Alcohol News: December 2004

Lawmakers join to combat underage drinking: Bipartisan group wants to spend $19 million on ads
Arizona Republic, AR, December 26, 2004
As holiday revelers prepare to toast the season, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress have made a New Year's resolution to curb underage drinking.

Sounding alarms over the estimated 10 million Americans who consume alcohol before the age of 21, several members of Congress are pushing legislation for a $19-million national media campaign to combat underage drinking.

A spate of alcohol poisoning deaths at college campuses this year, including schools in Colorado, Arkansas, Virginia and Oklahoma, have given new urgency to the issue.

Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., the legendary former football coach at the University of Nebraska, said a main goal is to "change adult attitudes toward underage drinking."

Osborne said many adults give alcohol to teens at home, hoping to keep them away from illegal drugs. Actually, he said, such a practice may provide a gateway to alcohol abuse.

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Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility
Economic Costs of Underage Drinking

Law enforcement best way to deter underage drinking
The Register-Guard, OR, December 27, 2004
The best way to reduce underage drinking is to make it harder for minors to get their hands on alcohol, a new study has found.
The researchers found the amount of law enforcement against underage purchases and the number of alcohol outlets where young people can buy alcohol are the biggest determinants for underage drinking, binge drinking and driving while impaired.

The study provides scientific confirmation for what has long been apparent, said Joel Grube, director of the Prevention Research Center in Berkeley, Calif., and one of the study' authors.
"Communities can reduce underage drinking by reducing the number of outlets that sell booze to kids and by increasing enforcement of minimum-age purchase laws," he said.

The study was based on Oregon Healthy Teens, an annual survey of adolescent health behaviors conducted by the state Department of Human Services. The survey asks students how often and how much they drink, when they began drinking, how often they've had alcohol-induced blackouts and similar questions.

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Relationship Between Alcohol Outlet Density and Underage Drinking

Teen drinking now has parental support
Loudoun Times-Mirror, VA, December 28, 2004
By Traci Cox, Stone Bridge High
‘Tis the season for eggnog, opening presents, snow flurries, and ... teen drinking?

In homes across the country people will be sitting on their comfy couch anxiously awaiting the dropping of the giant glowing ball marking the arrival of the New Year.

But what about those teenagers? What will they be doing? And where?

Many teens will be out drinking, emulating the unrealistic and fanatical parties they see on television, and then getting in their cars (while intoxicated) to hurry home before Mom and Dad wake up.

The scary question is, will Mummy and Pops be angry when their son or daughter comes home trashed with the car parked in the lawn or will they turn the other cheek?

Teen drinking is finally getting attention. Teens are dying after knocking back a few beers or shots. Yes, it's illegal. But any teen holding a drink will tell you that he or she will not be caught.

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Patrick Reusse: Defense, drunks and an Eve to forget
The Star Tribune, MN, December 25, 2004
The wisdom of Christmas Eve football was demonstrated outside the Vikings locker room late Friday afternoon. Twenty minutes earlier, Green Bay had rallied from what seemed disaster midway through the fourth quarter to claim a 34-31 victory and the NFC North title.

Now, there was a man pinned to the corridor floor by a handful of security personnel, including Minneapolis cops.

"What did I do?" he was bellowing, as his arms were yanked around his back and he was placed in handcuffs.

Ten feet away, two young boys were crying. The older boy, maybe 8, was saying, "Let my daddy go." The younger, a preschooler, kept repeating, "I want my daddy back."

Yes, thanks to the Vikings, the Packers, the NFL and football's best friend -- alcohol -- this will be the Silent Night these boys never forget ... the one where they waited to see if Dad would get home from jail in time to open the presents.

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Stop Paying for Super Bowl's Secondhand Alcohol Impacts!

Campaign aims to alert parents to dangers of providing alcohol to minors
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MT, December 31, 2004
Parents who host parties at their home and serve alcohol to underage kids may think they're simply keeping them from drinking in a more dangerous place, but they're asking for trouble, said Becky Robideau, a counselor at the Adolescent Resource Center.

Robideaux is spearheading an awareness campaign called "Those who host lose the most." It aims to educate parents and others on the dangers of providing alcohol to minors.

