Authorizing the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities to hold hearings regarding the recently re-continued advertising of alcohol products in and on SEPTA owned and operated vehicles and property in the City of Philadelphia, and in furtherance of such hearings authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

WHEREAS,

A September 10, 2003 report entitled,

Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility

, released by the National Academy of Sciences stated that more youth drink alcohol than smoke tobacco or use other illegal drugs; and

WHEREAS,

In a recent national survey on drug use, the 2002 Monitoring the Future report, almost half or 48.6% of twelfth graders reported recent alcohol use; and

WHEREAS,

Underage drinking plays a substantial role in the three leading causes of death among youth -- motor vehicle fatalities, suicide and homicide; and

WHEREAS,

According to the American Medical Association, underage drinking is a factor in nearly one-half of all teen automobile crashes, the leading cause of death among teenagers; and

WHEREAS,

Alcohol abuse among young people is also linked to two-thirds of all

sexual assaults and date rape, and is a major factor in unprotected sex among youth, thereby increasing their risk of sexually transmitted diseases; and

WHEREAS,

Research by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, entitled

Effects of the Mass Media on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol

, has found that exposure to alcohol advertisements affects young people's beliefs about drinking, intentions to drink, and actual drinking behavior; and

WHEREAS,

In July, SEPTA’s board of directors, after 2 years of prohibiting the advertising of alcohol products on their vehicles and property, voted to re-continue such advertising, and as of this November such vehicles began traversing throughout Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS,

A significant number of Children and youth utilize SEPTA controlled vehicles and property including buses, bus shelters, trains and train stations on a daily basis; and

WHEREAS,

To the extent that commercial advertising is allowed on these public transportation vehicles and facilities, the City of Philadelphia can play a positive role in reducing exposure of youth to alcohol advertisements by calling for the prohibition of the placement of such advertisements on SEPTA owned or controlled vehicles and property; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELHIA, That the Committee on Transportation and Public Utilities be authorized to hold hearings regarding the recently re-continued advertising of alcohol products in and on SEPTA owned and operated vehicles and property in the City of Philadelphia,

and in furtherance of such hearings, authorizing the issuance of subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

End