Category: Alcohol

Introduction

The major reason for the call to outlaw advertising of alcohol is its abuse. The term abuse can have various meanings from one section of society to another. For example, to a college student, drinking to the extent of vomiting uncontrollably is abuse. In religious groups, even a taste of alcohol is termed to be illegal. In a family setting, abuse of alcohol occurs when couples are in constant strife. Most societies have however illegalized underage drinking.

According to a WHO Charter, all states have the responsibility of ensuring that all children are raised in an environment secluded from negative influences and consequences of liquor consumption. This includes the promotion of these beverages. For a better understanding of this, the agreement suggests that all states exercise strict control on adverts addressed to young people.

Main Body

However, reports from the U.S and elsewhere in the world indicate that beer companies spend a lot of money on promotional activities either directly or indirectly. The activities usually take the form of organizing sports contests, academic sponsorship, music concerts, or support to charity organizations. To make matters even worse, most of the alcohol adverts tend to neglect references to the bad effects associated with the consumption making it look like an alternative to soft drinks.

Most alcohol adverts especially on TV use animation, music, comedy, and celebrities to pass across their message. Research has established that this technique is more appealing to teenagers and adolescents who believe that the adverts target them. Some of the adverts also associate drinking with excellent and sporting success hence influencing the emotionally sensitive young minds. A recently concluded research indicated that most young people will recognize many beer brands labels that the portraits of their former presidents. This is because alcoholic beverages ads are more popular than the patriotism associated with the recognition of the national heroes by the younger generations.

Other than pulling underage people into excessive consumption, econometric techniques have indicated the close relations between alcohol adverting and the rise of accidents. An example is the lifting of a ban on television and radio advertising of spirits after 1996 which led to the rise in road accidents to about 3000 annually. This heavy loss of life results from cases where individuals attending social parties involving alcoholic drinks ignore the role of designated drivers. Some of the companies run adverts which can at times make drivers lose concentration from the steering wheel to thoughts of pleasure associated with alcohol drinking leading to road accidents.

Medical researchers in New Zealand have categorized alcohol as a psychoactive drug. This is due to its ability to alter the mind by making one be subconscious. In this state, one can unconsciously engage in some dangerous activities including sexual immorality thus increasing risks to STDs and HIV infections. The subliminal state can create physical body injuries while walking due to the inability of maintaining a good body posture. This has led some religious groups to blame alcohol advertisements for promoting promiscuity and moral decay in societies, hence support for the ban on alcohol.

On the other hand, breast cancer is greater among women who drink than those who abstain. The other health risk among these individuals is complete liver damage translating into hepatitis C. Therefore, patients found with the illness must quit drinking completely. All these health problem cases will continue to be on the rise as long as alcohol consumption increases through advertisements in the national mass media.

Despite all these misgivings, breweries and advertising industries argue that alcoholic drinks are legal products contributing tax to the economy. To them, alcohol is legal and should be advertised. They claim that were the advertisements to be banned, it would greatly affect businesses and the media. They also say that outlawing the drink is not justifiable because advertising is only concerned with promoting an individual product’s sales and that there’s no proof to relate the adverts and the number of harms associated with alcohol consumption. This means that advertising is not concerned with new membership recruitment into becoming drinkers of a particular brand but just raises the sales within the existing customers. The other point is that successful advertisement will increase the company’s market share at the expense of fellow competitors’ share index in the business.

In siding with the advertisement and brewery industries, those opposing the ban on liquor drinks adverts have indicated that alcohol consumption has many health benefits if used correctly. One of the positive impacts of alcohol consumption on the body is that it reduces the risk of a heart attack. Cardiovascular health improves by lowering heart disease or stroke based on the sick-quitter theory. From this point of view, it is right to argue that the liquor drinks’ advertisement is less like promoting a curative remedy but not illicit and abusive drinks.

The health benefits of alcohol mostly occur to moderate drinkers leading to a longer life than abstainers or those drinking a lot. In addition to a reduction in the possibility of a heart attack, consumption of alcohol reduces the likelihood of hypertension, Alzheimer’s, common cold, and high blood pressure. Other possible conditions minimized by moderated alcoholic drinking include stress, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, moderated drinking can be important for healthy living just like eating a well-balanced diet and regular exercising. Therefore, imposing a ban on advertising of such important products in the human lifestyle, just because some people misuse it, will amount to increasing the citizens’ susceptibility to poor health and lower life expectancy.

The rise in alcohol adverts appearing on different television channels in Colombia led to increased survivability among patients with heart attacks, who admitted to being moderate drinkers. According to medical research, moderate consumption of alcohol throughout the year reduces the risk of dying in case of serious myocardial infection, and men drinking frequently after a cardiac attack are not likely to experience it again unlike the none-drinkers. These kinds of gain will be lost if the ban on the advertisement of alcohol is enforced. The reason for this is that liquor drinks help in controlling and repairing damages in the heart following an attack.

Despite condemnation for evil deeds in society, alcohol consumption can also offer solutions to people suffering from obesity by its ability to accelerate the libido of the blood hence destroying bad cholesterol as well as improving the blood clotting ability-checking bleeding in case of injury. Therefore, the ban on alcohol will deny the public to access different brands of products important for their daily health. (Biays & Wershoven 232)

Conclusion

Though alcohol has its benefits to the human body, its side effects far outweigh the benefits. Alcohol advertisements should not be carried out during prime time on national broadcasters. The picture portrayed by these adverts that one will feel good after taking beer should also be discouraged at all costs. Underage people should also not be allowed to play an active role in these campaigns. The ban on underage drinking should be enforced in every state and those who ignore it prosecuted. Beer companies should also show the negative side of drinking in order to allow people to make informed choices. At the end of the day, we should ask ourselves if we want to build a nation of working people or drinking people. If we evaluate everything, all of us will conclude and with good reason that alcohol advertising should be banned.

Works Cited

Biays, John, & Wershoven, Carol. Along these Lines: Writing Paragraphs and Essays.5^th ed.Prentice Hall, 2008.

Introduction

Drug abuse and illegal drug trade have become common vices in society. In the USA, the issue of alcohol abuse has been a major societal challenge. This paper focuses on the effects of alcohol among high school students. Alcohol misuse has been a main concern in most schools because of its pernicious effects on the well-being and educational performance of learners.

For Instance, in the US, statics reveal that one out of four individuals in the age bracket of twelve to twenty years consume alcohol at least once every month.

The situation is worse among high school learners because most of them are within this age cluster and ingest more than five bottles of alcohol in a row at least twice a month. There is strong correlation between alcohol consumption and academic performance among students.

For instance, a student who wakes up in a trance after a heavy drinking spree can boycott lessons or fail to accomplish and turn in course work assignments on time. Apart from its direct outcomes on the years of learning or school completion, premature drinking could negatively affect the number and quality of college enrolment and work quality.

In examining the outcome of teenage alcohol misuse on quality of students’ academic grades, the author of this article applied a fixed-impact estimation model in assessing the grade point average (GPA) derived from various high schools.

The study utilized data from first and second Waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of teenage health. In-home interviews in the first and second waves were carried out when the academic year ended. Information derived from each respondent was linked with GPA data matching with the academic year during which the participant was registered or had just completed when the survey took place.

This study is therefore superior to the previously conducted ones because it correlates alcohol misuse with educational performance among teenage learners in high school.

The second strength of this survey is the fact that it is based on objective GPA information derived from school transcripts, mitigating the possibility of methodical biases. Finally, the study explored several variables, which could underlie a harmful impact of alcohol misuse on performance.

Apart from examining intermediaries associated with exposure to learning (day of learning missed); the study has also interrogated the outcome of alcohol misuse on students’ capacity to concentrate on meeting learning objectives. The interviews generated elaborate information on the leaner’s social environment, risk-taking habits, and other individual traits.

Conclusion

The above analysis shows that alcohol has pernicious effects on students’ academic profile. The survey demonstrates that misuse of alcohol among teenage high school learners has a minimal negative impact on GPA. However, these effects have some gender specific variations.

The findings revealed few negative impacts on GPA of male students that are caused by truancy and difficulties in coping with learning activities. On the other hand, there were no substantial negative outcomes on GPA of female students since most of them did not abuse alcohol, but those who did had high chances of having trouble.

Lastly, the outcome of drinking on completion of high school studies among male students is small and non-significant among females. Nonetheless, this does not suggest that female students are invulnerable to the destructive effects associated with drinking.

Introduction

The article selected of analysis discusses the impact of alcohol taxes on consumption level and alcohol-related diseases within young adults and teens. In order to prevent consumption of alcohol by young people, the federal government decided to increase taxes on all alcohol beverages. It is expected that increased taxes and prices will limit consumption of alcohol and prevent many people from deaths.

Discussion

The increased taxes are levied on consumers. “Policy makers have some indirect control over price via state and deferral excise taxes” (Hollingworth et al 2006, p. 300). The administrative convenience and relative certainty of collection of taxes imposed on business is a compelling practical consideration which has moved legislatures to rely on business taxes. This is especially clear in the case of sales and use taxes where the tax is supposedly only nominally imposed on business as a means of collecting the tax from the purchasers. So far as state and local taxation of business is concerned, the choice of and relative reliance on the several possible forms of business taxation is in much better balance than with respect to federal taxation of business. The researchers admit that: “Despite being raised to $18.00 per barrel (32 cents per six pack) in 1991, the increase in excise tax has not kept pace with inflation (Chaloupka, 2004), resulting in a 70% erosion in real tax dollars. By 2005, an additional excise tax of $0.88 per six pack would be needed to return to the 1951 level of taxation” (Hollingworth et al 2006, p. 300).

The aim of the increased taxes is to limit alcohol consumption and prevent young people from such problems as alcoholism. Where business is merely a tax collector, as for sales and purchase taxes to be added to the prices paid by purchasers, the taxes taken initially from vendors may be regarded as taxes on individual consumers. But both taxes on business and taxes collected from business are essentially impersonal in their application, and justice among individuals may be impossible to attain. On the one hand, taxes do not have a great impact on supply but they reduce demand for the product. The authors admit that economic goals may not be decisive in taxation. Political pressures are always present, and political expediency may prevail over rational economics. Then, too, as revenue needs have increased, our governments have levied a greater diversity of taxes, regardless of economic consequences (Freeland et al 2003). The overlapping of taxes imposed by different levels of government has also increased in the competition for additional revenues. The study shows that: “Their estimates of the price elasticity (elasticity = % change in participation rate / % change in price) of alcohol participation were relatively stable ranging from -0.12 to -0.28 in their preferred empirical models. The price elasticity of heavy episodic drinking participation was more heterogeneous, ranging from -0.04 to -0.51” (Hollingworth et al 2006, p. 300).

