A federal judge overturned a ruling Tuesday about
alcohol advertisements in college newspapers, according to
an Associated Press report.
U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Hannah Lauck ruled against
the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s
two-decade-old law.
The American Civil Liberties Union had sued ABC on
behalf of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, arguing
these advertising bans were impeding the publications’
freedom of speech and were hurting the publications’ ad
revenues.
With this new ruling, it is now permissible to use terms
such as “happy hour” and publish alcohol-related advertising.
These restrictions came about in 1988, because it was
argued alcohol advertisements and references promote
underage drinking. This is idiotic. Any bureaucrat should
see advertising in student publications will not affect the
amount of alcohol students drink.
College students read magazines such as “Spin” or “Vibe,”
and we are aware that alcohol exists. Many students know
what it is and how to get around underage drinking laws.
The only thing that will change if an alcohol company
like Bacardi advertises with The Commonwealth Times is
more VCU students might drink Bacardi instead of Captain
Morgan.
The alcohol laws in Virginia have been so vague that in the
past any sort of depiction of alcohol in a student publication
was banned or not published because of editors’ concerns
about breaking the law.
Last fall, The CT published a story about the clean up of
the 1100 block of West Grace Street, commonly known as
“Hell Block.” As anyone can attest, it is practically impossible
to take a picture of Hell Block without capturing at least
one empty beer can or container on film. Imagine trying to
take a picture of people cleaning up a beer-can-littered street
without showing a beer can in your publication.
All these restrictions did was hurt student publications.
If anything, advertisements for alcohol would make a publication
appear more open to discuss the effects of student
drinking and promote discussion as a whole.