I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1823
To require health warnings to be included in alcoholic beverage
advertisements, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 22, 1993
Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. MCCURDY, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. CONYERS,
Mr. SERRANO, Mr. LAFALCE, and Mr. ORTON) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To require health warnings to be included in alcoholic
beverage advertisements, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sensible Advertising
and Family Education Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Alcohol is by far the drug most widely used
and abused by young people in the United States
today, even though it is illegal for youths under age
21 to purchase alcohol in all 50 of the States and
the District of Columbia.
(2) According to the 1992 National Institute on
Drug Abuse survey of high school students and
young adults, 89.5 percent of high school seniors in
the class of 1990 had used alcohol at least once and
30 percent had experienced a ‘‘binge’’ of 5 or more
drinks in a row within the past 2 weeks. Among col-
lege students, 43 percent reported occasions of
‘‘binge’’ drinking, including 35 percent of the fe-
males and 52 percent of the males.
(3) The average age at which young people
begin drinking is 13. By age 13, approximately 30
percent of boys and 22 percent of girls classify
themselves as drinkers. According to the 1988 Na-
tional High School Senior Survey, 17 percent of
high school seniors reported having been drunk by
eighth grade, 37 percent by ninth grade, 54 percent
by tenth grade, and 71 percent by twelfth grade.
Studies demonstrate that the use of alcohol by indi-
viduals before the age of 15 appears to be one of the
predictors of later heavy alcohol and other drug use
by the individuals.
(4) Young people are not well informed about
the hazards of alcohol use. Only 43 percent of high
school seniors believe there is great risk of harm
from drinking activities such as binge drinking once
or twice each weekend. More than one quarter of
high school seniors do not view heavy, regular daily
(‘‘binge’’) drinking as entailing great risk. More
than 40 percent of 8th graders, 45 percent of 10th
graders, and 51 percent of 12th graders do not per-
ceive having 5 or more drinks once or twice a week-
end as entailing a great risk.
(5) According to the Department of Health and
Human Services, sponsorships and promotions on
college campuses by alcohol producers and the use of
celebrities and youth-oriented musical groups in ad-
vertising create a pro-drinking environment.
(6) Treatment costs for fetal alcohol syndrome
(referred to in this section as ‘‘FAS’’) and other al-
cohol-related birth defects in the United States are
estimated at nearly a third of a billion dollars. FAS
is one of the top 3 known causes of birth defects
with accompanying mental retardation and the only
known preventable cause among the top three.
Among children born to women who drink heavily,
the incidence of FAS may be as high as 25 per
1,000 live births. Among children born to other
women, the FAS incidence is between 1 to 3 infants
with the syndrome per 1,000 live births. The inci-
dence of other alcohol-related birth defects is esti-
mated to be 3 times greater than that of FAS.
(7) According to the National Institute on Alco-
hol Abuse and Alcoholism, an estimated 18,000,000
persons in the United States who are 18 or older
currently experience problems as a result of alcohol
use. An estimated 4,500,000 young people are de-
pendent on alcohol or are problem drinkers.
(8) According to Healthy People 2000, the Na-
tional Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Ob-
jectives—
(A) nearly one-half of all deaths from
motor vehicle crashes are alcohol-related;
(B) alcohol is implicated in nearly one-half
of all fatal intentional injuries such as suicides
and homicides; and
(C) victims are intoxicated in approxi-
mately one-third of all homicides, drownings,
and boating deaths.
(9) An estimated 25 percent of all hospitalized
persons have alcohol-related problems.
(10) Alcohol advertising, especially in the
broadcast media, represents the single greatest
source of alcohol education for persons in the United
States. According to a 1990 study of 10- to 13-year-
olds, funded by the American Automobile Associa-
tion Foundation for Traffic Safety, there is a rela-
tionship between exposure and attention by an indi-
vidual to beer advertising, and expectations that the
individual drink as an adult.
(11) A major 1981 federally funded study
found a significant relationship between—
(A) exposure of individuals to alcoholic
beverage advertising as youth; and
(B) drinking behaviors and attitudes of the
individuals that can lead to certain forms of
problem drinking.
(12) Over 80 percent of 2,000 adults surveyed
in 1988 for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms by the Opinion Research Corporation be-
lieve that alcohol advertising influences underage
youth to drink alcoholic beverages. The survey also
found that the general public feels that the young
people of the United States constitute the group that
is most at risk from drinking alcoholic beverages.
(13) The alcoholic beverage industry spends ap-
proximately $2,000,000,000 each year on advertising
and promotions in the United States.
(14) The 1988 Surgeon General’s Workshop on
Drunk Driving has recommended—
(A) that the level of alcoholic beverage ad-
vertising be matched with an equal number of
pro-health and pro-safety messages; and
(B) the inclusion of health warning mes-
sages in all alcohol advertising.
(15) The National Commission on Drug-Free
Schools’ September 1990 Final Report, ‘‘Toward a
Drug-Free Generation: A Nation’s Responsibility’’,
recommends that Congress—
(A) require additional health and safety
messages on all alcohol products and advertis-
ing for the products; and
(B) consider enacting a ban on advertising
and promotion of alcohol if alcohol advertising
still targets youth and glamorizes alcohol use.