The authors underline that tax theory has increasingly emphasized the necessity for the taxation of business and individuals to be consistent with economic and social objectives, whether taxation be employed for revenue or for regulation. Economic stability and growth are commonly cited objectives. Growth of the economy requires a consideration of the effects of taxation on manufacturing, trade, employment, investment, consumption, and other economic activity. To a considerable extent the local, state, and national economies are competitive with other economies. Industries also compete with industries and taxpayers with taxpayers. “This is a conservative assumption, as a sharp rise in the price of alcohol will deter some adults from increasing alcohol consumption” (Hollingworth et al 2006, p. 300). Agreement has not been realized on the implications of such objectives as full employment, stability, and growth, and the best means for advancing these goals. Taxes on corporations thus become sales taxes, in effect, whether they are imposed on net income, capital, real estate, or other objects. Sometimes the diffusionists, who are many, suggest that no matter how taxes are imposed they finally hit the ultimate consumers through price increases (Freeland et al 2003).

The floor tax could be imposed on inventory of alcohol package. The discounts are not applied to floor tax thus it would help alcohol producers to ensure stable income and price sensitivity. For producers, it would be possible to submit floor tax returns for their stores. The floor tax would benefit producers of alcohol and help the government to protect big businesses from bankruptcy. In general, revenue measures are frequently imposed with some regulatory intent, and some are adopted with regulation, rather than revenue, in mind. It has sometimes been remarked that the purpose of taxes on business is “to give business the business,” implying punishment by taxation (Freeland et al 2003). For economic, moral, political, or other reasons particular taxes may be selected, either as penalties or rewards. Tariffs, licenses, sumptuary imposts, graduated income taxes, and other taxes may be employed to promote certain objectives. The increased taxation on alcohol products shows that taxation is a blanket, rather than a selective, measure, has commonly been ignored, and it may be chosen to promote certain objectives when only carefully selected and applied measures might be effective. If the good and the bad are to be separated for reward and punishment, someone must judge the taxpayers and mete out the particular encouragement or discouragement required. For one reason or another, tax gadgets and tax incentives have been found to have only a limited economic usefulness.

References

Hollingworth, W. et al (2006). Prevention of Deaths from Harmful Drinking in the United States: The Potential Effects of Tax Increases and Advertising Bans on Young Drinkers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 67 (1), 300.

Freeland, D.J. et al. (2003). Fundamentals of Federal Income Taxation (University Casebook Series) Foundation Press; 13th edition.

Introduction

As of late the Thai market has been dominated by locally manufactured rubbing alcohol as a means of providing the needs of the people of Thailand for disinfectants. Fortunately recent developments within the country such as the expansion of its business centers through greater foreign direct investments has led to a population that has more buying power as compared to previous generations (Thailand 5).

This presents itself as an ideal opportunity for new foreign brands to enter Thailand in order take advantage of the new employee market which numbers in the thousands all of whom have started raising families of their own creating the need for cheap rubbing alcohol to be used at home.

It must be noted that several studies conducted on the behavior of employees working at several companies have shown that the number of marriages has been steadily increasing. This has resulted in an increase in the overall amount of home disinfectants bought by a progressively younger generation; this is also not limited to individuals but families as well.

An examination of the local market in hygiene products shows that on average the sale of rubbing alcohol actually reaches the same level as that of other products such as deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste etc. This might be because the physical environment that various people within the overcrowded cities expose themselves to presents such a degree of health risk that constantly carrying a bottle of alcohol is actually the norm in several areas.

Various travel blogs to Thailand also state the need to purchase supplies of rubbing alcohol before venturing into the cities as a precaution against the threat of germs. It must be noted though that Thailand itself is a relatively clean country where the fear of germs is not as bad as compared to countries such as India.

Location of Thailand

The total land area in the U.S. is roughly 9,826,675 KM2 and is located in the Western Hemisphere on the North American continent. Thailand on the other hand is far smaller at only 513,120 sq km in total size and is located in South East Asia.

The overall distance is considerable as such the import and export of materials to and from the U.S. going to Thailand and back entails considerable cost on the part of the sending company. In terms of overall stability Thailand has experienced numerous coup attempts within the past decade as well as political unrest due to the estranged nature of its political parties which have been a source of contention for several years.

Population

The population of Thailand has been estimated at reaching 66,720,153 by 2011, overall the population of children in Thailand only reaches 15 million with the remaining 51 million being composed of adults or the elderly. As such as far as populations go Thailand actually has a relatively stable population size compared to the rest of the world.

Climate comparison

In comparison to Thailand’s relatively tropical climate which is spread out evenly along the entire country, the U.S. experiences variances in weather and seasonal conditions where the Southern half of the country is relatively temperate as compared to the rest of the country.

The main difference between the two countries is in the fact that the U.S. has seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) while Thailand does not. Both countries are able to produce electronic goods on varying levels of mass production however the U.S. cannot sustain a tropical fruits industry due to its temperate conditions while Thailand on the other hand can due to its year round tropical environment.

Government

The government of Thailand does use a form of democracy similar to that of the U.S. however this was only after a trend of numerous political insurrections, military dictatorships and violent power struggles. As such the current stability of the current Thai government is in question especially when considering the various scandals that have occurred as of late.

Economy

Thailand actually has quite a robust economy which has marked it as a newly industrialized country when compared to its other South East Asian neighbors with a GDP of U.S. $312 billion (Economy 5). While some of its major exports include rice, fertilizers, fishery products and chemicals its current growth rate is vested in the size of the outsourcing industry that is based in various cities and provinces located around Thailand (Thailand 15).

For the past several years Thailand has actually been one of the main outsourcing locations for U.S. based companies due to the relatively cheap labor and progressive business environment (Butt 33). As a result various companies have established offshore locations within Thailand in order to take advantage of the cheap and plentiful Thai workforce.

Outsourcing in Thailand consists of product manufacturers such as NIKE, Dell, Intel and various other companies who have outsourced their production capabilities to Thailand in order to save on the cost of labor (Butt 33). Based on this data it can be seen that the economy of Thailand leans towards being market based due to the sheer amount of foreign direct investments into the economy due to the outsourcing industry (Economy 5).

Despite the sheer production capacity and GDP of the country the fact remains that Thailand is still a newly industrialized country and as such there are various sectors that cannot accommodate an influx of new workers which has resulted in a lack of jobs in certain sectors of the economy which gives rise to poverty (Matthews 148).

While Thailand does have large mineral deposits and a robust tourism industry with agriculture and electronics manufacturing being some of its major industries the fact remains that there are still far too many people to be properly accommodated by all businesses (Hewison 212).

It must be noted though that the main resource of Thailand is not its natural resources but rather human capital that enables the manufacturing of cheap goods on a massive scale (Hewison 212). Most of Thailand’s production is concentrated in the agricultural and manufacturing industry as such human capital is the most used resource in Thailand as compared to its biodiversity or mineral wealth (Matthews 148).

The money in Thailand is called the Baht and based on current exchange rates one dollar is equivalent to 30 Thai Baht (Matthews 148). In terms of establishing a company branch within Thailand there are few barriers to entry since Thailand has an extensive telecommunications network with a population that is relatively friendly to foreigners, as such establishing an office should not prove to be a problem.

Recommendation

Based on the current analysis of Thailand’s financial and economic infrastructure as well as potential markets available, there is a definite possibility for profit if rubbing alcohol from the U.S. were to be sold in Thailand. Also due to various foreign incentives and the overall cost of labor alcohol production and sale within Thailand is a definite possibility as such this report concludes that building a new alcohol producing plant in Thailand would definitely be financially fruitful for the company.

Works Cited

Butt, Shiraz. “Mutual benefits flow from outsourcing in Thailand.” Modern Power Systems 24.7 (2004): 33. EBSCO. Web.

“ECONOMY.” Background Notes on Countries of the World: Kingdom of Thailand (2008): 5. EBSCO. Web.

Hewison, Kevin. “Thailand Human Development Report. Sufficiency Economy and Human Development.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 38.1 (2008): 212.

MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web.

Matthews, Mervyn. “THAILAND TODAY.” Asian Affairs 34.2 (2003): 148.

EBSCO. Web. “Thailand.” Country Report. Thailand (2009): 1-26. EBSCO. Web.

Introduction

Straight Edge is a subculture embedded on the hardcore punk music, which is characterized by strict abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and other frivolous drugs. According to Muggleton (2000) Straight Edge subculture emerged as a result of direct reaction to profligacy and sexual recreation in the late 1970s. The Straight Edge movement comprises of youthful people seeking more freedom, as shown by their tendency to engage in doing forbidden things.

As it has been observed, the Straight Edge subculture comprises of a way of life having its own ideologies, clothing fashion styles, music art, and literature (Haenfler, 2006). Diversity in religion is also explicit in the group’s members where some of them are followers of Christianity, while others follow the virtues of agnosticism. In Straight Edge subculture, music forms the realm of the group’s values as it is the fundamental basis of its ideology through the message conveyed through the lyrics.

As reported by Wood (2006) the Straight Edge cultural group plays hardcore punk-rock tunes, though they have gone through various periods of rigorous alliance with punk musicians. One of the predominant popular symbols of the cutting edge sub-cultural group is “X”, which is worn as a tattoo or made on their clothing (Wooden and Blazak, 2001). It is also important to note that, Straight Edge group members are considered gangs by law enforcers, despite the minority of the group being identified as being violent.

History of Straight Edge Subculture

Straight Edge subculture has its origin in the late 1970s, and was characterized by shouted vocals and lyrics. The adherences of the Straight Edge movement constituted of white middle working class adolescents associated with punk ideals like individualism and live-for-the-moment lifestyles (Haenfler, 2006). Straight Edge outlooks can be found in lyrics of early 1980s pop group Minor Threat, most unequivocally in their lyric ‘Straight Edge’.

The ‘Minor Threat’ band, which was led by singer Lan MacKaye, was the leader of the revolutionary music movement which advocated against drugs and sexual recreations. As noted by Wood (2006), the ultimate idea of the movement was evacuate drugs addition from the youthful society, and establish a strong basis for marriages where they advocated for abstinence from sex without love. The symbol “X’ was adopted by the group followers in the year 1985 when the group was reaching its extreme levels of hostility by the government.

The reason why the group was being fought was due to the high likelihood of war emergence between the Straight Edge followers and the entire members of the society who violated the ideas of the group (Williams, 2004). As a result, the entire sub-culture of Straight Edge has been considered as an illegal group, whose members are perceived as having potential threat to the peace in the society.

