Alcohol control in Ontario: How do we rate?

Where does Ontario stand compared to other provinces in Canada when it comes to alcohol policy?  We can’t be doing that bad, after all we have excellent policies in place to deter drinking and driving, we have government run retail alcohol sales, and we have policies in place to keep alcohol from being sold to minors.  Is there something else we should be doing?

According to a report launched by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) this week, Ontario is actually doing the best in comparison to their provincial counterparts on alcohol policy.  That is, if you consider 56% of a perfect score a provincial best. 

The report ranked the provinces on 10 key harm-reduction policies including pricing, availability, marketing, legal drinking age and warning labels.  The intent is to shed some light on what the provinces can do better in reducing the health and social harms from alcohol and to encourage provincial leaders to act. 

So where do we fall short?  The following lists a few areas for improvement

:

• Pricing

Although we score well on having a policy to index alcohol prices to inflation, Ontario has not raised the prices on alcohol products to match inflation since 2006.

• Alcohol Control System

In addition to the government run LCBO, beer sales in Ontario are through the private industry run Beer Store; in addition alcohol is available through ferment on premise (FOP) outlets, ferment at home kits, alcohol delivery services and online.

Product promotion and social responsibility messaging through the LCBO is greatly imbalanced.  There is extensive manufacturer sponsored product promotion that makes use of the LCBO logo and branding.

• Marketing and Advertising

Even though there is a complaints process in place, consequences for violations of advertising guidelines are weak.

• Provincial Alcohol Strategy

Ontario does not currently have a strategy to help coordinate and mobilize action on alcohol polices in the province.

According to Dr. Arlene King, in the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, “we need a comprehensive alcohol control strategy for Ontario.  There have been a number of efforts to control alcohol use which have had a positive impact; however, many efforts are fragmented and are not sufficiently co-ordinated to address the harm associated with alcohol misuse in Ontario.”