IN its ongoing advocacy for responsible alcohol consumption and the recognition that alcohol misuse and addiction can have serious negative consequences on an individual’s mental health, Red Stripe will host the third edition of the Responsibility Now! Town Hall Series under the theme ‘Alcohol and Mental Health — making sense of the relationship’.

The Responsibility Now! town hall will take place on June 7, 2023 and will be hosted in partnership with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), at the Red Stripe Vibes Sports Club.

The Responsibility Now! discussion, which will be moderated by Dr Terri-Karelle Reid, will include guest speaker Dr H Westley Clarke, MD, an internationally renowned medical and legal consultant and former dean’s executive professor of public health at Santa Clara University in California; mental health advocate Clara Moore; transformative health and wellness coach Patrice J White; and counsellor and substance abuse specialist Sarah Templeton.

“Our first Responsibility Now! town hall for 2023 is timed for maximum impact. We have just ended May, which is observed as Mental Health Awareness Month, and are heading into the summer entertainment season when alcohol consumption typically increases,” asserted Red Stripe’s Head of Corporate Affairs Dianne Ashton-Smith.

“Further, Red Stripe’s initiative to host a public discussion on alcohol and mental health comes at a crucial time when there is a growing need for increased awareness and education around the complex relationship between alcohol use and mental health. By providing a platform for dialogue Red Stripe is helping to raise awareness, promote prevention and early intervention efforts, and ultimately contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities,” added Ashton-Smith.

Red Stripe launched the Responsibility Now! Town Hall Series in June 2022, in partnership with the PSOJ, to spark public conversations and engage critical stakeholders on different aspects of responsible alcohol consumption. Topics addressed in previous editions include the entertainment sector’s role in promoting a culture of safe consumption, and the link between road safety and responsible consumption.

The series falls within Red Stripe’s broader Drink & Live Responsibly campaign aimed at reducing alcohol misuse nationally and promoting a culture of mindful and moderate alcohol consumption.

PSOJ President Metry Seaga noted, “The PSOJ welcomes the opportunity to continue our partnership with Red Stripe in this critical area. Building a culture of responsible consumption requires a collective effort across different areas of society, including the private sector. We have started to give more attention to mental health nationally, however there is still a long way to go — therefore providing a platform to have meaningful discussions about mental health in the context of alcohol consumption is essential.

“I commend Red Stripe for its continued willingness to foster public discourse of this nature. I look forward to a robust panel discussion that will hopefully help push the national discourse on this matter even further,” Seaga said.