Early Straightedge pop groups in Washington DC were the Minor Threat, Teen Idles and State of Alert, which seemed to be homogeneous until late 1980s when some disparity started emerging within the subculture (Kaplan and Lööw, 2002). By early 1990s, the Straight Edge subculture had segregated into various levels, as opposed to the initial situation when Straight Edge group was homogeneous without disparities.

One of the levels of the straight edge constituted of the strict followers of Lan MacKaye’s imperatives which included zero tolerance to alcohol, and smoking of tobacco. The second level of the Straight Edge subculture was called ‘The H.C Straight Edge’ alias the Hard-Core group (Haenfler, 2006). These people were considered as activists of the straight edge group, as evidenced by their tendency to follow music scenes closely, especially those songs which advocated for anti-drugs.

The last level of Straight Edge subculture constituted of individuals who seemed less concerned on being strict followers of Straight Edge group, but their in their personal lifestyles they upheld the core values of the Straight Edge sub-culture (Wooden and Blazak, 2001). By the year 2000, very small number of revolutionary Straight Edge followers had remained. This decline in the radical behavior in the straight edge sub-culture can be associated with the lack of well established Straight Edge pop group leading the entire movement.

As a result, wide disparity in lyrics and musical lifestyles among straight edge bands was experienced by the end of the year 2000 (Kaplan and Lööw, 2002). Though the symbol ‘X’ remained outstanding among the followers of the Straight Edge subculture across all the levels, the entire group had experienced subsequent disintegrations by the year 2008. By analogy, hardcore punk pop-rock followers constituted of persistent touring of youths throughout the revolution of the Straight Edge subculture (Regoli et al, 2011).

The Major Activities of the Straight Edge Followers

The initial main activity which the followers of Straight Edge group engaged in was pop music with punk. Tattooing practices have been meticulously considered activity in the Straight Edge sub-culture, though very few followers of the group have been reported as being experts of tattooing practices (Williams, 2004).

It is important to note that, tattooing practice has predominantly been considered as a form of insolence in social situations like prisons among others. In this regard, the underlying perception of straight edge activists was that, they were dangerous groups like other rebellious subcultures like gangs and carnivals. By remaining inseparable from the hardcore music based on punk genres, the Straightedge subculture the Straight Edge pop group has largely impacted on the entire subculture (Haenfler, 2006).

Rather than engaging in hedonistic and physically destructive activities, Straight Edge followers adopted defiant groups like ‘original’ Punks, Skin Heads and Ravers among others. In order to promote their message of personal appeasement and control, Straight Edge followers associated themselves with tattooing practices (Wooden and Blazak, 2001). For instance, the Riot Grrls defiant group had all its members tattoo their hands with the subcultures mark of “X’ as a means to promote the message of personal pacification.

As a result, there have been in-house apprehension and debates about the authenticity of the Straight Edge sub-cultural beliefs and physical activities. The lifestyle upheld in the followers of the group seems questionable in the way they engage in various resistances. For example, Wood (2006) reports on how 31 Canadian followers of Straight Edge group resistance against tolerant corporal excess alerted the government since this action implied a sense of defiance.

Theoretical Framework Underpinning Straight Edge Subculture

Sociologically, defiance is a well-to-do drapery woven by litany of hypothetical and substantive outfits. Theorizing how corporeal activities like piercing can be carried out in the course of representing cultural dissension. Among the various sources of physical resistance, marginalization and racial stereotyping have been considered as the core foundations of the rise of defiance among youths (Regoli et al, 2011).

As reported by Wood (2003), one of the social theories explaining the development of Straight Edge defiant group is the social control theory. One of the assumptions of the social control theory is that, if an individual does not develop self-control early in life, he/she is not likely to be bonded psychologically to society. The actual source of defiance according to this theory is defective socialization within the individual.

In this regard, families and schools are important to ensure socialization and control of the young individuals so that they can embrace the social norm trends in the society (Williams, 2004). According to Muggleton (2000), theory of social control through social bonds is an individual-level theory, which focuses on social-psychological processes. This theory has found its significance in explaining the emergence of youth defiance as evidenced in the Straight Edge subculture.

With the youths adopting their own way of life, it is evident that the followers of the Straight Edge sub culture have deviated from the societal lifestyle trends. Kaplan and Lööw (2002) argued that as individuals develop, they form bonds to other members of society and institutions within society and that defiance is deterred by the threat of losing these bonds. Precisely, defiance behavior is said to occur when an individual’s bonds to society are weakened or get broken.

The key control variables acknowledged by McCrea (2007) in the social control theory are attachment (affection for others), commitment (one’s investment in the society), participation in conventional activities, and belief in the societal rules. Despite that figurational sociology has been largely under-utilized in the exposition of social conflict; Irwin (1999) has clearly pointed out how social dissent and defiance are closely related.

Precisely, the values of enlightened behavior are propagated within defense figurations of inter-reliant actors, and the overriding social regulations. By sidelining its values from the societal mainstream course of values, the Straight Edge subculture can be considered as being defiant. Though the group comprises of few violent individuals, the ultimate outlook of the entire group can be attributed to social resistance.

Society’s Response towards the Straightedge Subculture

Through focusing their messages at their relatives, sub-cultural peer groups, the conventional youth and the society at large, the Straight Edge subculture produced a multifaceted disagreement that individuals could adapt their own interests. One of the most fundamental movements in the subculture was the identification with cleanliness, where their positive living ended up in their resistance to societal norms (Helton and Staudenmeier, 2002).

While the followers of the subculture were largely involved in societal recreational projects, the government perceived such people as defiant and a potential threat to the internal peace. As a result, the law enforcers were extremely hard and strict on such groups whenever they were identified in various projects. Since this subculture was largely involved in fighting fir human rights, some members of the society ended up conforming to its customs (Haenfler, 2006).

However, the engagement of the group in resistance or disapproval of certain aspects of societal dominant culture and making of invisible ideologies visible aroused a lot of conflict between the society and the followers of the subculture.

By having illusionary tendencies, the Straight Edge movement contradicted its values in the way it advocated for anti-sexism, yet it had male-centered ideology (Haenfler, 2004). I thus suggest that, participation has actual penalties for the lives of its affiliates, other peer-groups, and perhaps the conventional society.

Conclusion Straight Edge subculture has been evidenced to be associated with some defiance in the way the members enforce their families, and peer members to customize to the groups values. Having its core activities embedded on music and tattooing, the sub-cultural group can be considered to be constructed on both personalized and collective basis.

The social control theory has been considered as one of the most accurate social theories that can be used to explain the existence of Straight Edge subculture. Though the group has been engaging in various recreational projects, the law enforcers has always perceived the entire group followers as being defiant in the way they seem to enforce the society to customize to their lifestyles.

References

Haenfler, R. (2004). Rethinking sub-cultural resistance: Core values of the Straight Edge Movement. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 33(4), p.406-436.

Haenfler, R. (2006). Straight Edge: Hardcore punk, clean living youth, and social change. Rutgers University: Rutgers University Press.

Helton, J. and Staudenmeier, W. (2002). Re-imagining being ‘straight’ in straightedge. Contemporary Drug Problems, Vol. 29 (2), p. 445-446.

Irwin, D. (1999). The Straight Edge subculture: Examining the youths’ drug-free way. Journal of Drug Issues, Vol. 29 (2), p. 365-380.

Kaplan, J. and Lööw, H. (2002). The cultic milieu: Oppositional subcultures in an age of globalization.

Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. McCrea, R. (2007). Out of step: Faces of Straight Edge subculture. Philadelphia: Empire Press.

Muggleton, D. (2000). Inside subculture: The postmodern meaning of style. Oxford, UK: Berg Publishers.

Regoli, R., Hewitt, J. and DeLisi, M. (2011). Delinquency in society: The essentials. New York: Jones & Bartlett Learning Publishers.

Williams, J. (2004). “Authentic identities: Straight Edge subculture, music and the internet,” in K. Odell (ed.), Contemporary readings in sociology, pp.25-34. Korgen California: Pine Forge Press, 2008.

Wood, T. (2003). The Straightedge youth sub-culture: Complexities of subculture identity. Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 6 (1), p. 33–52.

Wood, T. (2006). Straight Edge youth: The complexity and contradictions of a subculture. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Wooden, W. and Blazak, R. (2001). Renegade kids, suburban outlaws: From youth culture to delinquency (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Introduction

This paper discusses the effectiveness of alcohol marketing regulation, and how it can protect the consumer from fake products. This topic draws inspiration from recent events. A twenty one year old student, almost went blind due to the consumption of fake vodka.

The vodka consumed was sold to him at a club. This essay seeks to establish how such cases, can be prevented through regulations. To accomplish this, product quality control regulations and marketing regulations must be discussed.

The cause of the event is market failure, caused by poor dissemination of information. The popular way of disseminating information to the market is through marketing (Collins et al 2004).

Discussion

The other instance during which the government may engage regulation, is when the goods produced to cater for the lower income earning market segment, are of questionable quality. The quality of health care, for example, should not differ depending on one’s financial capability.

The foodstuffs and any consumable products, must be of satisfactory quality to prevent the outbreak of diseases and epidemics among the citizens. In this case, the government has the duty to ensure that its citizens get quality products by setting benchmarks on the quality of products sold in the market place. These regulations affect the market forces by placing restrictions on the price (Estevao 2005).

Generally, the quality of goods and services is directly related to the price. An increase in the quality of a product or service, increases the cost of production. The producer then passes the incremental costs to the consumer, in order to make a profit.

Consequently, the quality of a product increases commensurate to the price set on the product. There are specific authorities in each country, in charge of setting the quality standards for the products at the market place, as well as ensuring that the restrictions set by the government are obeyed.

The institution has the mandate to inspect places of work, and production factories, carry out surveys of goods in the market, test and approve the products in the market, and to persecute those found to be in breach of the set regulations (U.S Preventive Services Task Force 2005; Gunther 1980).

On a macro-economic level, restrictions affect production of goods and services by existing producing companies. The regulations go deeper to affect the rate of growth in productivity, by affecting the motivation for innovation, consequently interfering with the rate at which new goods and services replace the old (Kaplan 1980).

The market failure due to poor dissemination of information, is clearly evident in the case study. A young student went out to have fun in a club. At the age of twenty one, the student is beyond the legal age limit for alcohol consumers. This means that, this was not the first time drinking, and the student had a favorite brand of vodka. Therefore, there are the following assumptions drawn up from this case:

• The bar tender may not have been aware that the vodka was fake.
• The bar tender and student were not aware that there were fake vodka products in the market.
• The quality control authority was aware but did not disseminate the information.
• The quality control authority was not aware and did not conduct their regular inspections.

