Do beer/liquor companies do a lot of anti-drug funding?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Something that came up in a conversation about corporate advocacy...

I assume beer/wine/liquor companies are the entities most practically-interested in keep marijuana illegal.

Are they big donors to anti-drug campaigns?

I'm sure it's among the "good works" they do as "good corporate citizens"... everyone hates drugs, right?

They always have our best interests at heart.

[Captain Hilts]

1. I've worked with AB. They invest so much $ in other PR, I kind of doubt it. Alcohol consumption...

especially of distilled spirits, has gone down dramatically over the past 20 years.

75% of all distilled liquor is sold between Thanksgiving and New Year's. But hard liquor consumption has gone down dramatically. So, they have their work cut out for them just getting folks to drink, hence the 'entry level' beverages such as Hard Lemonade, etc.

But there certainly is a logic to what you and your friends are thinking and I think the liquor industry would do so if there were a serious movement to legalized marijuana, which there is not.

The beer and distilled liquor industries spend a LOT of money on PR. For example, Guiness, as AB has done, donated its trucks to get water to neighborhoods in Dublin where water pipes had broken recently. AB canned water for Katrina as it has done for many hurricanes.

[leftstreet]

6. Interesting!

I've wondered about those 'lemonades' etc, targeting younger people I assume.

What about beer/wine consumption? Seems to me the grocery store aisles keep expanding for those products.

[Captain Hilts]

12. Wine consumption is up, because more women drink it now. As for beer...

75% of beer is consumed by male drinkers under the age of 35. It is very much a young person's drink and the drink of choice for binging. Those facts keep beer PR departments on their toes.

[rcrush]

2. The Partnership for a Drug Free America

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partnership_for_a_Drug-Free_America

PDFA was the subject of criticism when it was revealed by Cynthia Cotts of the Village Voice that their federal tax returns showed that they had received several million dollars worth of funding from major pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol corporations including American Brands (Jim Beam whiskey), Philip Morris (Marlboro and Virginia Slims cigarettes, Miller beer), Anheuser Busch (Budweiser, Michelob, Busch beer), R.J. Reynolds (Camel, Salem, Winston cigarettes), as well as pharmaceutical firms Bristol Meyers-Squibb, Merck & Company and Proctor & Gamble; an issue which has been linked to the organization's lack of media discouraging the misuse of legal drugs. From 1997 it has discontinued any fiscal association with tobacco and alcohol suppliers, although it still is in receipt of donations from pharmaceutical producers<2>.

[Captain Hilts]

4. This is a hot enough issue that I'm not sure how much we can trust Wiki. A lot of folks have

a financial stake in this argument and would be motivated to edit wiki on their behalf.

[rcrush]

8. Well this is a little older

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/pdfa1.htm

[Captain Hilts]

10. It's all very interesting, isn't it? I don't 'get' the reference to alcohol companies stopping

their participation in the late 90s in the Wiki post.

This is an issue we really need to keep an eye on!

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

5. The Partnership for a Drunk America

[tridim]

3. Yes, it's happening right now in Colorado.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7545389

[Captain Hilts]

7. Interesting!

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

9. thanks

[Mz Pip]

11. I wouldn't be surprised.

Legal marijuana would cut into liquor sales. I suppose people could drink as much as they usually do and still smoke but there would be plenty of people who would just do the weed and either not drink or end up drinking less.

Same with the phramaceuticals. If marijuana made you feel better you might not need that expensive prescription drug or even a less expensive over the counter medication.

How much of a profit cut would result I doubt can be calculated but I suspect the alcohol and pharmaceutical companies are concerned enough to oppose any legalization of marijuana.

[tridim]

13. Hangovers from alcohol are the main reason I stopped drinking more than a few beers a month.

Newbie users who figure out that cannabis doesn't cause hangovers will probably cut down on drinking exactly like I did.

Any substance that makes me feel that horrible the next day can't be good for me.

[Flaneur]

14. What about Starbucks? SAFER is organizing a boycott...

Starbucks is donating money to narcs in Colorado who are attempting to subvert the state's medical marijuana law--written into the constitution by voters via the initiative process.

http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/995/9/


Thursday, 21 January 2010



Law enforcement groups are fighting to maintain Marijuana Prohibition and their industry of arresting and prosecuting people for marijuana. SAFER is fighting back and we need your help.

According to a recent report in The Denver Post, state and federal law enforcement officials have been meddling in Colorado's legislative process in hopes of rolling back the state's progress toward safer, more rational marijuana laws. As a result, bills are being introduced on their behalf, which threaten to shut down every medical marijuana dispensary in the state and allow these officials to continue harassing medical marijuana patients.


We wish this weren't the case, but these law enforcement officials are not motivated by maintaining public safety or developing a workable system of medical marijuana regulation. They are motivated by one thing -- job security. Perhaps even more unsettling is the source of the financial support behind the arrest and prosecution industry's war on marijuana.

In particular, the Colorado Drug Investigators Association (CDIA), the group spearheading anti-marijuana lobbying efforts, is sponsored by several local and national businesses including Starbucks Coffee, Glock handguns, and -- you guessed it -- members of the alcohol industry! This might seem a bit odd, but when you consider the fact that their Web site and merchandise features the grim reaper and military helicopters, a skull motif, and the slogan, "Death on Drugs," it all makes a little more sense. These guys are not out to protect people; they're out to fight a literal war on marijuana, ensuring alcohol -- the substance that contributes most to the crime and violence that keeps them busy -- is the only legal recreational drug available.


It's no surprise that the Arrest and Prosecution Industry is determined to maintain the war on marijuana. But Starbucks and other companies' funding of this war should strike any marijuana consumer or reform supporter as truly appalling. It's time to stand up and send them all a message.

Please Take Action Today!

1. Boycott Starbucks and other sponsors of the CDIA (see below), and CLICK HERE to send Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz an e-mail letting him know you will not be buying Starbucks products until it ends its sponsorship. (Or visit http://tinyurl.com/yelzaux)


2. CLICK HERE to send a message to the heads of the organizations below, urging them to end their lobbying and stop harassing people for using a substance far safer than alcohol. (Or visit http://tinyurl.com/y9v8u5a)

Regardless of which action you complete first, you will be given the option of completing the other action, as well. We've provided pre-written messages you can edit or send as they are, then we hope you will spread the word about these actions to as many people as possible.