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[social]
Bad Cigarettes, good alcohol?
by Ham Hyeong-ju, Social Editor, mujeoghj@mju.ac.kr
According to Article 9 of the National Health Promotion Act (prohibition or limitation of advertising on cigarettes) and Article 25 of the Tobacco Business Act (The prohibition / restriction of advertising on cigarettes), it is essential to put warning signs on cigarettes and regulate cigarettes advertising. As a result, the scope of advertising allowed is very limited. Based on Article 9 (Advertising on Cigarettes) of the Enforcement Decree of the Tobacco Business Act, and advertisements should not encourage or induce smoking directly or indirectly to non-smokers. Firms should not portray the person of a woman or a teenager, nor should it be contrary to the content and purpose of the smoking warning statement. If you violate this, you will be given a jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won. Just as you can see in the field of advertising, Korea has enormous restrictions on cigarettes.
From the moment that the regulation on tobacco advertising are passed, a question 'is smoking bad and drinking okay?' was emerging. It is a reaction which occurs because there is no specific regulation for alcohol, which is harmful product, as opposed to their active regulation on tobacco. Even governments are encouraging consumption rather than regulation. Since long ago, liquor advertising has been a favorite among the top female stars who have become the most popular of the period. In Korea, two superstars, "Korea’s little sister" IU, "Nation’s First Love Suzi" advertise liquor. The superficial difference that people normally imagine between Alcohol and cigarettes is, there are differences in the number of people smoking and the number of people drinking. Cigarettes is not only socially controversial, and alcohol is also sharing the same problem with it. Is there any special reason for regulating cigarettes, but not alcohol?
Both cigarettes and alcohol have a socially poor perception. Most people know that too much smoking or drinking is bad for their health. However, there is a big difference between tobacco and alcohol. It is just that alcohol is closer to our daily life than tobacco. Smokers buy only cigarettes and lighters for smoking purposes. However, when you drink alcohol, you will not only drink alcohol but also take food with your drink. Even if it's not just a restaurant that sells some special drinks, it's not hard to find restaurants that sell alcohol. This suggests that there is a big difference in the social costs incurred by the consumption of cigarettes and alcohol. According to the report 'Socioeconomic Impacts of Major Health Risk Factors and Regulatory Policy Effectiveness' of the National Health Insurance Corporation's Health Insurance Policy Institute, the social economic cost of smoking of 2013 was 7,125.8 billion won and drinking was 9,452.4 billion won. The difference is about 2.32 trillion won.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare does not actively warn about the dangerousness of alcohol. In the bottle of drink, there are only short warnings such as “Excessive alcohol consumption in alcoholic beverages can be harmful to health” or “Drinking during pregnancy can only harm fetal health.” Even, the size of letters are not big, so mostly people do not recognize those. In addition, the National Health Promotion Act stipulates that smoking is a subject of 'smoking cessation', while alcohol is 'reduce to alcoholism'. Lee Bok-keun, the secretary general of the Youth Smoking Alcohol Prevention Association, said, "Although there are aspects of tolerant drinking culture, the public health, national economy and corporate profits are all in the gap." In fact, other developed countries do not advertise alcohol. You cannot show alcohol drinking directly on TV commercials, nor entertain celebrities or sports stars that young prefer. Britain has a code of ethics for broadcasting associations that says "Celebrities should not be featured in mainstream advertising.” Germany and France are also banning alcohol advertising. They insert a warning picture of drinking in a bottle.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare organized a budget of 20 billion won for smoking cessation policies and 400 million for drinking. A related official of the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "There is little restriction on alcohol-related advertising, so I feel it is necessary to strengthen it." "However," He added, "The budget related to tobacco is over 20 billion won, but the alcohol is about 400 million won. There is a cultural difference and it is a part that should be considered such as the opposition of the advertisement association and mainstream companies." Here, the difference between cigarettes and alcohol is revealed. In the case of cigarettes, cigarettes produced overseas are consumed more than domestic cigarettes. However, the case of alcohol is different. Soju, which is the closest alcoholic beverage in Korea, is domestically produced, and even in the case of beer consumption, the ratio of imported beer is very low. From the government's point of view, liquor is a goose that lays golden eggs. So they may not want to regulate advertising for alcohol.
However, regulation of alcohol is necessary as alcohol is more harmful to society than tobacco. If smokers damage others, it all result in secondhand smoke. It creates discomfort for those who do not smoke, and it also causes small health deterioration to people near them. However, alcohol, shocking crimes caused by lost self-control after drinking alcohol, and accidents caused by drunken driving, etc., sometimes even kill others. Secondary damage from alcohol was found to be more serious than secondary damage caused by tobacco, although the incidence was low. However, the problem is more serious in Korea because the system of punishment for the accident caused by alcohol is not arranged. Let's say someone drinks a lot of alcohol and make a car accident, and kill others. He would receive weaker punishment than murder, because he excessively drinks alcohol and it made him feeble-minded person. Therefore, not only it is necessary to regulate advertising on alcohol, but also regulation for secondary crime related to alcohol.
social - Bad Cigarettes, good alcoholic drink.docx