(16) Over two-thirds of persons surveyed in a
1989 Wall Street Journal poll favor requiring
warnings about the dangers of drinking both on al-
coholic beverage containers and in alcohol advertise-
ments. Nearly three-fourths of persons surveyed in
a 1990 Gallup Poll favor requiring health warning
messages in alcohol advertising.
(17) Alcohol in combination with other drugs is
the leading cause of emergency room drug abuse epi-
sodes.
(18) According to the Inspector General of the
Department of Health and Human Services, the av-
erage binge drinker is a 16 year old male in the
10th grade who was 12 years old when he took his
first drink.
(19) A third of all students do not understand
the intoxicating effects of alcohol. More than 2.6
million do not know a person can die from an over-
dose of alcohol. A projected 259,000 students think
that wine coolers or beer cannot get a person drunk,
cannot make a person sick, or cannot do as much
harm as other alcoholic beverages.
(20) In 1989, chronic liver disease, including
cirrhosis, was the 9th leading cause of death in the
United States. Of 41,000 deaths attributed to liver
disease in the United States, 46 percent diagnosti-
cally were associated with alcohol. Heavy alcohol use
is considered the most important risk factor for
chronic liver disease. Even among liver disease
deaths not coded as alcohol-related, approximately
50 percent are thought to be due to alcohol use.
(21) Between 5 and 24 percent of hypertension
cases are associated with alcohol. Many cases diag-
nosed as essential hypertension (high blood pressure
having no known causes) may actually have chronic
alcohol ingestion as their cause.
(22) Alcohol abuse is strongly associated with
increased risk of certain kinds of cancer, especially
cancer of the liver, esophagus, nasopharynx, and lar-
ynx. Alcohol is also associated with dietary defi-
ciency that may increase cancer risk.
SEC. 3. HEALTH WARNINGS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the expiration of the
6-month period following the date of enactment of this
Act, it shall be an unfair or deceptive act or practice under
section 6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act for any
person to—
(1) advertise or cause to be advertised through
magazines, newspapers, brochures, and promotional
displays within the United States any alcoholic bev-
erage unless the advertising bears, in accordance
with requirements of section 3(a), one of the follow-
ing health warnings:
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: If
you are pregnant, don’t drink. Drinking alcohol
during pregnancy may cause mental retardation
and other birth defects. Avoid alcohol during
pregnancy. If you are pregnant and can’t stop
drinking, call [insert appropriate toll free num-
ber].
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: If
you are under the age of 21, it’s against the
law to buy alcoholic beverages. For information
about teenagers and young adults and drinking,
call [insert appropriate toll free number]., or
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Al-
cohol is a drug and may be addictive. If you
know someone who has an alcohol or other drug
problem or has trouble controlling their drink-
ing, call [insert appropriate toll free number].
SURGEON 
GENERAL’S 
WARNING:
Drive sober. If you don’t, you could lose your
driver’s license. Alcohol impairs your ability to
drive a car or operate machinery. If you or peo-
ple you love drink and drive, call [insert appro-
priate toll free number].
SURGEON 
GENERAL’S 
WARNING:
Don’t mix alcohol with over-the-counter, pre-
scription, or illicit drugs. For more information
call [insert appropriate toll free number].
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: If
you drink too much alcohol too fast, you can
die. You can be poisoned by alcohol if you drink
[insert number of drinks] in [insert time]. To
find out more about alcohol poisoning call [in-
sert appropriate toll free number].
SURGEON 
GENERAL’S 
WARNING:
Drinking increases your risks of high blood
pressure, liver disease, and cancer. The more
you drink, the more likely it is that you will
have such health problems. To find out how to
prevent getting such health problems call [in-
sert appropriate toll free number]., or
(2) advertise or cause to be advertised through
radio or television broadcasting (including cable
broadcasting and paid per view or subscription tele-
vision) any alcoholic beverage unless the advertising
includes, in accordance with requirements of section
3(b), one of the following health warnings:
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: If
you are pregnant, don’t drink alcohol. Alcohol
may cause mental retardation and other birth
defects.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: If
you are under the age of 21, it’s illegal to buy
alcoholic beverages.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Al-
cohol is a drug and may be addictive.
SURGEON 
GENERAL’S 
WARNING:
Drive sober. If you don’t, you could lose your
driver’s license.
SURGEON 
GENERAL’S 
WARNING:
Don’t mix alcohol with over-the-counter, pre-
scription, or illicit drugs.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: If
you drink too much alcohol too fast, you can die
of alcohol poisoning.
SURGEON 
GENERAL’S 
WARNING:
Drinking increases your risk of high blood pres-
sure, liver disease, and cancer.
(b) TOLL FREE NUMBERS.— The Secretary of
Health and Human Services shall be responsible for estab-
lishing and maintaining the toll free numbers referred to
in the health warnings required by subsection (a)(1). The
Secretary shall report to Congress annually on the number
of calls received using those numbers and the types of re-
ferrals made.