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A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE CREATION OF A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE EFFECTS

OF ALCOHOL ADVERTISEMENTS ON YOUTH AND TO RECOMMEND

CONSTITUTIONALLY VALID METHODS OF RESTRICTING YOUTH EXPOSURE

TO ALCOHOL ADVERTISEMENTS.

WHEREAS, each day, three teens in the United States die

from drinking and driving and at least six more die from other

alcohol-related causes; and

WHEREAS, each day, more than seven thousand children in

the United States under age sixteen take their first drink;

and

WHEREAS, underage drinking costs the United States

fifty-three billion dollars ($53,000,000,000) a year in

medical care, lost productivity and pain and suffering of

young drinkers; and

WHEREAS, approximately one-third of high school seniors

engage in heavy episodic or binge drinking, making them

vulnerable to alcohol-induced brain damage and an increased

likelihood of alcohol dependence later in life; and

WHEREAS, youths who drink alcohol are more likely to

experience educational, social and legal problems and are at a

higher risk for suicide and homicide; and

WHEREAS, a USA Today survey found that teens say alcohol

ads have a greater influence on the desire to drink in general

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than the desire to buy a particular brand; and

WHEREAS, a study published in the Journal of the

American Medical Association found that the number of beer and

distilled spirits ads tended to increase with a magazine's

youth readership; and

WHEREAS, a study of children ages nine to eleven found

that children were more familiar with Budweiser's television

frogs than Kellogg's Tony the Tiger, the Mighty Morphin' Power

Rangers or Smokey Bear; and

WHEREAS, the institute of medicine has called for

reforms on the alcohol industry's advertising to audiences

known to include a significant number of children or teens;

and

WHEREAS, the institute of medicine has called on the

United States department of health and human services to

monitor alcohol advertising and report its findings to

congress and the public; and

WHEREAS, the center on alcohol marketing and youth at

Georgetown university has documented widespread exposure of

underage youth to alcohol advertisements on television, radio,

the internet and in magazines; and

WHEREAS, the city of Philadelphia unanimously passed an

ordinance banning future alcohol advertising on city-owned

property, including public transit bus shelters used by many

school children; and

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WHEREAS, the state of Ohio adopted a rule prohibiting

alcohol advertising on billboards within five hundred feet of

schools, parks and churches; and

WHEREAS, the national association of attorneys general

created the youth access to alcohol task force to reduce

underage drinking, to study youth exposure to alcohol

advertising and to educate state attorneys general on ways to

reduce access to alcohol by youth and change social norms

about underage drinking;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the director of the alcohol and

gaming division of the regulation and licensing department be

requested to assemble and chair a task force to study the

relationship between youth exposure to alcohol advertising and

youth access to and consumption of alcohol and to recommend

methods of restricting youth exposure to alcohol advertising;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include a

member of the children's cabinet and representatives from the

attorney general's office, the department of health, the

children, youth and families department, the public education

department, the commission on higher education, the New Mexico

parent teacher association, mothers against drunk driving and

other relevant and interested groups; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force study other

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states' alcohol advertising laws and their current status,

model policies and best practices and recommend ways of

applying best practices in New Mexico; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force examine the

alcohol industry's sponsorship of community events where

children are present and suggest constitutionally valid

methods of restricting alcohol industry sponsorship and

signage at community events; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force study and

recommend constitutionally defensible restrictions on alcohol

advertising and sponsorship in state publications and on

state-owned and state-leased lands, including state

universities, college campuses, state parks, public buildings

and state-sponsored civic events; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force study and

recommend regulation of billboard and other forms of outdoor

advertising of alcoholic beverages; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force analyze and

determine what authority state governments may have to protect

youth by restricting the placement of alcohol advertising in

media with disproportionately large youth audiences; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the director of alcohol and

gaming report to the interim legislative health and human

services committee no later than November 2007 on the study

and recommendations of the task force for implementing best

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practices in New Mexico, limiting alcohol advertising to youth

and curbing the harmful effects of such advertising; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the director of the alcohol and gaming division

of the regulation and licensing department.