How do we deal with a problem like the alcohol industry? Four lessons on how to protect science based on recent study

Citation

Mitchell G & McCambridge J (2022) How do we deal with a problem like the alcohol industry? Four lessons on how to protect science based on recent study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad-ft.07.11.2022-6

Abstract
First paragraph: Researchers, clinicians, and policymakers generally agree that there is no place for the tobacco industry in public health science or policy. The same cannot be said for the alcohol industry (Marten et al., 2020), even though the industries are deeply connected in multiple ways, including in ownership, control, and political strategy (Bond et al., 2010; Hawkins & McCambridge, 2018; Lesch & McCambridge, 2022). Concerns have been raised for decades about alcohol industry’s scientific activity (McCambridge & Mialon, 2018), yet we do not know much about researcher experiences of encountering the alcohol industry in alcohol science. To fill this gap, we interviewed 37 alcohol researchers based in 10 high-income countries. We found that they all had some form of contact with the alcohol industry, whether or not they had sought such contact. Here we present four lessons based on our findings that could help protect science from industry interference.

Journal
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

People

Dr Gemma Mitchell

ISMH Hastings Research Fellow, Institute for Social Marketing