Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 | |
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Oireachtas | |
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Citation | No. 24 of 2018 |
Territorial extent | Ireland |
Passed by | Seanad |
Passed | 3 October 2018 |
Passed by | Dáil |
Passed | 3 October 2018 |
Signed by | President Michael D. Higgins |
Signed | 17 October 2018 |
Commenced | Commenced in part: 6 November 2018 14 May 2021 2023 2023 |
Legislative history | |
First chamber: Seanad | |
Bill title | Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 |
Bill citation | No. 120 of 2015 |
Introduced by | Minister for Health (Leo Varadkar) |
Introduced | 10 December 2015 |
Committee responsible | Health |
First reading | 17 December 2015 |
Second reading | 26 October 2016 |
Considered by the Health Committee | 8 November 2017 |
Report and Final Stage | 15 December 2017 |
Second chamber: Dáil | |
Second reading | 6 March 2018 |
Considered in committee | 3 October 2018 |
Report and Final Stage | 3 October 2018 |
Final stages | |
Dáil amendments considered by the Seanad | 3 October 2018 |
Finally passed both chambers | 3 October 2018 |
Summary | |
Restricts advertising by alcohol companies and introduces a statutory minimum price for alcohol. | |
Status: Not fully in force |
The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 (Act No. 24 of 2018) is an Act of the Oireachtas.
It was first published in 2015 and agreed on by the Dáil in October 2018. It is intended to reduce alcohol consumption and the harms caused by the misuse of alcohol. It provides for statutory minimum prices on alcohol, restrictions on advertising, stark warning labels on alcohol products, and the separation and reduced visibility of alcohol products in mixed trading outlets. [1]
Alcohol has historically been a major contributory factor for injuries presented to emergency departments, road traffic facilities, house fires and domestic abuse and there was an increase of hospital discharges related to alcohol of 92% between 1992 and 2005. [2]
Inaccurate statements regarding the safety of drinking small amounts of alcohol were observed in several different textbooks used in Irish universities. [3]
The alcohol industry has held economic and political influence and capital for 'centuries', challenging bills and other actions of the Department of Health to promote public health. [4] Many TDs hold constituency meetings in pubs, the alcohol industry secured an extra hour of opening times and further liberalisation of licensing laws. [5]
Before the implementation of minimum unit pricing, it was expected that the policy would reduce alcohol-attributable mortality among heavy drinkers, men and those on low income. [6]
Before the implementation of the cancer warning rule, there was a general lack of awareness of the risks of cancer associated with alcohol. [7]
The Minister for Health Simon Harris brought 23 sections of the Bill into operation in November 2018. Alcohol advertising is to be banned within 200 metres of a school, crèche, or local authority playground and in or on public service vehicles, at public transport stops or stations from 2019. From 12 November 2020 alcohol products must be separated by a 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) high barrier from other goods. From 2021 various measures come into force to ensure that children are protected from alcohol advertising. [8]
From 2026, alcoholic drinks will have to have warnings describing the cancer risks associated with alcohol. [9]
Increased sales of alcohol in border areas in Northern Ireland were noticed, but this has not been scientifically verified and cross-border purchases were found to be minimal across England and Scotland. [10] [11]
Across all demographic groups in Ireland, there has been support for further evidence-based alcohol policies for promoting public health. [12]
A soft drink is any water-based flavored drink, usually but not necessarily carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used can be natural or artificial. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a sugar substitute, or some combination of these. Soft drinks may also contain caffeine, colorings, preservatives and other ingredients.
A standard drink or unit of alcohol is a measure of alcohol consumption representing a fixed amount of pure alcohol. The notion is used in relation to recommendations about alcohol consumption and its relative risks to health. It helps to educate alcohol users. A hypothetical alcoholic beverage sized to one standard drink varies in volume depending on the alcohol concentration of the beverage, but it always contains the same amount of alcohol and therefore produces the same amount of drunkenness. Many government health guidelines specify low to high risk amounts in units of grams of pure alcohol per day, week, or single occasion. These government guidelines often illustrate these amounts as standard drinks of various beverages, with their serving sizes indicated. Although used for the same purpose, the definition of a standard drink varies from country to country.
The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between countries and many laws have exemptions or special circumstances. Most laws apply only to drinking alcohol in public places with alcohol consumption in the home being mostly unregulated. Some countries also have different age limits for different types of alcohol drinks.
A price floor is a government- or group-imposed price control or limit on how low a price can be charged for a product, good, commodity, or service. It is one type of price support; other types include supply regulation and guarantee government purchase price. A price floor must be higher than the equilibrium price in order to be effective. The equilibrium price, commonly called the "market price", is the price where economic forces such as supply and demand are balanced and in the absence of external influences the (equilibrium) values of economic variables will not change, often described as the point at which quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal. Governments use price floors to keep certain prices from going too low.
Alcohol advertising is the promotion of alcoholic beverages by alcohol producers through a variety of media. Along with nicotine advertising, alcohol advertising is one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing. Some or all forms of alcohol advertising are banned in some countries. There have been some important studies about alcohol advertising published, such as J.P. Nelson's in 2000.
