Population Health Issues: Alcohol-Related Harms
The alcohol-related injury is one of the leading health problems affecting the youth. According to CDC, alcohol and its associated problems are the top health issue that needs to be addressed in 2016 (CDC, 2016). Alcohol abuse causes much harm, either directly or indirectly, to the young generation, as well as taking a toll on the economy of a country. For example, in the United States, the government spends more than $250 billion to address alcohol-related injuries or health risks (Xuan, et al., 2015). In 2015, 39% of preventable deaths were related to alcohol. Alcohol use has also been associated with crimes such as physical assault, sexual assault, violence, as well as such social problems as sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies (Xuan et al., 2015). The burden that alcohol abuse places on the health sector is enormous. Health care facilities have to treat people directly affected by alcohol or those who have suffered other injuries as a result of it. It is also important to note that alcohol-related harms affect people of all ages. However, this report specifically focuses on the youth (people aged between 10-24 years) since they are the most vulnerable group. Additionally, it has been determined that curbing underage drinking reduces the chances that young people will indulge in alcohol when they grow up (Reyna et al., 2013).
Various advocacy campaigns have been launched towards eradicating cases of underage drinking. These campaigns have majorly focused on reducing access to alcohol and its associated products to the young population (Martineau, et al., 2013). One major campaign involves regulating the buying of alcohol by underage individuals. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act requires all states to declare 21 years as the minimum drinking age. This means that anybody below this age should not and cannot buy any alcoholic drinks. According to Martineau et al. (2013), the Act has been effective in reducing access to alcohol to the underage persons. It has also promoted responsible drinking among the adults because each state provides more laws to regulate alcohol exposure to people below the consumption age.
Another advocacy campaign emphasizes the implementation of the federal and state taxes to reduce access of alcohol to minors. Taxation increases prices of alcoholic drinks, thus, making it less available to the underage population. Such prices are controlled through excise taxes. Taxes are also levied for people who want to start a pub. They increase the prices of alcohol products sold, which makes it expensive for the youth to afford. In other words, it can be asserted that the use of taxes to reduce the access to alcoholic products has been effective in the United States because most children are dependent on their parents for their financial well-being. Therefore, high prices on alcoholic products reduce their affordability to such a population, though not to zero since in some states, the drinks are slowly becoming affordable to the youth, which demands even more efforts to be put into increasing the taxes.
Despite some progress in reducing underage drinking, it is still the leading health issue that affects people below the age of alcohol consumption. Similarly, alcohol-related problems are the second leading cause of preventable deaths among the youth (Xuan et al., 2015). For instance, 26% of all deaths caused by motor vehicle crashes among the youth are as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol (Xuan et al., 2015). At the same time, unintentional injuries caused by alcohol contribute to 17% of deaths among the youth (Xuan et al., 2015). Homicide and suicide are also major causes of death among the aforementioned population. Therefore, it suffices to assert that alcohol contributes to 13% of all youth suicides and 16% of all homicides (Xuan et al., 2015). The economic and health care costs caused by alcohol can be avoided by curbing underage drinking and reducing the effects of alcohol on the youth. Nonetheless, studies indicate that young people who are exposed to alcohol by the age of 15 are more likely to be alcohol-dependent in the future, whereas the ones exposed to alcohol between 10 and 14 years are more likely to become addicts (Martineau et al., 2013). Therefore, eliminating underage drinking also reduces alcohol-related problems among the adult population in the future.
In order to improve the situation and eradicate a problem of underage drinking, this report advocates for a campaign focused on reducing youth’s exposure to alcohol. According to Martineau et al. (2013), the current technologically enhanced environment has increased exposure of youths to alcohol products. Therefore, first of all, the campaign’s objective is to reduce this level of exposure and restrict stores selling it. Firstly, the campaign advocates for a more regulated out-of-home advertising. The advancements made in technology have seen alcohol advertisements significantly penetrating into the public sphere and targeting young adults. Most of the advertisements are seen by people of a young age as they are more likely to use the public transport system, where these advertisements are placed, than adults. Alcohol advertising should be regulated to ensure that the youth is not overly exposed to alcohol, especially in environments outside their homes. Secondly, the campaign also seeks to reduce alcohol exposure to the youth by restricting the places where it is sold. Currently, alcohol can be bought even from the grocery stores, thus, increasing exposure to the youth. Alcohol companies have increased stores that can sell their products in order to increase their sales. The move has been impactful with regards to underage drinking since it is easier for young people to access alcohol from locations such as grocery stores as compared to retail stores and restaurants. So, alcohol should only be sold in licensed restaurants to reduce exposure and their access to the youth.