According to the story, the fake vodka was in a Smirnoff bottle, and earlier that day, the quality inspector checked the inventory on the counter and found that it was all genuine. The unsuspecting student purchased the vodka and took a third of it. She remained in bed for a period of two days.

The quality regulator cannot say that he had no news of the counterfeit vodka. The story further explains that Sarah’s case was not the first that the hospital casualty section had treated.

These events cast doubt on the accountability of the quality control regulator and calls for the development of a marketing regulator. The case was well investigated and the bar tender was charged a fine (Jarvis 1992; Howells & Weatherill 2005).

Based on the above assumptions, one cannot ignore the importance of having a strong and active regulator. The regulating body must have five qualities for it to work well. The first is that it must have the backing from a legislative authority.

This means that the regulator should have support from organizations that have legislative authority. The authority is formed through an act of parliament. In this case, the vodka incident ought to unify the people so that they develop the marketing regulator and the quality regulator, through an act of parliament.

However, if these regulators exist, they ought to have an audit done, in order to establish whether they are performing their legislative mandate. In this case, it is likely that the regulator failed to fulfill its legislative mandate. It is thus not in a position to request for public support.

The regulator has statutes that limit their powers to exercise judgment and produce solutions The accountability of the regulators must be proficient. However, the regulators are under the act of parliament, and in most cases, they have been found unaccountable.

This is because the regulator is accountable to the parliamentarians, who are the same people who control it. If indeed there was a regulator well aware of the fake vodka, it is possible that they hid the information intentionally, so as to protect the interests of a member of the democratic institutions that control it.

The value of accountability is remarkably clear (Wasik 1995). The due process receives public merit, when it is transparent, fair, open to all, and easily accessible. In the development of a marketing regulator, the public must ensure that the due process followed has the traits above (Wolfe & Laurie 2004).

Regulators require expert advice and knowledge before passing a verdict. A balanced decision based on sound knowledge of the situations, will aid in evaluating the best course of action. The case at hand, requires research into the contents of the drink and the possible effects of consuming the fake vodka.

The regulator also requires marketing experts, who develop the best methods of informing the public about the difference between the original vodka and the fake vodka.

The quality regulator could require services of expert investigators, who will track down the manufacturers of this counterfeit vodka and other products in the market. The regulator must use the fewest resources possible to achieve the best results.

The efficiency of the regulator to perform, is directly related to factors such as the legislative mandate and accountability (Schiantarelli 2005). There is a variety of regulations to choose from, and the first one is self-regulation.

This happens when individuals or organizations, which have a common interest, come together to form a body, which is charged with a mandate to control the members. This is witnessed among professional bodies and sports associations. An outstanding example is FIFA.

Self-regulation overcomes various challenges encountered in governmental regulation. The regulator enjoys more autonomy and has clear accountability about how it works. The regulator does not hold any immunity to consequences, resulting from not performing its legislative mandate.

Self-regulators have a vast pool of experts in their area of relevance. This does well in the performance of its mandate. The participating bodies may agree that each, shall provide experts to work in the regulator, hence securing professionalism. The effect of all the afore mentioned positive aspects of self-regulators, is better than that of the government regulator.

In the case at hand, the club owners and bar owners can team up with the alcohol distributors, to form a self-regulator. The purpose of the regulator will involve the regulation of alcohol quality in the clubs and bars. The regulator will be accountable to the participating parties, since it’s there to protect their interests.

The organization has a pool of experts to select regulators. This makes the body exceptionally competent and efficient in performing its duty. The efficiency of the regulator will obviously depend on various factors. The main one is the legislative mandate. The proper mandate gives the regulator power to perform its duties.

The aggrieved parties in the case study have another option. They may choose to form enforced self-regulation or Meta regulation. Enforced regulation, involves the subcontracting of the regulator duties to organizations that already have a regulator. The subcontracted duties include making the rules, punishment and correction of those in breach, and keeping watch on compliance.

This type of arrangement would do well for the community. The members of the society can join to form a regulator. The main purpose of this regulator is to regularly check on the quality of the consumer products in the market.

The duties that the regulator can subcontract include punishing those in breach and research and testing services. This form of regulation by the community is instrumental in preventing the occurrence of adverse incidents. Even though the community regulator is established, the government regulator, despite the shortcomings, is still helpful to its citizens.

To achieve the best possible results from regulators, organizations must concoct a delicate mix of the institutions and the tools used in regulation.

The organizations should identify their tools and then organize them in order of importance or urgency for use. This is called sequencing of instruments. The extraction of the instruments for application ranges from the least effective to the most effective depending on the difficulty of a situation.

Complex forms of regulators come up from time to time. There are no rules that prevent the combination of several regulators to create an effect called a network. In fact, the regulatory body for the bars and clubs association, can combine with the community regulator.

The two bodies have similar interests and can consequently easily merge into a network. The benefit of this form of the union is evident in the efficiency with which regulation is done. The organizations together, cover a wide range of issues, particularly, market controls and the quality control, for ensuring accountability to the organizations that formed it.

In some cases, the self-regulators join hands with the government regulators (Previts 2007; Sherman 2008). The regulators have various qualities. Good market regulation has the following criteria:

• Backing and support from a legislative body.
• Good accountability framework.
• Open, fair and accessible procedures of operation.
• Experts and professional regulators.
• Importance and purpose for the regulation.

The above criteria, are paramount in setting the benchmarks for a relevant and functional regulator. The regulator must have a means of measuring the quality of regulation, and producing regulatory improvement strategies, bodies and tools (Barrett & Herbert 1994).

Conclusion

The forces of demand and supply, play a vital role in shaping the operations of the market place. The demand for a commodity, determines the eventual production, facilitating pricing choice by the market, and ultimately, passing a strong verdict on the longevity of the products’ demand in the market.

In the course of all these, comes competition between the suppliers, who are producing the same product or a substitute for these products. The competition, affected by market forces of demand and supply, go on to lead to the formation many market structures.

The manner, in which competitors fight for the clients, ranges from a monopolistic market to an oligopoly. In most cases, the market forces balance out, to the favor of the competitors and suppliers. However, the poor people, end up lacking the ability to obtain these products.

The basic needs, such as clean drinking water, food and education, become a preserve of those who have money in society. The country has a solemn duty to protect its members and to ensure that the basic human rights are maintained in accordance to the country’s constitution.

When basic amenities are not affordable to a vast majority in society, the nation is failing to carry out its duty. The leaders, who were selected by the same people who are now suffering, have to intervene.

Similarly, competition amongst individuals in the market in which demand and supply work to set the prices of commodities, can lead to the production of cheaper commodities that can be afforded by the majority of low income earning class of society.

The bone of contention here, is that the product is the quality of the cheap product. Often, when the market is allowed to run normally, moments happen when the demand outstrips the supply. As a result, the price of commodities in question increases commensurately.

The effect of this, is that a big portion of clients, get locked out because they cannot afford to buy this product or service. The products that are often highly demanded by the clients are basic amenities such as food, shelter, clean water, electricity, transport, education, and legal services.

Due to the nature of society, a growing population causes increased demand for these products. In the process, they become increasingly expensive. This often causes a large part of the population to miss these vital goods and services.

At this point, it is crucial for the government to set some rules governing the market dynamics that concern such products. The government can do this in several ways. However, the most effective is when the producers are not coerced into reducing the prices, but when both the government and the producers are in understanding about the need to set regulations, on the prices of the goods they produce.

In many cases, this is by the provision of tax cuts and subsidies to the producers, in a bid to have them reduce prices. Otherwise, the economy suffers from market failure. However, the main reason for many regulations is market failures.

There are various rationales behind the reason for market failure. The first one is the monopolies and natural monopolies. The situation in which only one producer is producing a specific commodity in the market due to the following factors:

• The commodity in the market is unique, causing it to lack a substitute commodity.
• Only one seller is supplying the commodity in the market.
• There exist barriers to prevent new entrants into the industry, and those in it, already have difficulties getting out.

Monopoly causes market failure due to the lack of proper competition. As a result, the public suffer because the industry player can choose to maximize profits at the drop of the hat. The company with monopoly has the ability to control supply and demand forces in the market.

When the company chooses to reduce production and raise the price of commodities, income shifts from the consumer to the producer. The solution to this is creation of competition laws, which balance out and control the market by introducing competitors.

This solution is especially effective, in resolving natural monopoly. The situation in which the production of a commodity is by one main company, due to the cheap cost of production, is referred to as economies of scale.

The establishment of competition law on its own is not enough, and could cause problems in the quality of output. There is thus need to combine this with price and quality control regulations.

The regulators set the price of the commodity around the incremental cost to encourage the monopolizing producer to increase production to a certain predetermined level. In effect this mimics the effect of having another competitor in the market.

The other market failure is windfall profits. This situation allows a producer to encounter minimal costs through discovering a cheap supply of raw material, or a less costly production process. The other market payers do not have the same advantage and in the process, one producer ends up making more profits that all the others.

Regulation takes place when the sudden escalations in profits require to distribution so that the public also benefits through taxation. The third market failure is externalities. This occurs when the price of producing a product does not take into account the effects on the society by producing that commodity. This leads to too much consumption.

These regulations especially seek to regulate pollution caused by large manufacturing companies. The regulations encourage the producers to factor in the cost of cleaning up pollution caused by them, into the selling price of the commodity.

A principle called “polluter pays”. Information inadequacies are market failures cased when the consumers lack crucial information leading to malfunction of markets. The dissemination of information is especially valuable for the production of food products and medicines.

The consumer must remain informed about the side effects of ingesting the product. Companies abscond to do this due to various factors, key being that the cost of researching into the side effects is high.

Other market failures include; continuity and availability of service, anti-competitive behavior and predatory pricing, public goods and moral hazard, unequal bargaining power, scarcity and rationing, rationalization and coordination, and poor market planning.

References

Barrett, S & Herbert, V 1994, The Vitamin Pushers: How the “Health Food” Industry Is Selling America a Bill of Good, Prometheus Books, New York.

Collins, S et al 2004, ‘Wages, health benefits, and workers’ health,’ Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief, 6 (7), pp. 3-4.

Estevao, M 2005, OECD Economic Surveys, OECD Publishers, Luxembourg.

Gunther, M 1980, “Quackery and the media,” In S. Barrett (Ed.), The Health Robbers: How To Protect Your Money and Your Life, George F Stickley Co, Philadelphia.

