How To Dismantle the Anti-Alcohol Narrative
An example from Oregon where the industry is fighting back with facts
As forces in the United States and internationally continue to expand their efforts to harm the alcohol industry, it is critical to consider the kind of pushback that works to blunt these efforts. A group of individuals in Oregon has shown what dedication to detail, research, and chin-forward pushback against these forces looks like.
Recall that in Oregon, a collection of rabid anti-alcohol crusaders have been attempting to blame the entirety of the Oregon beer, wine and cider industries for any and all harm that is connected to excessive consumption. This group, which has long pushed for outrageous increases in beer and wine taxes, went as far as to suppress a state-funded report that demonstrated increased taxes on the industry would NOT impact excessive consumption.
In the end, the unsuccessful effort to increase beer and wine taxes in Oregon led to the creation of a state task force to examine alcohol pricing and addiction services that began meeting in January and have since then held a number of sessions to take testimony from various sources. The task force is chaired by Oregon state representative Tawna Sanchez, who was the author of legislation that would so severely tax the Oreogn wine and beer industries that it could cause significant damage to the industry and transfer industry profits to the anti-alcohol groups pushing for the taxes.
But something happened not too long ago that demonstrates what successful pushback against the hysterical anti-alcohol groups and lawmakers looks like.
The task force included members of the alcoholic beverage industry. For the most part, the perspective of the industry has been marginalized on the Task Force. But then, when given the opportunity to present their perspective, the industry came up with this: