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Facts On Adolescent Binge Drinking › Definition › California, Alcopops, and AB 417 |
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California, Alcopops, and AB 417 Current debate swirls statewide around the question of whether alcopops should be classified as beer or distilled spirits. This issue is important because the way an alcoholic beverage is classified affects the type of retail outlets in which it may be sold. According to the California Attorney General’s office and legal experts, alcopops should be classified as distilled spirits. Yet alcopop marketers have been selling these products as beer for the last decade. As such, they are currently available in approximately 35,000 additional retail outlets statewide. Many of these outlets are convenience stores typically located in youth-filled residential neighborhoods. AB 417, which was passed in the final hours of the 2005 legislative session, redefined “beer” in California to include alcopops. This ensured that alcopop marketers could continue to distribute their products to these additional retail outlets, as well as allow them to escape network television’s ban on distilled spirits advertising. Research shows that underage youth are more likely to be familiar with alcopops advertising than adults. It is also believed that distillers use alcopops as a way to get their brand names on television shows that appeal to a youthful audience. In October of 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 417. In his veto message the Governor noted the need for more dialogue of these products. The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs gathered more information on this issue, in particular, youth’s perception of alcopops. The results are based on conversations involving 304 California youth in 41 focus groups focusing on six issues:
The following highlight the findings of the study:
For more information about this report, see the link
below: |