Howells, G G & Weatherill, S 2005, Consumer Protection Law, Ashgate Publishing, Farnham.

Jarvis, W 1992, ‘Quackery: A national scandal,’ Clinical Chemistry, 38, pp. 1574–1586.

Kaplan, N 1980, ‘Consumer health: The times they are a-changing,’ Health Education, 11(6), p. 3.

Previts, G 2007, Research Accounting Regulation, University of Miami, Florida.

Schiantarelli, F 2005, Product Market Regulation and Macro-economic Performance, World Bank, Development Research Group, New York.

Sherman, R 2008, Market Regulation, Pearson Adson Wesly, New York.

U.S Preventive Services Task Force 2005, Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, New York.

Wasik, J 1995, ‘Fraud in the funeral industry,’ Consumers Digest 34 (5), 53–59.

Wolfe, S & Laurie, P 2004, “Ranking of state medical board serious disciplinary actions in 2002,” HRG, 4(2), pp. 3-4.

Why it can Prevent Excessive Consumption

The government’s intention to set the minimum price for alcohol products is based on the concept of price floors. Under this concept, the minimum selling price is set above the equilibrium prices (Frank, Bernanke & Kaufman 2007, p. 71). For example, equilibrium price for Grant’s whisky was 11 pounds before the proposal. However, it will rise to 11.42 after implementing the proposal.

The increase in equilibrium price leads to a reduction in quantity demand. This is illustrated in figure 1 below. P 1 and Q1 represent the initial equilibrium price and quantity respectively. However, the equilibrium price will rise to P 2 after implementing the government’s proposal. When the price increases to P 2, the quantity demand will reduce from Q 1 to Q 2.

This is because consumers will find alcohol products more expensive than they were initially (Frank, Bernanke & Kaufman 2007, p. 73). This implies that raising the minimum price above the market equilibrium will reduce the consumption of alcohol.

Figure 1: price floor

P: price

Q: quantity

E: equilibrium

S: supply curve

D: demand curv

Why the Proposal will not succeed in this Case

Influencing the consumption of alcohol through price control depends on the price elasticity of its demand (Frank, Bernanke & Kaufman 2007, p. 94). The demand for alcoholic drinks such as beer tends to be relatively inelastic due to the following reasons. First, the prices of alcoholic drinks in UK are very low due to the promotions run by supermarkets.

For example, the price of a bottle of wine is as little as 2.03 pounds. This means that the price represents only a small percentage of consumer’s income. Thus the demand for alcohol will be inelastic since the consumers will not be sensitive to price changes (Frank, Bernanke & Kaufman 2007, p. 95). Second, alcohol is a necessity to those who are addicted to it.

Thus unless its price is significantly increased, consumers will still purchase it. Finally, loyalty to particular brands of alcohol will encourage consumers to maintain their level of consumption even if the prices are raised (Frank, Bernanke & Kaufman 2007, p. 97). These trends indicate that the price of alcohol must be increased significantly in order to reduce its consumption.

Thus the government’s proposal will fail because its new price proposals are not significantly high. It is for this reason that earlier proposals fixed the minimum price at 50p instead of 38p as proposed by the government.

Importance of the Concept of Scarcity and Opportunity Cost

Scarcity implies that that the available resources can not satisfy all the needs of a country or a business (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 22). Scarce resources are only spent on projects associated with the highest levels of benefits. Thus scarcity leads to trade-offs when allocating resources. Trade-offs in this case means that some projects must be forgone due to lack of adequate resources.

Such trade-offs are associated with opportunity costs which represent “the next best alternative” (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 23). Scarcity helps governments to realize the fact that they have limited resources. Opportunity cost on the other hand helps governments to asses the costs and benefits associated with their decisions in regard to resources allocation (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 23).

Thus the main importance of the concept of scarcity and opportunity cost is that they help governments to make informed decisions on the use of their resources. This helps in maximizing the benefits resulting from efficient resource allocation. This can be illustrated by the alcohol market in UK.

Scarcity in this case is represented by the fact that the government does not have enough resources to prevent the side-effects of alcohol consumption such as increased crime rate. The government must deicide on whether to promote consumption of alcohol in order to increase its GDP or reduce alcohol availability in order to protect the health of the citizens.

This represents the trade-off that the government must make. Since the government has decided to reduce alcohol availability, the opportunity cost is represented by the revenue lost due to reduction in alcohol consumption. Thus the two concepts have helped the government to determine the level of alcohol production that is both beneficial to the producers and the citizens.

Taxation of Alcohol, Cigarette and Petrol

The above goods are taxed for two reasons. First, they are taxed in order to generate revenue for supporting government operations (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 54). For example, the revenues are used to provide services such as education. Second, they are taxed to prevent market failure. Market failure occurs when the free market can not allocate resources efficiently (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 55).

The above goods lead to market failure since their consumption is associated with negative externalities. A negative externality is “a cost not transmitted through prices, incurred by a party who did not agree to the activity causing the cost” (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 56). Air pollution is one of the negative externalities associated with the consumption of petrol and cigarette.

Increase in crime rate and road accidents are the negative externalities associated with alcohol consumption. Prevention of market failure through taxation is illustrated by figure 2 below. When the market equilibrium is at point E, the marginal cost associated with the private sector is less than that associated with public sector.

This means that increasing the production of the good will be less beneficial. Thus in order to achieve the ideal equilibrium, pint D, the price must be raised to P 2. This is achieved through taxation in order to increase the price of the product.

Figure 2: negative externality

P: price

Q: quantity

E: actual equilibrium

D: ideal equilibrium

Reducing the Incidence for Alcohol Consumption

Education

Consumption of alcohol can be reduced if the public is educated on the effects of its consumption. As the citizens realize the side-effects of alcohol such as health risks, increased crime rate and road accidents, they will reduce alcohol consumption (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 66). This can be illustrated by figure 3 below. D 1 represents the demand for alcohol before introducing the education programs.

At this level, the equilibrium price and quantity are P 1 and Q 1 respectively. After the education program, the demand curve will shift to D 2. Thus the quantity demanded at the same price, P 1, will reduce from Q 1 to Q 3.

Following the reduction in demand, alcohol producers are likely to reduce the prices in order to encourage consumption. Consequently, the new equilibrium price and quantity will be P 2 and Q 2. The overall effect of education is that the quantity demanded will reduce from Q 1 to Q 2.

Figure 3: demand-supply model

P: price

Q: quantity

D: demand curve

Taxation

Taxation increases the price of alcohol. According to the law of demand, an increase in price translates into a reduction in the quantity demanded (Pindyck & Robinfeld 2009, p. 67). Thus imposing taxes on alcohol will make it more expensive hence discouraging its consumption. This can be illustrated by figure 4 below. Before imposing the tax, the equilibrium price and quantity will be P1 and Q 1 respectively.

After imposing the tax, the price paid by buyers will increase to P2 while that received by sellers will reduce to P 3. Thus the quantity demanded will reduce from Q 1 to Q 2. Following the reduction in demand, the producers of alcohol will reduce the supply level. Thus the overall effect of taxation will be a reduction in the quantity demanded due to an increase in the price of alcohol.

Figure 4: incidence of taxation

P: price

Q: quantity

The Energy Market in UK

In 2007, the government of UK introduced price control in the energy market (National-grid 2007). This involved lowering the prices of both electricity and gas. To achieve this objective, the government subsidized the production of both gas and electricity (National-grid 2007). The main goal of the price control was to lower the prices of gas and electricity so that many citizens can afford to use them.

Besides, the use of electricity and gas causes less air pollution. Thus the government intended to promote the use of the above sources of energy in order to conserve the environment (National-grid 2007). The success of this strategy can be illustrated by figure 5 below. Before introducing the subsidy, the equilibrium price was P 1 while the equilibrium quantity was Q 1.

However, the price paid by the buyers reduced to P 2 after the introduction of the subsidy. The price received by the sellers increased to P 2+ Z, where Z represents the amount of subsidy per unit. Since P 2+ Z is higher than the initial equilibrium price, the sellers increased the quantity supplied from Q 1 to Q 2. The overall effect of the subsidy was a reduction in the price of electricity and gas as well as an increase in their demand.

Figure 5: subsidy

P: price

Q: quantity

S: supply

Z: subsidy

References

Frank, R, Bernanke, B & Kaufman, R 2007, Principles of economics, McGraw-Hill, New York.

National-grid 2007, The use gas and electricity distribution price control, <https://www.nationalgrid.com/>.

Pindyck, R & Robinfeld, D 2009, Microeconomics, Pearson, New York.

Introduction

Some of the established mental disorders in the population require medical attention and psychiatric treatment. One common thing about mental disorders is that they affect the performance of individuals and their interaction with others in society.

However, not all mental disorders are as serious as to necessitate treatment. In fact, some of them go unnoticed. Victims of mental disorders may even choose to conceal them for a particular reason.

At the workplace, the presence of employees with mental disorders may affect the overall performance of the organisation due to the effects of the condition. As a result, most employees have adopted a number of measures to deal with mental disorders.

This strategy has however ensured that the employees do not reveal their conditions. This paper focuses on substance-use disorders as one group of mental health disorders as categorised by 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. It puts more focus on alcohol dependence in the workplace and its effects.

Impact on Work Performance

Substance use disorders as stated in 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing “involve the harmful use and/or dependence on alcohol and/or drugs comprising Alcohol Harmful Use, Alcohol Dependence, and Drug Use disorders” (ABS 2007).

These disorders are said to affect the psychological and physical functioning of the user, causing impaired judgement or impaired behaviour (ABS 2007). The environment of the person concerned affects the mental disarrays. To begin with, they are not in most instances organic.

The patients are said to lose their sense of control of substance use thus resulting to dependence.

Dependence as explained in the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing “is a maladaptive pattern of use in which the use of alcohol or drugs takes on a much higher priority for a person than other behaviours that once had a greater value” (ABS 2007).

It continues to state, “The central characteristic of dependence is the strong, sometimes overpowering, desire to take the substance despite significant substance-related problems” (ABS 2007).

The WHO estimates that most drinkers and people who are most likely to suffer from a drug or substance-use disorder such as alcohol dependence are those in the working ages (Mangione et al. 1999, p. 269). Alcohol dependence in particular is prevalent among the working population.

Some surveys conducted on the condition found out that more than 15% of workers included had reported to work with hangovers besides using alcohol within the workplace.

There are many effects of alcohol dependence on the performance of an individual at the workplace. These are individual specific depending on the line of work that the individual is involved.