If all these objectives translate into direct measures which are taken immediately, the problem of alcohol assumption among young people, as well as all the related issues, will become a quaint anachronism.
Enacting the proposed policy
Underage drinking is a prevalent problem in the United States. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act and implementation of both federal and state taxes have been key advocacy campaigns that aim to curb this issue. However, these campaigns have not been effective as the effects of underage drinking are still prevalent today. In the attempt of eradicating this problem, the study suggested that a policy aiming at reducing the exposure levels and stores selling alcohol is more effective. As such, this section of the report aims at pushing for the implementation of this campaign by assessing the mode of enacting this campaign as well as the effect of the existing rules and legislations on this policy.
The most effective way of endorsing this campaign is by changing the existing laws guarding the way alcohol is exposed and sold to the young people. These rules should focus on the alcohol advertisement since it is a major source of alcohol information accessible to the youths. According to Simon (2008), the exposure of youth to alcohol advertisement is on the rise following the ease of advertisements on the Internet, TV, radio as well as magazines. According to this study, the alcohol exposure to the youths through TV in U.S. rose by 41% percent since 2001 to 2005 (Simon, 2008). In this case, the more exposed the kids are the more likelihood that they will drink. Collins, et al. (2016) add that alcohol exposure through advertisement initiates drinking and increase the levels of consumption of most of the underage drinkers. These claims reveal that there is a need for the proper intervention of the alcohol exposure to the young people.
By changing the existing rules on the alcohol advertisement, the government will be regulating the extent to which alcohol producing companies should carry their marketing and advertisement practices. The alcohol industry is guided by self-regulatory procedures that ensure that more adults are the ones that access advertisement information rather than the youths (Collins, et al., 2016). However, these procedures are not sufficient to prevent the alcohol exposure to youth; thus the need for changing these rules. To effectively change these rules, the policymakers need to understand the commonly used media for advertising alcohol and is more accessible to youths. This assessment helps the policy makers to determine the effective way of reducing their advertisements as well as the role that parents play in limiting the alcohol exposure to the youths.
Another effective policy change to make is by controlling the alcohol selling points. In the attempt of facilitating this policy change, the policy makers should carry major interventions that will ensure that the alcohol exposure to youths is reduced. According to Ames and Spera (2011), policy makers should carry at least three operations annually by verifying the identification of the drinkers. Moreover, the policy makers should carry compliance checks each year at the alcohol retailers to ensure that alcohol is not sold to the underage youths. Making these moves ensures that selling of alcohol to the underage youths is controlled.
Some laws and regulations impact the urge of restricting and reducing the exposure of the alcohol to the underage youths positively and negatively. In a positive perspective, Simon (2008) asserts that some organizations such as Marin Institute and Bay Area Rapid Transit have lobbied city officials to ban alcohol ads around their properties. Besides, the laws and regulations that facilitate the invention and research on the alcohol powder counter this proposed policy. The affordability of this form of alcohol promotes the access that youths have over alcohol. This counters the attempts of the government to regulate the alcohol selling point as youth can carry these powders to school, home, or concert venues (Warren, Tay, & Wen, 2016). Nevertheless, alcohol laws in some states such as Alaska and South Carolina have banned powdered alcohol. These laws promote this campaign and are important in leading it to success.