Those dangers may seem obvious, Robideaux said, but as someone who counsels youths and teaches drug and alcohol classes to minors ticketed for possession, she knows not everyone's got the message.
"There's a myth that, 'well, I'm just going to provide a safe place for my kids to drink, the kids are going to drink anyway," Robideaux said.

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More on holding adults responsible for teen parties

'Under 21' licenses change
The Chicago Tribune, IL, December 29, 2004
Underage drinkers in Illinois will soon find it a lot harder to disguise the age on their driver's licenses, due to a new design Secretary of State Jesse White plans to roll out the first of the year.

Beginning Jan. 1, drivers under the age of 21 will be issued vertical licenses, while licensees who are eligible to buy alcohol will continue to get the traditional horizontal version.

Aides to White say the change will make it even more obvious to bartenders and store clerks exactly who is eligible to drink and whom they should turn away.

"Due to the unique design and some of the other security features, it will be harder to make it look like the `over 21' license," said Elizabeth Kaufman, a spokeswoman for White. "The new design is vertical and more distinctive than the old, making it easier for law enforcement and retailers to identify."

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Monday, December 27, 2004

Lawmakers join to combat underage drinking
Arizona Republic, AZ, December 26, 2004
As holiday revelers prepare to toast the season, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress have made a New Year's resolution to curb underage drinking.

Sounding alarms over the estimated 10 million Americans who consume alcohol before the age of 21, several members of Congress are pushing legislation for a $19-million national media campaign to combat underage drinking.

Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., the legendary former football coach at the University of Nebraska, said a main goal is to "change adult attitudes toward underage drinking." Osborne said many adults give alcohol to teens at home, hoping to keep them away from illegal drugs. Actually, he said, such a practice may provide a gateway to alcohol abuse.

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., the author of pending legislation titled the Sober Truth of Preventing (STOP) Underage Drinking Act in the House, says the nation "must make confronting this health crisis a national priority."

In addition to launching a national campaign to combat underage drinking, the measure would establish an interagency committee to guide policy across the federal government, issue an annual report rating the performance of each state in enforcing underage drinking, give grants to reduce binge drinking on college campuses and collect data on the effects of underage drinking

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More on the "STOP" campaign

Heineken USA Creates Advertising Panel
Reuters, NY, December 22, 2004
Brewer Heineken USA on Wednesday said it had created an independent panel to review complaints about its advertising amid rising scrutiny over the effects of alcohol marketing.

"Heineken USA's internal advertising review process has worked extremely well to ensure ad concepts and creative meet the industry guidelines for content and decency," said Heineken USA President Frans van der Minne.

Beer and liquor makers are seeking to shield themselves from potential lawsuits over advertising messages perceived to contribute to alcoholism or underage drinking.

Some brewers have also drawn ire over their competitive brawls in commercials, as well as for using juvenile or sex-laden gags in television and print ads.

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Bad Alcohol Ads

New Year's is the time to be careful with alcohol
Montgomery County News, AL, December 27, 2004
With the holidays coming to a close, we will be finishing a time of the year where alcohol consumption and drinking and driving are at their highest. Ironically, the time we consider the best for family unity and friendship often leads to destroying those same families and friends.

There are some things you can do in cases where you feel you must drink, or in situations where you are in charge of a party which involves alcohol:
* Use a designated driver. Have someone with you who does not drink to be able to drive you or your friends home. Make other arrangements. Call a cab. Make arrangements to stay overnight and return home the next day. Don't take the risk of drinking and driving.
* Avoid salty foods that would make you more thirsty, which makes you want to drink more.
* Serve nonalcoholic beverages as an option.
* Stop serving alcohol a couple of hours before the party ends, allowing some time for blood alcohol levels to at least be reduced before driving.

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Monday, December 20, 2004

Binge Drinking: Alcohol Consumption Is Still Dangerous Recreation For College Students
The Southern Illinoisan, IL, December 19, 2004
Binge drinking remains a dangerous yet popular source of "fun" for college students across the nation.

A Carbondale researcher who has been studying this phenomenon for years continues to struggle with one big question. Why?

