Zane S & Tina T

Olympia, WA

November 5, 2016

The Next President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Next President:

In today’s world, alcohol is widely advertised and marketed. There are countless commercials that advertise alcohol without telling of the consequences that follow drinking alcohol. No commercials or ads warn of the effects of drinking alcohol or tell of how to responsibly drink alcohol. In the commercials, all we see is how alcohol brings good and fun times, that alcohol makes everything fun. So it’s no wonder that our youths, who spend most of their time with their eyes glued to the screen, caught onto the commercials and desired the ‘fun’ that alcohol ‘brings’. However, they don’t know all the dangerous effects that come along with it. We want you to make it a law that the companies should put what could possibly happen if you drink alcohol not so fast that no one can hear or vaguely mention it. The information should be clearly stated and shown on the screen so that everyone should be warned of the dangerous effects that can come with alcohol.

The problem with today’s nation is that our youths drink too much alcohol, whether they’re of age or not. If they are the age of 21, or over, then it is legal to consume alcohol. Although, to never drink enough to get so intoxicated that they can’t see or think straight. Our youths are too naive to realize this and manage to get their hands on alcohol, illegally at that. Our youths arrogantly drink under the impression that they will not get caught. The issue is that they don’t realize the consequences of alcohol. Alcohol can cause issues like anxiety, depression, academic and relationship drop offs, and even death. The death toll resulting from behavior encouraged by alcohol exceeds the death toll from the terrorists. Futures and lives can be ruined. So why do youths still drink if these are the outcomes?

A better world where this problem doesn't exist would look like not only less youths drinking but even adults, which would in turn end up saving about 88,000 lives every year. This would also allow our youths to not get hooked on alcohol quickly, which would cause issues for them in the future. If no one ever consumed alcohol, then we would never have any problems caused by alcohol. There would be no deaths, no pain, and no broken relationships. If we saved those 88,000 lives a year, then all of those 88,000 families wouldn’t be broken and traumatized. Everyone, those who drink and those who don’t, would all be much safer on the roads. It would also create a chain. If our youths don’t drink alcohol, than there is a higher chance that their future children won’t either, and so on.

We believe that the advertisement of alcohol should warn of the consequences that come with consuming. Our youths are the ones who view the commercials most, and all commercials give the impression that alcohol doesn’t have repercussions. If the advertisements warn of repercussions, like death due to drunk driving and overdosing, anxiety, depression, and drop offs in relationships and academics, then we are sure less youths would consume alcohol illegally and irresponsibly.

Life will improve after our solution gets put in effect because it will save countless lives. Imagine a world in where there are no alcohol related deaths. Annually, there are about 62,000 men and 26,000 women that die from alcohol somehow, whether it is caused by drunk driving or getting so intoxicated that they have overdosed caused deaths. No families would be torn apart. Whenever a drunk driver, at least one life is lost. Either the driver dies, the victim who got hit, or both. It hurts immensely to lose someone close to you, but especially when it is caused by drunk driving which is easily prevented. All of this would be exposed in our solution, gradually more and more will not drink. No more lives will be lost or ruined.

We suggest making it a requirement or a law for alcohol advertisements to warn drinkers of the consequences that follow consuming it, and how to drink responsibly. Not in fine print or spoken so fast no one can understand it, but visibly and clearly. Drinking irresponsibly is a big issue that should be addressed correctly. Once told of the dangerous and devastating consequences, our youths would not consume alcohol. We are sure of this.

Sincerely,

Zane & Tina

Works Cited

Watts, Tim J. "Alcohol Abuse." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2016, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1097915. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.

"Alcohol." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2016, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/950856. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.

"Alcohol Abuse: Timeline." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2016, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/914071. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.

"Alcohol Abuse: Timeline." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2016, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/914071. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.

Kramer, Liz, and Nancy Sprague. "Alcohol Abuse & Youth: An Overview." Points Of View: Alcohol Abuse & Youth (2016): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.

Kramer, Otis, and Rosalyn Carson-Dewitt. "Counterpoint: The Best Way To Reduce Alcohol Abuse Is To Regulate The Sale And Advertisement Of Alcohol." Points Of View: Alcohol Abuse & Youth (2016): 3. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 1 Nov. 2016