With the existence of these effects, it is important to determine the effective approach to take and influence the policymakers to endorse the proposed policy. This calls for a sound understanding of the three-legged stool, which is an important tool once the lawmaking process has been understood (Milstead, 2012). The first leg is the professional lobbyists that will involve an expert to convince the government to endorse the proposed policy. In facilitating the efforts of the professional lobbyists, I will become a member of these professional organizations and ensure that I play a significant role in these organizations. The second leg refers to the grassroots lobbyists. In this case, I would use a grassroots lobbyist to take part in pushing for the proposed policy, as it may take years before the policy is passed (Milstead, 2012). Having the right individual for this task implies that it the lobbyist will dedicate his time to follow the proceedings of the proposed policy and make effective decisions regarding the policy. Getting the right individual who possesses these skills is a key challenge that I expect to face; thus, I wish to outsource two lobbyists who will represent me in this procedure. The final leg is the role of money in passing the policy (Milstead, 2012). In this case, I will provide the prerequisite financial support to the involved entities for them to push the policy on my behalf. However, I expect to face a challenge of getting sufficient funds to finance these entities. As such, I intend to convince the management to be my sponsor in the entire process.
Indeed, policymaking process in nursing is an important aspect that facilitates the provision of quality healthcare. In the current report, passing the policy of restricting the alcohol selling points and its exposure to the underage youths. By changing the existing advertisement laws and regulations, it will be easy to control this exposure; thus countering the effect, that alcohol use has over this generation.
Ethical considerations
By changing the existing laws means that there will be a group that will be disadvantaged by these changes while another one will be benefiting. The urge of the report was to develop a policy that would help in reducing the alcohol-related injuries among the underage youth. Addressing this problem, the study proposed that a policy controlling the exposure of alcohol to the youths is more effective, which would be addressed by changing the existing policies. However, making these changes implies that the alcohol companies will be inconvenienced as well as the youths. The study in this part addresses the ethical considerations that need to be considered after changing the policies and the population affected will be addressed.
Paquin (2011) claims that nursing practice is grounded in the regulations, professional codes, and standards. This follows the endorsement of the nursing code in 1970 that perceived patient as the center of the nursing practice. This applies to the proposed policy where nurses advocate for a policy for the well-being of the patients. As such, the proposed policy aim at controlling the way alcohol is exposed to the youths. The attempts of regulating the advertisement of alcohol as well as in the selling points constitute to the ethical dilemma. First, there exist alcohol policy that safeguards the advertisement of alcohol. According to these policies, alcohol advertisement should be decent, legal, truthful, and honest as a way of being socially responsible to the society and the target consumers while adhering to the rules of competition (Jones, 2013). With such policies and strong rules safeguarding them, it becomes hard to propose a change in the existing policies, which results to the ethical dilemma. To solve this dilemma, the existing advertisement rules should be revised to fit the proposed policy.
Besides, alcohol advertisement has to abide by the national rules directing how advertisement should be carried. Some of these rules propose that misleading or false advertisement should not be used to influence society. Alcohol companies need to abide by these rules for them to carry their advertisements. However, there emanates an ethical dilemma when the advertisement is exercised in the media accessible to the youths or by advertising using a youthful person despite the adherence to these rules. Such considerations should be made before making a change to the existing alcohol advertisement policies (Jones, 2013). This dilemma should be addressed by ensuring that despite the robust rules safeguarding the advertisement rules where the media used are hard for the youths to access. Moreover, alcohol advertisements should not encourage youths by using the appropriate advertising settings such as using older people using the product and using the same rules in the advertisement of liquor and beer.
Another ethical dilemma emanates when the alcohol exposure comes from the parents. This is prevalent when underage people attend events and occasions with their parents and get to drink in their presence. Moreover, parents may meet or go to the drinking points with their children, thus exposing them to alcohol despite the existing alcohol advertisement policies. Besides, this occurrence leads to the ethical dilemma of whether these youths should be allowed to visit the drinking points with their parents or relatives. Such dilemma limits the effectiveness of the proposed policy that aim at regulating alcohol exposure to the youths. In this case, the dilemma should be solved by allowing the parents to take part implementing and promoting the proposed policy from drinking by preventing their children to attend these occasions. Moreover, parents can be advised to stop exposing their children to alcohol by limiting their attendance to these events.