Recommendations for consumption of the drug alcohol vary from recommendations to be alcohol-free to daily or weekly drinking "safe limits" or maximum intakes. Many governmental agencies and organizations have issued guidelines. These recommendations concerning maximum intake are distinct from any legal restrictions, for example countries with drunk driving laws or countries that have prohibited alcohol. To varying degrees, these recommendations are also distinct from the scientific evidence, such as the short-term effects of alcohol consumption and long-term effects of alcohol consumption.
The Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA) is a coalition of more than 60 non-governmental organisations which work together to promote evidence-based policies to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.
An alcoholic beverage is a beverage containing alcohol. Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.
Tobacco control is a field of international public health science, policy and practice dedicated to addressing tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes. Since most cigarettes and cigars and hookahs contain/use tobacco, tobacco control also concerns these. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco itself, but (often) do contain nicotine. Tobacco control is a priority area for the World Health Organization (WHO), through the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. References to a tobacco control movement may have either positive or negative connotations, depending upon the commentator.
Alcohol consumption in Russia remains among the highest in the world. According to a 2011 report by the World Health Organization, annual per capita consumption of alcohol in Russia was about 15.76 litres of pure alcohol, the fourth-highest volume in Europe. It dropped to 11.7 litres in 2016, dropping further to about 10.5 litres in 2019. Another general trait of Russian alcohol consumption pattern was the high volume of spirits compared with other alcoholic drinks.
Alcohol laws are laws relating to manufacture, use, being under the influence of and sale of alcohol or alcoholic beverages. Common alcoholic beverages include beer, wine, (hard) cider, and distilled spirits. Definition of alcoholic beverage varies internationally, e.g., the United States defines an alcoholic beverage as "any beverage in liquid form which contains not less than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume". Alcohol laws can restrict those who can produce alcohol, those who can buy it, when one can buy it, labelling and advertising, the types of alcoholic beverage that can be sold, where one can consume it, what activities are prohibited while intoxicated, and where one can buy it. In some cases, laws have even prohibited the use and sale of alcohol entirely.
The alcohol industry, also known as Big Alcohol, is the segment of the commercial drink industry that is involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The industry has been criticised in the 1990s for deflecting attention away from the problems associated with alcohol use. The alcohol industry has also been criticised for being unhelpful in reducing the harm of alcohol.
The legal drinking age varies from country to country. In the United States, the legal drinking age is currently 21. To curb excessive alcohol consumption by younger people, instead of raising the drinking age, other countries have raised the prices of alcohol beverages and encouraged the general public to drink less. Setting a legal drinking age of 21 is designed to discourage reckless alcohol consumption by youth, limiting consumption to those who are more mature, who can be expected to make reasonable and wise decisions when it comes to drinking.
Many college campuses throughout the United States have some form of alcohol advertising including flyers on bulletin boards to mini billboard signs on college buses. It is so prevalent on college campuses especially because college students are considered the "targeted marketing group," meaning that college students are more likely to consume larger qualities of alcohol than any other age group, which makes them the prime consumers of alcohol in the United States.
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is one of the most widely used and abused psychoactive drugs in the world and falls under the depressant category. The term "Alcohol and Other Drugs" emphasizes this inclusion by grouping alcohol with other substances that alter mood and behavior. Alcohol is classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a toxic, psychoactive, dependence-producing, and carcinogenic substance.
Pinkwashing is a form of cause marketing that uses a pink ribbon logos. The companies display the pink ribbon logo on products that are known to cause different types of cancer. The Pink ribbon logo symbolizes support for breast cancer-related charities or foundations.
Tobacco 21 is a campaign to prevent youth tobacco use in the United States, primarily through laws that raise the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco and nicotine in the United States to 21. It also refers to various federal, state, and local laws based on Tobacco 21's model policy, raising the minimum sales age to 21.
Alcohol packaging warning messages are warning messages that appear on the packaging of alcoholic drinks concerning their health effects. They have been implemented in an effort to enhance the public's awareness of the harmful effects of consuming alcoholic beverages, especially with respect to foetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol's carcinogenic properties. In general, warnings used in different countries try to emphasize the same messages. Such warnings have been required in alcohol advertising for many years, although the content of the warnings differ by nation.
Alcoholism in Ireland is a significant public health problem. In Ireland, 70.0% of Irish men and 34.1% of Irish women aged 15+ are considered to be hazardous drinkers. In the same age group, there are over one hundred and fifty thousand Irish people who are classified as 'dependent drinkers'. According to Eurostat, 24% of Ireland's population engages in heavy episodic drinking at least once a month, compared to the European average of 19%.
The Northern Territories Alcohol Labels Study was a scientific experiment in Canada on the effects of alcohol warning labels. It was terminated after lobbying from the alcohol industry, and later relaunched with industry-advocated experimental design changes: omitting the "Alcohol can cause cancer" label, not labelling some alcohol products, and shortening the time period. Enough data was gathered to show that all of the labels used in the study were simple, cheap, and effective, and it recommended that they should be required worldwide.
The European Commission has cleared the way for Ireland to bring in the new labels. ... This means the proposed new regime can't come into force until 2026 at the earliest — while lobbying by the drinks industry could further delay or kill it off entirely.