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Alcohol Awareness The U.S. brewing industry has a long-standing commitment to helping to reduce all forms of alcohol abuse, including illegal underage drinking, excessive college drinking, and drunk driving.
Brewers, importers, and distributors have been leaders in sponsoring research, offering server training, and providing public information about alcohol abuse and how to help prevent it. We are concerned about problems caused by alcohol abuse and are doing more to educate the public about responsible consumption. Consider this:
- Underage drinking: The brewing industry offers server training, public service announcements, and programs to help retail employees detect fake IDs.
- College drinking: The industry works with colleges and communities to develop programs that encourage responsible and legal alcohol consumption.
- Drunk driving: The industry sponsors server training, designated driver and taxi programs, and public service announcements.
Beer Institute members Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors, and Heineken are involved in a range of consumer awareness activities designed to help fight drunk driving and illegal underage drinking and to promote responsible consumption of beer by adults:
- College programs: Brewers participate in and support BACCHUS (Boost Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students), National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, the Buddy System, and other educational programs designed to help teach young people about responsible and legal alcohol consumption on America's college campuses.
- Training and awareness programs: Working with retailers, brewers and distributors sponsor and promote server training, designated driver programs, and taxi programs.
- Television, radio, and print advertising PSAs: Through Anheuser-Busch's "Responsibility Matters" campaign, Miller's "Live Responsibly" campaign, and Coors' "21 Means 21" campaign, the brewing industry spends millions of dollars each year helping to prevent illegal underage access and overconsumption.
- “We ID” campaign: Since 1992, the brewing industry has distributed over 1.5 million pocket-size laminated cards and stickers—in English, Spanish, and Korean—to retail employees to help them detect fake driver's licenses used for illegal beer purchases.
- Advertising code: The industry follows voluntary advertising guidelines to ensure the highest standards in advertising and marketing.
While much remains to be done, recent studies indicate that progress is being made in the fight against alcohol abuse. Virtually every indicator of alcohol abuse has shown significant progress during the past 15 years:
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fatalities in crashes involving teen drunk drivers decreased 67 percent from 1982 to 2005.
- A 2005 Department of Health and Human Services National Household Survey showed that 83 percent of adolescents (ages 12-17) do not drink.
- According to the American Freshman Survey, the percentage of college freshmen that say they drink beer frequently or occasionally was 43 percent lower in 2005 than in 1982 and 12 percent lower in 2005 than in 2000.
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fatalities in drunk driving crashes decreased 39 percent between 1982 and 2005, despite the fact that the number of licensed drivers increased by 32 percent during the same period.
For more-detailed information on efforts by members of the beer industry to fight alcohol abuse, see the brochure, Commitment to the Future: Community Service Initiatives.
Note: Downloading this brochure requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this, get your free copy here.
In addition, the Beer Institute is a great resource for a list of significant alcohol abuse programs, and Signs of Progress for statistics on the decline in alcohol abuse.
Visit these sites for information on the efforts of the largest brewers:
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