ENI – Lithuanian bishops are clashing with the country's media mavens over their support of laws restricting advertisements for alcoholic beverages.
Business and media groups, bishops' claim, had “decided to encourage social destruction and instigate public hounding of politicians” due to an anticipated fall in profits triggered by new laws which put constraints on liquor advertisements.
After the laws took effect in January, some television channels cancelled highly popular live basketball broadcasts, claiming that the law forbids showing players wearing T-shirts with drink producers' logos.
Recent statistics show that the production of the alcoholic beverage cider, consumed mainly by young people, has increased by 250 per cent over five years. Also, over the same period, the number of alcohol poisoning cases among the young has increased 15 times. The average age when young people first begin indulging in alcohol has slipped from 14 to 11 years.
