AMA wants to ban booze ads aimed at teens

With new evidence suggesting alcohol impairs development of the young brain, physicians are urged to actively work at reducing adolescent drinking.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Jan. 13, 2003.

Of the four quadriplegics that Norman Wetterau, MD, a family physician in Dansville, N.Y., counts among his patients, three became disabled during their teen years as a result of incidents connected with drinking. One was the victim of a gunshot wound. Another was in a motorcycle crash linked to drunk driving. And the third was the victim of a fall.

Dr. Wetterau's experience is not all that uncommon. Evidence of the physical harm caused by imbibing at a young age has long been a major motivator for health advocates to attempt to reign in teen drinking.

At its Interim Meeting in December 2002, the AMA added fuel to this effort by releasing new evidence that alcohol may actually cause changes in the brain that impair learning.

"We've known for years that alcohol makes kids dead," said Michael A. Scotti Jr., MD, AMA senior vice president of professional standards. "What we have here is evidence that it makes them dumb."

The AMA's report -- "Harmful Consequences of Alcohol Use on the Brains of Children, Adolescents and College Students" -- drew on several decades of research documenting changes in the young. These include shrinkage of the hippocampus, damage that is not found in adult drinkers. Some suspect that this damage, which can impact memory and learning, may be irreversible.

"This review should dispel the myth that young people are more resilient to the effects of alcohol than adults," said AMA Board Chair J. Edward Hill, MD.

The Association also issued a challenge to cable and broadcast television networks to cease airing alcohol advertising during times when young people are most likely to be watching. This action was in response to the scientific findings and to research by the Georgetown University Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, which concluded that children and adolescents see far more advertising for beer and hard liquor than do adults.