One of the ways in which alcohol dependence influences the workplace is the reduction in the efficiency and safety at the workstation (Head, Stansfeld & Siegrist 2004, p.222). When a person is alcohol dependent, there is a high likelihood that he or she will be taking the substance at the workplace, or will take breaks to do so.

After consumption, most of them have a higher likelihood of committing mistakes due to errors in judgement besides being prone to occupational injuries and accidents (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54). The effects of alcohol consumption at the workplace are immediate since any quantity has some adverse effects.

Most countries have existing regulations of alcohol use within various industries that are known to be high risk thus doing the testing for drug dependence before employment (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54).

The after-effect of using the drug, otherwise known as hangovers, brings about another effect that alcohol dependence may have on the functioning of an individual at the workplace. The condition can affect the performance of employees and even their attendance at the workplace.

Most of the workers reporting to have gone to work with a hangover said that they had difficulties paying attention and that their pace of work was reduced (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 79). This revelation means that their output for that day was significantly reduced and hence the overall output of the company.

A common effect of alcohol dependence at the workplace is the poor attendance that is reported for these patients (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 56). Alcohol has many recognised side effects. A worker who uses the drug is highly likely to suffer from one or more of the conditions occurring due to its use.

The conditions may necessitate the admission or seeking of medical attention hence forming one of the major reasons why alcohol dependants miss the workplace. Thousands of hours are lost in a single year worldwide because of sickness and absence related to alcohol dependence (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 79).

The presence of psychological and medical problems in a person who is alcohol dependant is reported to lead to impaired performance at the workplace, which costs the company in terms of output (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 82).

As Roman and Blum state, “Dependence may be associated with drinking or being under the influence of alcohol at inappropriate times and places, deterioration of skills, and interpersonal difficulties” (2002, p. 56).

The skiving from the administrative centres due to to alcohol exploitation and reliance is reported to cost the UK’s financial system about £1.5 billion every year (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54).

Most of the workers who are alcohol dependent are reported to change work at a higher rate than the average employees, with most of them dropping out of work or even succumbing of the effects of the disorder.

The result of deaths and work loss from alcoholic dependence is said to rob the economies world over of precious revenues and people who would otherwise be productive (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 79). Another effect of dependence is the distortion of the organisational culture in many of the organisations.

The presence of alcoholic dependence among some employees creates a situation of non-cooperation between them, thus reducing their combined output. The argument means that results in any organisation are not as would be otherwise expected if there were no alcoholic-dependent employees.

Alcoholic dependence also affects the characters of the employees involved. Some may adopt unsocial behaviours such as theft at the workplace. Since most of those affected may not be able to fund their habits, they end up robbing the company property and finance to propagate the disorder (Barney et al 2009, p. 61).

This case has poor results since the organisations usually end up losing millions in this form. Despite these effects of the condition, most of the employees affected are not detected at the workplace. The following section evaluates why the employees choose to conceal the condition from their colleagues and employers.

Reasons for Concealing

As stated above, the alcohol dependent employees are only detected after several years of successfully concealing the condition from their superiors and the workmates. The disorder has several known interventions that the employees may be aware of although most of them decide to keep it as a secret.

A common characteristic of these employees is that most of them are not aware that they have a problem. They therefore do not seek medical attention or help from other individuals and professionals (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54).

Most of them have the insight that the consumption of alcohol in general may be offensive to other people. They generally keep it a secret.

Another reason why the employees conceal the problem is due to the perceived consequences of the act should their employers find out (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 79).

The main fear of most of the employees is that, upon realising that they have a problem, the employer may decide to terminate their employment hence affecting them in a number of ways.

It is a common practice in many organisations to discharge employees from their duties once they are found to be consuming alcohol or taking other drugs in the workplace (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 82).

Many countries have legislation against the consumption of alcohol and other drugs at the workplace, with the penalties being very stiff.

In some of the industries, the functions are so sensitive that, once an employee is caught to be under the influence of alcohol, he or she is charged in a court of law (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 83). Alcohol dependence in these areas may therefore pass unnoticed since employees will do everything to conceal it.

Alcoholic-dependent employees are successful at concealing the problem from their relatives and close friends. Thus, the discovery of the same at the workplace would mean that everyone else knows (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 82).

This case may be another reason that the employees conceal the problem as it may have grave consequences on their social life. In cases where the employer has found such employees, a common option is to quit their job rather than risking their close associates knowing of the problem.

This step is however not a common reason for the concealing of alcohol dependence disorder, as most of the employees are well known in the society.

Another reason why employees conceal the problem is due to the previous experiences in organisations where they managed to reveal the problem to their employers. In this case, most of the alcohol-dependent patients may have been warned of dire consequences should they be caught again while drinking at the workplace.

A second time would mean that they now face the full consequences of the act besides being discharged from their job. The costs of seeking treatment and rehabilitation from alcohol dependence are high in most countries.

Most of those affected are unable to afford the standard medical attention for the mental disorder (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54). Since most of those affected know that they will have to seek help when caught, they choose to conceal their problem to save on the much-needed money.

Another reason that the alcohol-dependent individuals are able to conceal their problem successfully is due to the poor interaction between the managerial staff and employers with their employees.

In such cases, the management has no measures in place to detect the presence of alcohol dependence within its workforce (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 83).

Another reason for successful concealing of the problem in most of the cases is due to the perception that most of the patients have that they will be stigmatised after the discovery.

In most of instances where employees have been found to be alcohol dependent, they reported that the employers often found ways of ensuring that they are laid off at the slightest of opportunity (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 84). However, this case is against the practices in most of the countries

In some countries where stringent laws exist, drug dependence attracts financial penalties that may warrant arrest and prosecution (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 82). In these countries, people suffering from alcohol dependence may be afraid of being detected due to the nature of the punishments.

Others argue that the reason that the alcoholic-dependant people in the workplace choose to conceal their problem is to allow themselves to manage their problem privately (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54). In these kinds of cases, the patients are aware of the problem that they are suffering from.

They try to institute measures on their own. This strategy however in most cases is not possible. The victims end up not succeeding only to be caught eventually (De Lorenzo-Romanella 2011, p. 82).

According to Roman and Blum, most of people suffering from alcohol dependence or dependence of any other substance have no insight into their condition (2002, p. 54).

The other reason that most of the workers suffering from alcohol dependence conceal their problem from their colleagues and employers is because they are not able to make a connection between the problem and the workplace. Employees tend to think that the matter is a private one requiring no other party to intervene.

Hence, the employer should not know. Most of employees with this reasoning are likely to be the ones to reveal the problem to their employers, as compared to those who conceal it based on the need to continue working at the same place (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54).

As Roman and Blum state, most of employers are ill-equipped to recognise drug dependence at the workplace hence paving the way for employees to go unrecognised (2002, p. 57).

In cases where the employee is discovered to have a problem with performance at the workplace, the disciplinary measures put in place do not establish the cause of the problem, but generally punish the person irrespective of the cause of the poor performance.

This argument is one of the reasons why the condition passes unrecognised in most workplaces.

As Roman and Blum state, many reasons reveal why alcohol dependence may be concealed in the workplace, but the main reason is fear of job loss (2002, p. 54). For employers to succeed in dealing with the problem at their workplaces, they need to ensure that clear policies govern on the problem.

One such policy is the existence of labour organisations that ensure that employees with mental disorders get fair treatment once their problems are discovered. This strategy will reduce the chances of the alcoholic dependants concealing their problem.

Overall Analysis

Alcohol abuse or dependence is a serious mental condition requiring attention and treatment (Barney et al. 2009, p. 61). When an employee develops alcohol dependence, the productivity at the workplace is greatly affected with the overall output being reduced.

The conditions that exist in a workplace have been shown to initiate the problem in some employees thus aggravating it in those that already have it on employment. Some of the recognised effects of alcohol dependence may warrant dismissal of an employee from the workplace.

This case may affect both the running of the business and the individual’s social and economic performance (Munir et al. 2007, p. 276).

In the medical perspective, alcohol dependence is a type of medical condition classified under substance-use disorder by the 2007 ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54).

The most common effect in the performance of employees is the attendance at the workplace where they skip work to attend to issues related to the disorder.

Some of the reasons for the absence at the workplace include seeking medical assistance for the conditions as well as other conditions resulting from the disorder such as liver cirrhosis. This situation has been shown to affect the workplace significantly, with many person-hours being lost as a result.

Some of the countries that are most affected are the developed countries where employees are able to afford the alcohol and maintain the habit. Billions of dollars are lost from the global economy because of the disorder. Despite the issue, many of the employees affected go unnoticed.

Some of the reasons why the employees conceal the problem from their employers and colleagues relate to the consequences likely to face them upon discovery. They include loss of work, victimisation, and loss of privacy.

In the contemporary workplace, employees should be allowed to seek medical attention once they are discovered to have the problem. A labour representative should accompany them at the deliberations with their employers if they so wish (Munir et al 2007, p. 276).

Once discovered, the employee should also be allowed to take leave to have the problem sorted with the terms of an ordinary leave (Roman & Blum 2002, p. 54). Organisations should also have a working guidance and counselling department to deal with the welfare of employees, which should ensure confidentiality.

Some of the other reasons for the concealing of alcohol dependence include the ill-treatment at the workplace. Managers and other people in the leadership of organisations should ensure that they take care of employees with such problems by according them the confidentiality that they deserve.

Training should also be given to the managers and employers on how to detect alcohol dependence at the workplace together with how to deal with it. It is not a common practice for managers to be taught such things. This case may reveal the reactions after discovery of a victim of alcohol dependence among their employees.

Conclusion

In conclusion, alcohol dependence is a common mental disorder in the class of substance-use disorders. It is increasingly becoming common among the working population in many countries. Alcohol dependence has some recognised effects on performance at the workplace.

Some of the recognised problems include poor performance, missing work, and the risk of accidents at the workplace. The employees with alcohol dependence often go unnoticed due to the effort they put in concealing the condition.

Some of the reasons for concealing have been advanced in the paper, with adequate recommendations on how this situation may be tackled.

References

ABS 2007, National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Summary of Results, Cat No 4326.0. Web.

Barney, L, Griffiths, K, Christensen, H, & Jorm, A 2009, ‘Exploring the nature of stigmatising beliefs about depression and help-seeking: implications for reducing stigma’, BMC Public Health, vol. 9 no. 1, p. 61.

De Lorenzo-Romanella, S 2011, ‘Managing Hidden Illnesses that Impact on Performance and Absenteeism’, The Business Review Cambridge, vol. 19 no. 1, pp. 77-84.

Head, J, Stansfeld, S, & Siegrist, J 2004, ‘The psychosocial work environment and alcohol dependence: a prospective study’, Occupational And Environmental Medicine, vol. 61 no. 3, pp. 219-224.

