CITIZENS RALLYING FOR CHANGE ON ALCOHOL

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TEEN GIRLS AND VODKA

Girls in need of hospital treatment because of alcohol poisoning outnumber boys by three to one, according to National statistics.

Daniela had never drunk vodka before, so it took less than an hour for the half-bottle of spirits to render her unconscious on the floor of her best friend's hallway.
She and her friends had been left alone for the first time in a family home to celebrate a 15th birthday party.
The shocked parents of the birthday girl returned just in time to see Daniela being rushed to hospital in an ambulance to have her stomach pumped.
One of the youngsters had put the schoolgirl in the recovery position when she passed out, and then dialled emergency. It probably saved her life, according to the paramedics who carried her out on a stretcher.

Marketing: Designer-label fashion vodkas target young women

Vodka has done extremely well at keeping the category contemporary and exciting.

It has strong appeal among young drinkers and both budget and premium growth is keeping the category buoyant, even during this economic downturn.

The rapper Diddy describes himself as a strategic partner of the French vodka company Ciroc and is rumoured to earn 50 per cent of its profits.

Lady Gaga's Bad Romance pop video contained such blatant product placement that it looked like a vodka commercial.

Within the first 20 seconds of the video there are close-up shots of Lex Nemiroff vodka bottles.

Later, we see Lady Gaga having a clear liquid in a crystal glass being forced down her throat as she writhes on her back - not a good advert for responsible drinking.

As the singer is so popular with youngsters, it's a shameful example of irresponsible marketing.

Advertising alcohol to under-18 is not a high priority in the U.S., specifically in the pop videos and movies popular with children.

SKYY Vodka has prominent product placement in Sex And The City 2 - which has a 15 certificate and is a film with a wide appeal to teenage girls.

'I am shocked a loophole exists that effectively allows back-door advertising to children,' says the psychologist Jacqui Marson.

'Children are getting unhelpful and dangerous messages about alcohol. Lady Gaga drinking vodka would have much more power and influence on a child than a health education film at school warning of the dangers of alcohol.'

Forty per cent of 13 and 14-year-olds reported being 'drunk or stoned' when they had sex for the first time, according to the Institute of Alcohol.

Of those aged 16 to 24, one in seven had unprotected sex when drunk; one in five had sex they later regretted; and one in ten revealed they have been so drunk they have been unable to remember if they had sex the night before or not.

Many parents have not grasped the seriousness of the situation. Fathers may feel almost nostalgic about the first time they had a hangover after drinking too much beer, but today it's the girls who are drinking to excess, not the boys.

Because of natural physiological differences, females can withstand only half the amount of alcohol a male can drink, but the fashion is for teenage girls to match drink for drink with their male friends - or consume even more.

'It's not a big deal, you know,' one of the girls at Daniela's party told me. 'It isn't really a party unless an ambulance comes. The girls who get taken to hospital always recover.'

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