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Stories of Alcohol Justice - 2019

Dear Friend,
  • We led a successful campaign against another California 4 a.m. bar bill (SB 58) that turned into a 3 a.m. bar bill before it was decisively defeated on the Assembly floor
  • We launched a powerful "one-click" advocacy tool which provided a dynamic new channel for our constituents to send over three thousand messages to California legislators and Governor Newsom
  • We supported membership and active participation in the California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) and the Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance (L.A.DAPA) which played a key role in stopping SB 58
  • We published The High Cost of the 4 A.M. Bar Bill: a first of its kind, cost-benefit analysis of extended alcohol trading hours
  • We celebrated the growth of our Youth For Justice program as it completed its ninth year of providing youth leadership training for young people and their parents who reside in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael

While encouraged by these achievements, we have got to be prepared for the challenges of 2020. We already know we will respond to a new California 3 a.m. bar bill. We also need to support state bills in California and beyond to lower the legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) to .05 from .08 because .05 Saves Lives! We will also counter Big Alcohol's bogus health claims for its latest youth-attractive alcopop - hard seltzer.

Being prepared for these challenges requires your help. A 2019 end-of-the-year, tax-deductible gift makes you a member of Alcohol Justice. It also makes our grass-roots advocacy for public health and safety stronger. When you become a member of Alcohol Justice you will be supporting all of our efforts in 2020 to turn back the tide of Big Alcohol's negative influence in our communities.

Please take this opportunity to join us today and be part of next year's stories of Alcohol Justice.

Thank You & Happy Holidays!

Bruce Lee Livingston
Executive Director /CEO
Alcohol Justice

Tell Gov. Newsom what you think

Greetings Advocate,

As the old year winds down, we continue to celebrate our recent legislative victories and prepare to tackle the challenges of 2019. But before we ring out the old we are being given an opportunity to tell California's next Governor what is important to us.

Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom's staff is circulating a brief survey that gives us an unusual opportunity to put our most critical concerns on his desk before he takes office in January.

Please take this opportunity to let him know that:

As an advocate for public health and safety, do not let this unique opportunity pass by. Click below, take the quick survey, and write in these most important alcohol-related issues we think the Governor needs to know about.

Thank You and Happy Holidays,

Bruce Lee Livingston

Executive Director / CEO

Alcohol Justice


 

GUEST VOICES: Why It’s No Longer Cool to Give Gifts of Booze

by Michael Scippa, Public Affairs Director, Alcohol Justice

Give holiday cirrhosis!With holiday gift-giving time upon us, we are being assaulted again by massive alcohol industry ad spends targeting shoppers with reasons why a bottle or can of overpriced Sonoma Valley sparkling wine, or a seasonally-flavored, high alcohol content, spirit-based concoction, or a four-pack of limited run “craft-brewed” Xmas ales would be appreciated by every adult on your gift list. The sale circulars are in the mail, and the announcements of big discounts at the big-box stores have been appearing in social media, your Sunday papers (remember them?), and snail-mail and email boxes. Then there are the cliché TV spots with bright and shiny young people, toasting each other with well-paid smiles around Xmas trees and fireplaces (shot sometime last summer) popping up all over cable and streaming channels (i.e. if you’re going to binge-watch something this holiday season, why not binge-drink something too?).

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