Dozens of young people joined legislative and medical leaders today in downtown Boston to rally support for a bill that would ban alcohol advertising on all state property.
State Representative Martin Walsh said he is "very confident" that House bill 851, which he is co-sponsoring, would pass the House and Senate and become a law by July 31. He has said he expects it would go into effect between six months to one year after that.
The movement gained a boost this week when the MBTA said that, beginning July 1, it would prohibit alcohol ads from from appearing on all of its property, including inside subway cars, trains and buses.
If the proposed law is approved, it would ban alcohol ads from running on other state property, including on billboards that sit on state property or on marketing space along state-owned buildings.
Many at today's rally outside the Park Street T station said they believe that public alcohol ads, particularly on public transit, contribute to teen drinking.
"I don't like the fact that every time I take the train or bus to school, alcohol ads are all I see," said Julia Roberto, a ninth-grader at Boston Latin School. "They're everywhere. They're in my face and I can't avoid them."