The policy involves a number of ethics and laws that can be used to promote it. The first ethical issue applicable for this policy is the reduction of the alcohol advertisement exposed to the youths. This involves the individuals used to carry out the advertisements such as the prohibition of under 21 years doing the advertisement (Gordon, MacKintosh, & Moodie, 2010). Another ethical move made to promote the advocated policy is restricting children from attending the occasions where alcohol will be used as it will be at their disposal; thus increasing the likelihood of drinking. Besides, it is unethical for the alcohol company to promote excessive consumption of alcohol.
There exist laws that promote the advocated policy of reducing the exposure of alcohol to the youths. For instance, in Australia, it is prohibitive for an advertisement post that is appealing to children or reveals alcohol as being a depiction of mood or success enhancement. Moreover, false and misleading advertisements are banned as such strategies promote illegal transactions. Consequentially, there exist laws that prohibit advertisement targeting the minors (Jones & Magee, 2011). Such rules prohibit the use of words such as a child, children, and juvenile as well as images that may stimulate youths in buying alcohol during the advertisement (Gordon, MacKintosh, & Moodie, 2010). Apart from media advertisement, some alcohol companies use marketing strategies that expose and influence the attitude of the young people on alcohol. However, there are laws that prohibit some of these marketing strategies used by alcohol companies. Some of the areas prohibit outdoor alcohol advertisement where children are likely to be available. This law prohibits any outdoor advertisement that targets the youth where the use of printed posters, t-shirts, billboards, and paintings are forbidden. The use of such laws and ethics is applicable in promoting the proposed policy in regulating the exposition of alcohol to the underage youths.
However, despite the existence of laws and ethics that promote the advocated policy, youths are faced with various ethical challenges. First, youths are prone to the trial and error activities, which leads them to test what they see in the advertisements (Bonomo, 2005). Following the puberty, emotional, and cognitive development that underage youths go through, they feel a great urge of drinking the beer from what they see in the advertisements. They share their experiences with their peers as well as the adults. Bonomo (2005) claim that adults set the boundaries of the youths’ behaviors; thus, influencing their drinking attitudes and behaviors. Another ethical challenge with youths is their explorative nature, which leads them to the experimenting the effects of alcohol among other drugs. Along the experimentation purposes, underage youth face the same pressure that leads the adults into drinking; thus ending up drinking alcohol anytime they get this opportunity (Bonomo, 2005). Another ethical challenge for the underage youths is the technological advancement where they easily access alcohol adverts through different media despite the existing prohibitions. Brand alcohol names are being used to label clothes together with bright colors to appeal to the young people who are vivacious with fashion trends. These ethical challenges have countered the attempts to address the alcohol exposure to the underage youth.
Summary
The study has revealed the important aspects concerning the alcohol use among the youths. It has been made clear that alcohol affects not only the users but also the society recounting the crimes caused by the persons under alcohol influence. This, therefore, necessitated the need for addressing the alcohol use among the underage youths who are prone to these alcohol-related crimes and injuries. The study has highlighted the common approaches made to ensure that alcohol use among this population is limited. The first advocacy campaign used is an endorsement of the underage act that prohibits alcohol use for persons under 21 years. The next advocacy campaign revealed in the study is the use of federal and state taxes to regulate alcohol access by the minors. However, these strategies are not efficient as alcohol use among the underage is a prevalent behavior in most of the states. As a result, the study proposed a policy of reducing the alcohol exposure to the youths.
The proposed policy aimed at reducing alcohol exposure to the young people through advertisement and in the selling points. The implementation of this policy is more effective by changing the existing laws on the alcohol exposure through advertisements and in the selling points. Existing ethics and laws promote the proposed policy. First, the study has emphasized that it is unethical to promote excessive alcohol use through advertisement or advertise using a minor or products that appeal to this population. Moreover, the proposed policy faces ethical dilemmas that make it hard for its adoption. For instance, the reported has revealed that there exist rules in the alcohol industry that determines how advertisement is carried, which according to the industry, it is sufficient to guide their advertisement without external intervention. Lastly, the study has reported ethical challenges facing the youths where the advent of technology is a major challenge together with the urge of experimentation.
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