Mangione, W et al. 1999, ‘Employee Drinking Practices and Work Performance’, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, vol. 60 no. 1, pp. 261-270.

Munir, F, Yarker, J, Haslam, C, Long, H, Leka, S, Griffiths, A, & Cox, S 2007, ‘Work factors related to psychological and health-related distress among employees with chronic illnesses’, Journal Of Occupational Rehabilitation, vol. 17 no. 2, pp. 259-277.

Roman, M, & Blum, C 2002, ‘The Workplace and Alcohol Prevention’, Alcohol Research and Health, vol. 26 no. 1, pp. 49-57.

Introduction

Woods is the Director of Human Resources for the Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health (ADAMH). Her roles include recruiting and selecting potential employees to join the organization. Wood took part in this interview and provided a detailed account of human resource activities and practices at ADAMH, including problems encountered and their solutions.

This study focused on understanding different aspects of human resource management at ADAMH from I/O psychology point of view (Spector, 2012). Some of the human resource practices covered include recruitment, employee selection, employee motivation, employee training, job attitudes, giving feedback, creating incentives, and managing conflict.

A summary of the interview with a focus on two major problems identified by the Director of ADAMH

The study interview focused on common problems that Woods faced while recruiting employees at ADAMH. Woods claimed that employee recruitment was a multifaceted role that required proper planning and execution. Therefore, the recruiter must maintain professionalism throughout the process in order to achieve the intended goals of the hiring process. According to Woods, on most occasions, it was difficult to hire the right persons for vacant positions. The process was laborious. From Woods’ point of view, a hiring manager must be confident about his or her choice of employees based on the employment criteria.

Woods commented that there were two major problems in the hiring process, which included failing to hire the right person for the job and the costs of advertising the vacancy.

The Director noted that she applied some approaches to overcome the two major challenges in the hiring process. Woods said that she relied on social networks to find and screen potential employees for vacant positions. She believed that many hiring managers evaluated potential employees’ social networking pages as a critical stage before the actual interview. This could lead to effective employee recruitment. It implied that successful interviews resulted in selecting the right employees, who would assume their roles and work professionally in the organization.

From Woods’ perspective, social networking media delivered favorable results because they reduced the costs of advertising a job vacancy. Social media have become fundamental components in the job search because many recruiters use them to eliminate initial contacting and screening interviews since most potential employees express their achievements and experiences in their pages. Woods also noted that social media were tools for assessing potential employees’ professionalism, personality, and other relevant traits that could affect job performance. Hence, social media have become effective tools for starting an effective recruitment process.

A “scholarly commentary” with recommendations to Woods from the perspective of I/O (Industrial/Organizational) psychology

Many human resources or hiring managers constantly wonder how they can make the hiring process more effectual by finding the right employees for vacant positions. However, if hiring managers rely on recruitment and selection tools based on assessments and job analysis for competencies, then the hiring process will be more effective and consistent. In this regard, they must use the best practices from I/O psychology studies to understand employees’ behaviors and competencies.

Hiring managers could improve employee recruitment and selection if they depend on I/O psychology research outcomes (Schmidt and Hunter, 1998). The study can aid in enhancing current employee recruitment and selection practices by introducing job analysis procedures in order to incorporate all elements that are necessary for a given position.

Woods should consider working with I/O psychologists in order to develop effective employee recruitment and selection tools. Employee recruitment must focus on identifying the right employees for a position among a pool of potential employees who apply for a post in an organization. During employee recruitment processes, Woods must engage in job advertisements, announcements, defining required qualifications and experiences, and screening out candidates who do not meet the minimum qualification criteria.

Woods also conducts employee selection, which involves hiring and promotion. This process requires evidence-based practices from I/O psychology to identify a suitable potential employee for a post (Schmidt and Hunter, 1998). The hiring manager can useability tests, knowledge tests, work outcomes, and structured interviews to determine the right candidates. I/O psychologists can assist human resource specialists by evaluating evidence based on the selection tool, which could predict job outcomes and their validity. Validity in a selection process seeks to show job relevance and enhance professionalism. On this note, I/O psychology introduces the best practices and current state of knowledge in employee selection processes so that hiring managers can have the best personnel for the job.

Woods could also apply I/O psychology to assess potential employees’ attitudes toward the job. On this note, I/O psychology helps in assessing employees’ attitudes in order to align them with job analysis and job satisfaction. This would assess or predict possible employees’ performance once hired or promoted. Therefore, Woods should work with I/O psychologists to assess and test employees’ attitudes. Employees who have positive attitudes toward their jobs experience high-levels of job satisfaction and overall work experience. Such satisfaction would also be reflected in their behaviors and emotions. Job satisfaction and attitude are some of the most studied topics in I/O psychology with the aim of selecting the right personnel for improved job performance. Schmidt and Hunter noted that studies in employee selection approach using I/O psychology established that “broad mental ability was the best overall predictor of job performance and training performance” (Schmidt and Hunter, 1998, p. 262).

Arthur, Bennett, Edens, and Bell (2003) found out that employees’ training was effective, and that organization recovered any associated costs in terms of increased productivity and profitability. Woods must note that not all hired or promoted employees have the right skills, knowledge, or experience for the job. Training would make ADAMH employees beneficial and enhance their employability in other organizations as they add value and new skills.

Like in performance management, I/O psychologists apply job analysis techniques alongside elements of instructions in order to develop the most suitable training programs for specific employees and organizations. Woods should include a summative evaluation in employee training programs to ascertain that all trained employees have achieved the required training objectives and can conduct their duties effectively. At the same time, there should be formative evaluations to evaluate the outcome of the program as it proceeds. This allows the trainer to identify problems during training processes, and I/O psychologists can address those issues as training proceeds.

It is imperative for Woods to understand the importance of providing feedback to employees, particularly about job performance and outcomes. Feedback aids in improving future performances.

Woods should also understand the factors that motivate employees as I/O psychology emphasizes. Motivation is an internal process, which depends on the type of incentives that an organization offers. Employees react to incentives differently. I/O psychologists apply incentives to predict behaviors of employees in a given environment. However, employees’ reactions to incentives differ significantly. On this note, human resource managers must include other factors that could affect employees’ behaviors and performance. Woods must understand the underlying role of incentives in influencing and motivating employees’ behaviors and job outcomes. Therefore, it is imperative for ADAMH to comprehend and structure its motivating factors in ways that encourage preferred behaviors and performance but reduce unproductive behaviors (Deckers, 2010).

Conflicts are bound to happen in an organization, and human resource managers must manage such conflicts. Employees could develop behaviors that oppose organizational goals. While such behaviors could be planned or unplanned, they could lead to conflicts in an organization. Some may result from prevailing conditions in an organization. I/O psychologists explore factors that could cause conflicts among employees and propose suitable approaches to eliminating any potential conflicts. They tend to concentrate on the role of supervisors, emotional responses, and job stress and their overall impacts on employee performance and conflicts (Dollard and Bakker, 2010).

Conflicts may result in counterproductive behaviors among employees as some of them may resort to poor job performance, resignation, absenteeism, and even physical confrontation and sexual harassment. I/O psychologists tend to focus on such behaviors, including less common forms like violence in order to understand their underlying causes.

Therefore, Woods, as a hiring director, must ensure that she focuses on recruiting and selecting the right employees for the job. Hence, she must utilize I/O psychology principles, evidence-based outcomes from studies or work alongside I/O psychologists during employee recruitment, selection, and training to ensure that employees are in the right positions for improved performance.

References

Arthur, W., Bennett, W., Edens, S., and Bell, T. (2003). Effectiveness of training in organizations: A meta-analysis of design and evaluation features. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 234-245. Web.

Deckers, L. (2010). Motivation; Biological, Psychological and Environmental (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Web.

Dollard, M., and Bakker, A. (2010). Psychosocial safety climate as a precursor to conducive work environments, psychological health problems, and employee engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, 579- 599. Web.

Schmidt, F. L., and Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262–74. Web.

Spector, P. (2012). Industrial and organizational psychology: Research and practice (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Web.

Introduction

Each year, very many young people between the ages of 15 and 29, die from alcohol-related causes. Direct or indirect indulgence in alcohol consumption by young people, poses a great threat to their lives. Of all deaths related to alcohol, about 10% are within that age group. It is with the sprout of this and much more, that has led to the emphasis on alcohol marketing regulations (Anderson and Ben 10).

Marketing regulations on alcohol provides that merchandising be a complete description of a particular commodity, giving its benefits as well as its negative effects upon usage. This helps in protecting the consumers’ health. Consumers, knowing the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol, such as blindness, liver cirrhosis, cancer, and mental damage, would avoid consumption of alcohol.

Secondly, marketing regulations have helped reduce drug abuse among the youth, and as such, controlling the number of young people dying as a result of alcohol consumption. This has been achieved by ensuring that sellers, in advertising their products, clearly define their target group. The target group restrictions aid in minimizing over-exposure of alcohol to vulnerable targets, such as the youth and children (Aaker 12).

Consumers in the past have been victims of buying products that are not up to standards, which pose a great risk to the health of consumers. Consumers are usually attracted to them as a result of attractive advertisements made by sellers, especially through the media. In curbing this, marketing regulatory bodies have ensured that before any alcoholic product goes to the market; it is checked and approved by the relevant authorities to be appropriate for consumption. Consumers are therefore protected from consuming illegal products.

Discussion

Every year, many lives are lost in fatal road accidents. The highest numbers of these accidents are as a result of drivers drinking and afterward driving. Marketing regulatory bodies in response to the alarming rate of deaths have come up with programs, intended to sensitize people about the effects of alcohol, such as blurred vision and mental damage, which in many cases, causes drivers to lose control, leading to accidents occurrence.

Also, policies, including random breath testing and administrative license suspension, have helped reduce disability and premature deaths greatly (Adam, David and Christopher 10). These policies were introduced, after cases of disability and premature deaths increased significantly. This presented a big challenge to the government, hence prompting the introduction of the policies aimed at reducing these disabilities and premature death cases. Every government has a ministry or a department, which is concerned with health issues, and, in most cases, the ministry or department concerned with health is the one, which drafts such policies, which are aimed at ensuring that the nation’s citizens are healthy.

Advertisements are linked to creating a positive attitude towards alcoholic products. This usually changes consumers’ perception about alcohol, and tend to view alcohol as being useful to the body. Characters portrayed in the advertisements are often characters with esteemed personalities in society and leading role models. Consumers watching such characters and especially young people are enticed to engage in consuming alcohol, with a view of becoming more like their role models. Alcohol marketing regulations have effectively enhanced the reduction of harm resulting from the consumption of alcohol by restricting the capacity and content of information used in advertisements (Academy of Medical Sciences 13).

