Alcohol Producers' Success in Blocking Alcohol Marketing Research: A Comment on Mitchell and McCambridge (2023)

Mitchell and McCambridge (2023) have added useful detail to the large body of literature detailing how the alcohol industry influences science (McCambridge et al., 2023). What they were able to glean from the email traffic between the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the alcohol industry provides clear evidence of bias against research and researchers seeking to pursue and better understand what most scientific authorities - including the World Health Organization (2017), the Task Force on Community Preventive Services (Guide to Community Preventive Services, 2019), and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (2018) - have concluded are the most effective ways to reduce and prevent alcohol-related harm. Their findings reveal a worrisome philosophical alignment between the views of alcohol producers (that alcohol problems arise and are best handled at the individual level) and the views of NIAAA's leadership. This alignment of views feeds directly into the industry's economic interests in blocking evidence-based measures to restrain unlimited alcohol availability, keep alcohol prices relatively high, and protect young people from exposure to alcohol marketing.