Learn more about alcohol harm and what we can do about it
Alcohol causes harm to us, our loved ones and communities in various ways. Click the boxes below to find out more and learn about what we can do to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.
Alcohol Marketing
Restricting alcohol marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. The resources below explore the impact of alcohol marketing and what can be done to change and restrict it in Scotland.
Webinars and Events
In 2024, Alcohol Focus Scotland held a webinar on the impact of alcohol marketing on people with lived experience of an alcohol problem. The webinar will be available on YouTube soon.
Alcohol Marketing Animations
Over the past few years, AFS has worked closely with around 150 people in recovery and 200 young people to explore the impact of alcohol marketing. Together, we made a pair of animations to represent their views ahead of a Scottish Government consultation in 2023. The animations were also shown in South Africa during the 2023 Global Alcohol Policy Conference.
Confronting Alcohol in Digital Youth Spaces
In 2023, AFS worked with the World Health Organisation and nearly 70 young people across Scotland on a project exploring alcohol digital marketing and its impact on young people.
Young people told us they see alcohol adverts everywhere they go online, and this can have an influence on how they perceive alcohol. We also identified that covert tactics were being used to integrate digital alcohol-related content seamlessly into everyday life, making it challenging for young people to distinguish between advertising and genuine content.
Work on this project is still ongoing. Please get in touch with us at involvement@alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk if you or your youth group would like to get involved!
Price
Ahead of a consultation on the continuation of minimum unit pricing in 2024, our team worked with the group Borders in Recovery to gather their views and create an illustration, which was used to inform decision-makers about the impacts of cheap alcohol.
View the illustration here
An Alcohol Harm Prevention Levy
Our team have been working with people with lived experience to explore an Alcohol Harm Prevention Levy. In the video below, our Deputy Chief Executive Laura explains what an Alcohol Harm Prevention Levy is, how it would work, why AFS and our partners are calling for it, and how you can share your own views.
Learn more about our work on an alcohol harm prevention levy
The LGBTQI+ Community
Involvement work
Alcohol Focus Scotland has been working with groups within the LGBTQI+ community to explore the impact of alcohol marketing, particularly targeted marketing, on LGBTQI+ people.
Check out a recent involvement session we held with the LGBTQI+ group, Kinder Stronger Better, at the Glasgow Council on Alcohol.
Webinars and Events
In July 2024, AFS held a webinar about LGBTQI+ people’s experiences of the harm caused by alcohol. Catch up on the session below.
Speaking up for Human Rights
We worked with 5 groups to ensure that the voices of people directly affected by alcohol were represented in the National Collaboratives consultation on the Draft Charter of Rights. The collaborative aims to integrate human rights principles into drug and alcohol policies, to improve outcomes for people impacted by substance use. Recently, we gathered feedback on the Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance to contribute to its development. This ongoing work underscores our commitment to advancing human rights in this field.
To discuss Human Rights further with us, please contact involvement@alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk
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