns about previous attempts such as this one to promote scientific research in the alcohol field by the alcohol industry have already been identified [2]. While attempting to produce this type of ‘scientific work’, the alcohol industry continues to behave unethically [3]. Industry practices in marketing and advertising (e.g. flavored malt beverages) have been identified as a potential factor triggering an ‘industrial epidemic’ of alcohol problems [4]. Unethical behavior is also present in developing countries where profit maximization is the industry's main goal [5–7]. In the paragraphs below I try to look beyond the smoke and mirrors, to describe the apparent underlying intentions behind the book, the harms this specific effort can trigger and puzzlement at why some alcohol scientists continue to participate in these efforts.
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Effect of chronic alcohol consumption on brain damage following transient focal ischemia
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