In recent weeks, former Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner, the chairman of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, has begun a public campaign against underage drinking.
The initiative, which has a budget of $1.5 million approved by the state budget office, will be highlighted by ads detailing the negative impact of underage drinking on families.
Underage drinking is a serious issue, particularly for adolescents who are more critically affected by alcohol abuse, and the state should have a role in combating the problem.
But a $1.5 million advertising campaign does not constitute a serious solution.
“You’re not going to talk this problem away, and you can’t treat it away,” Gardner said, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Gardner is at least partially correct in this assertion, but his campaign does not heed this advice.
To Gardner’s credit, he has emphasized stopping young adolescents from beginning to drink, which is the time when people are at the most danger of developing a dependency on the drug. And he has also said that the $1.5 million he has been granted for his initiative is not enough, saying the program needs $3 million annually to have desirable effects, according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer.