Regulations such as the imposition of high taxes on alcohol and alcohol related products have also been introduced. This increases the cost of its production, and suppliers are forced to increase the prices of their products. Consequently, the supply in the market reduces, hence a reduction in the dangers associated with its consumption. The increased tax also helps curb cases of illegal alcoholic products from being supplied to the market, due to the high cost of production.

Products made available in the market are thus proper for consumption, but at high rates, which helps prevent the young people from consuming alcohol, since they can barely afford. Some countries increase the taxes levied on some products, such as alcohol, and lower that of other essential products, such as food products. This is done to discourage the youth and citizens in general, from consuming alcohol, and encourage them to consume essential food products, which help them in improving their health, instead of consuming alcohol, which can negatively affect them.

The availability of alcohol for longer periods gives consumers ample time to consume and thereby, increasing their risks of health disorders and even chances of death. To reduce harm imposed by alcohol, certain regulations have been put in place; limiting hours and days alcohol is sold. Also, they raise the minimum drinking age to reduce cases of youth indulgence in the consumption of alcohol. More policies, both social and economic, aimed at enhancing the healthy growth of children and the youth, have been introduced. These include limiting the places where alcohol is sold. This helps reduce the availability and access to alcohol, especially among children and the youth.

Media in as much as its commonly used to commercially advertise alcohol, it can also be used to portray safety measures, to curb harm caused by alcohol consumption. Besides, it can be used to educate the public about the risks and implications of alcohol consumption, through feature stories on television and magazine articles. Moreover, manufacturers of alcoholic products are required to provide warning labels on their products, such as “alcohol is harmful to expectant mothers”.

This helps create awareness to consumers, on the implication of alcohol to their health. For instance, expectant mothers consuming alcohol, increase the risk of birth effects. The implications should be sufficiently provided, failure to which, the manufacturers are liable for any damages caused on the consumer, who used that specific product. More so, advertisements made must also provide for health messages. These regulations help in regulating the levels of harm, which may be caused by the consumption of a particular commodity.

In controlling initiation to alcohol consumption on the young people, family and community-based programs used as regulatory measures have proved effective. The programs are designed to sensitize parents and the community at large on the implications of exposure of children to alcohol and alcohol-related products. These programs have impulsively helped reduce indulgence in alcohol consumption by young people, as they have better role models.

School-based programs have immensely assisted in educating the youth on the impacts of following blindly advertisements made through the mass media. They are sensitized to the goals of the organizations that make such advertisements as being sore to widen their market share and, thus, increase the firm’s profits. These programs assist in lowering the numbers of youth consuming alcohol, and more so, prevent more youths from indulging in such activities.

Alcohol producing companies have in the recent past, actively engaged in sponsoring sporting activities. This is so far a very cheap method of advertising, as it increases awareness of the product more easily to a wider market than any other marketing strategy. However, it poses a great risk of attracting more people to consume alcohol, specifically young people. Marketing regulatory bodies have set up legislative measures of reducing alcohol consumption by regulating the sponsorship activities. The youths are more often than not, the greatest targets by marketing companies, as they are more vulnerable to falling for their incentives.

By rebranding, a product may appear more appealing, and at adolescence, the youth will be pressurized to go for such products. In protecting the youth from the consequences that may follow upon consumption of such alcoholic products, the marketing regulatory bodies should ban all promotions related to activities targeting the youth (Casswell 17).

Some alcoholic products are generally harmful for consumption and are usually produced in areas that are fairly out of reach by the government or any authority. To curb consumption of such products, the regulatory bodies may develop effective systems of surveillance in remote areas. Companies may also play a part in promoting the reduction of excessive consumption of alcohol by complying with company codes of marketing ethics, as well as initiating staff training on responsible marketing. Also, they may ensure compliance with the laid down alcohol marketing regulations, put in place by relevant bodies.

Consumers too are responsible for protecting themselves against harm, which may be caused by consuming alcohol. This they can achieve, by ensuring that they carefully read the instructions on beverage bottles. Besides, they should ensure that they adhere to rules laid down by the marketing regulatory bodies, such as consuming alcohol at only the stipulated time. Consumers of alcohol may, on the other hand, adopt self-regulating programs. This provides that one can control his or her regular consumption, without any outside compulsion. This method is usually difficult to come by, especially for addicts. However, the system has proved resourceful in controlling incidences of loss of lives.

Every government’s responsibility is to take care of its citizens and protect their social and economic welfare. Laying down strategies that ensure the sites of production or manufacturing firms adhere to health promotion regulations, such as enhancing cleanliness in their area of operation, would greatly enhance the social welfare of the people. Given reducing the rampant consumption of alcohol, films aired on televisions that greatly encourage alcohol consumption should be banned and be replaced with talk shows or programs, that seek to advise young people on the effects of alcohol consumption. Many young people result in consuming alcohol, with the view that their problems will be resolved and as such, the advice will be of great importance to them.

The laws on the packaging clearly define that commodities designed for human consumption should provide for both metric and non-metric units on the labels. This assists in giving the consumer adequate information before consuming the product, and more so, protecting them against the consumption of fake commodities. Community mobilization, on the other hand, is an effective measure in curbing illegal consumption of alcohol, which is below the appropriate standard of measure, such as illicit brews. Sensitization on the harm caused to human health, both to the consumer and indirectly to the non-consumer, would help community members stand up against manipulation by brewers of such illegal brews. They can facilitate the growth of their social welfare with the support of the regulatory bodies.

The marketing regulation body on alcohol is charged with the responsibility of setting prices for alcohol and alcoholic products. They set a minimum value for which the products are to be sold. This helps reduce the overflow of alcoholic products in the market, which would increase demand for consumption. It also helps in discouraging entry into the sale of the alcohol business. Marketing regulations on alcohol have helped reduce the harm associated with alcohol. The body has ensured that the places of sale of alcohol, such as restaurants and bars, are situated in areas where public means of transport are readily available and accessible with much ease. This has helped reduce road accidents greatly and instances of disability.

Injuries derived from fights, which are as a result of aggressiveness by drunkards, are greatly attributed to the bar-room environment. The marketing regulation body has effectively reduced violence by arranging for training programs for bar-room staff.

The staff is imparted with effective communication and intervention skills. They also set up policies, regulating the management of the bar-rooms. This greatly creates a serene environment, reducing instances of violence appraisal (Cassarett & John 20). Marketing regulation bodies, also ensure that the beverage is packaged in containers, which would impose fewer risks on the consumers. In the past, consumers have suffered from injuries, from broken glasses, with others succumbing to death from the same. The use of non-conventional glass would greatly reduce instances of such injuries.

Social norms and regulations, assist in the regulation of behavior among individuals. Society norms are usually passed on from one generation to the other. As such, if in a particular setting, children are exposed to alcohol, they grow up to believe it is essential and proper for consumption. However, if inculcated in them that alcohol is harmful for consumption, and this is passed to other generations, harm caused by consumption of alcohol is reduced (Fowkes 34).

Peer influence poses a risk among young people, as they tend to follow in the steps of others within their age group. They rely heavily on observation of the behavior of others. For instance, they can derive from films the habit of taking alcohol, believing that what the youths from the films do is right. In curbing such behavior, regulations are put in place, such that films are aired at times when the youth are not present.

Businesses without a permit to operate or make sales of alcohol are not in a position to carry on business. This helps curb instances of sale to underage buyers. Besides, it helps to ensure that alcohol sellers do not avoid or evade paying taxes. Licensing, more so, helps in controlling standards of premises, and thus reducing the sale of alcohol in areas perceived to brew illegal alcohol (Institute of Alcohol Studies 34). The government, in the protection of its people, may own alcohol outlet sale premises. This helps reduce alcohol consumption and the impacts of such. It is also able to regulate the alcohol market, to reduce overflow into the market, as well as ensure laid down regulations are adhered to.

Regulations such as giving specifications on drink sizes, and not allowing for discounts on alcoholic drinks for on-premise buyers, may help reduce alcohol consumption. Restrictions on time and accessibility of alcohol, on the other hand, should be enforced for off-premise buyers. Enforcement of the alcohol marketing regulations, with added support from parents and the community at large, will effectively help reduce the sale of alcohol to minors, who are the most vulnerable people.

The youth should be assisted in directing their energies in more productive activities, such as co-curriculum activities, to lower their concentration on indulging in alcohol consumption. In absence of the alcohol marketing regulations, many lives will continuously be lost to accidents resulting from drunken drivers. Besides, many people will suffer from alcohol-related diseases, such as cardiovascular attacks, respiratory problems, and cancer, among others, and may succumb to any of them.

The youth make up the biggest percentage of the reproductive sector of the economy of a country. Failure to adhere to the alcohol marketing regulations could cost a country a fortune as a result of the loss of the youth to alcohol. This would deter the country’s economy, leading to economic instability and an overall lack of growth. Health is key to the social welfare of people. Without regulations on alcohol marketing, harmful products would be introduced into the market at the expense of the consumer’s health. Such products that are not up to standards, pose a great threat to the health of consumers, and may cause adverse effects, such as blindness.

The government is charged with the responsibility of providing adequate services, in terms of proper health services and good infrastructure, among others. To do so, it requires adequate revenue. It, therefore, through monetary and fiscal policies, charges higher taxes on commodities that it wants to discourage their consumption, such as alcohol, for the benefit of the people. It charges less tax on commodities it is encouraging to be consumed and acquires revenue used in the provision of services (Melton 40).

Also, the alcohol marketing regulations have ensured that firms are liable for damages caused to consumers of their products if they failed to provide disclaimers, as well as an outline on labels, and the effects of consumption of the particular commodity. In absence of those regulations, consumers would be at great risks, of innocently suffering from the effects of those commodities (Jernigan 37).

Conclusion

In conclusion, advertisements are an essential tool for businesses and firms, as they help increase their market share as well as retain existing customers. Strong relationships created in the process help the sellers earn trust from the consumers. Consumers, on the other hand, earn confidence in the products they choose to consume, following the advertisements. However, it is important to note that poor planning by sellers on marketing strategies may cost them a fortune.

This may be as a result of failure to adhere to the marketing regulations laid down, causing heavy damages to the consumer. The firms will lose the client’s trust, and their profits will decline. A firm’s priority should be safeguarding the consumer’s interests. In regards to this, alcohol marketing regulations should be adhered to in ensuring that the consumer is protected from harm relating to alcohol consumption.

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