1. What is your opinion regarding the effects of advertising on underage consumption? An old joke says that the legal drinking age is mere ly a suggestion; however those who see the outcome of underage d rinking see the situation diffe rently and view a lcohol ads as one of the main instigato rs.

An editoria l on the Canadian Medical Journal Internet s ite concluded that exposure to a lcohol ads contributed to girls as young as 13 beginning to drink, which led to adverse health effects. It cited research indicating that girls see as many a lcohol ads as do women who a re of legal age, and other research that indicated those who saw more ads experience more serious drinking problems a few years later while in high school. S imila rly, a Canadian Community Health Survey found that the rate of

。Jacob Lund/Shutterstock underage drinking among g irls cl imbed from 18 percent to 21 percent, while the rate remained stable for boys at 30 percent. Some suggest that packaging should convey warnings; however the Association of Canadian Distillers believes that warnings are not necessary and that Canada's laws a re s t rict, and even stronger than those in other countries. The Brewers Association of Canada suggested that peers and parents remain as the primary influencers of drinking behaviour and that attractive people in attractive situations being shown in ads holds true for many products beyond alcohol.