For years, the "binge drinker" has topped off the hard-core drinking hierarchy. A binge drinker is defined as someone who consumes more than five drinks in one sitting during a two-week period. It now appears the binge drinker has been dethroned.

Cheryl Presley, executive director of the Core Institute at Southern Illinois University, has identified a new category of high-risk drinkers: "heavy and frequent."

In a soon-to-be published study, Presley describes this upper tier of college drinkers as consuming an average of 20 alcoholic drinks per week. So in addition to a binge drinking episode, these heavy and frequent drinkers report having three or more other instances of drinking in the same week.

Presley said college students are not being swayed to change drinking behaviors despite new research

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More on Campus Drinking

Parents needed to combat underage drinking
The Journal News, NY, December 18, 2004
A recent federal grant awarded to police in Carmel, Cortlandt, Yorktown and Ramapo seeks to address the problem of teen drinking by forcing adults to take more responsibility. The program is based on the premise that for every teenager who has a drink, an adult somehow provided it.

"Alcohol is pretty well regulated so, if teens are going to get it, they're going to get it through adults," said Gene J. Funicelli, Putnam County's Stop-DWI coordinator. "Adults need to be made aware of this."

Police in many departments throughout Putnam and Westchester are planning special patrols throughout the holidays to ensure that alcohol vendors are not selling to minors, and that no one drinks and drives.

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Working with Youth
Info on the Relationship Between Alcohol Outlet Density and Underage Drinking

Friday, December 17, 2004

Girls vulnerable to 'alcopops' lure
Newsday, December 17, 2004
The percentage of teenage girls who drink alcoholic beverages is rising faster than that of boys, and on average, the girls take their first drink at age 13, the American Medical Association said yesterday in reporting the findings of two surveys.

The AMA contends a class of beverages informally known as "alcopops" is partly to blame, and it is warning doctors to educate teenagers about the dangers of such sweet drinks.

The polls indicate that teenage girls are most vulnerable to the marketing of the beverages, which contain 5 to 7 percent alcohol and have names such as Rick's Spiked Lemonade, Doc Otis' Hard Lemon Flavored Malt Beverage, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and Hooper's Hooch Lemon Brew. The fruit-flavored drinks come in colorful packaging and are also called "girlie drinks," malternatives, RTDs (ready to drink) or FABs (flavored alcoholic beverages).

Laurie Leiber, a spokeswoman for the Marin Institute, an alcohol industry watchdog, said evidence that these companies are marketing to teenagers "comes in the form of these products ... they are sweet, fizzy and fruity like soft drinks. The advertising is hip, and the single-serving, ice-cold bottles have the look and feel of sports drinks.

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Alcohol ads coming under scrutiny
Modesto Bee, CA, December 17, 2004
Federal regulators are surfing the Web and trolling the airwaves in a more aggressive search for "improper" alcohol advertising.

For California wineries, the aggressive enforcement could mean more second-guessing of ad campaigns. One wine industry advocate likened it to Uncle Sam's stationing a black-and-white police cruiser on the information superhighway, warning people to slow down.

"They are throwing out a pretty wide net," Wine Institute attorney Wendell Lee said, citing the new campaign by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

This worries some winemakers, even though they say advertising issues may be more prevalent with beer or distilled spirits than with wine.

Sex sells, and it's selling booze. Certainly, from television to the frontiers of the Internet, alcohol advertising has been taking off in some eye-catching ways.

The labels and Web site for Cleavage Creek Cellars of California features an abundantly bosomed woman and the reminder that some proceeds benefit breast cancer research. A Doc Otis Hard Lemon Beverage ad in Maxim magazine shows a kneeling woman in a thong bikini that peeks out from her jeans. Ads for Three Olives Vodka show scantily clad women posing inside giant martini glasses.

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Alcohol Advertising and Youth

City council offers support to alcohol-free New Year's Eve party
KVUE News, TX, December 16, 2004
The Austin City Council pledged $40,000 Thursday to support an alcohol-free street festival on New Year's Eve.

The party will be part of a national program called First Night that promotes non-alcoholic ways to celebrate the new year. It will be Texas' first First Night party.

"First Night has been a hugely successful program for families with their children," said councilmember Brewster McCraken. "Everyone can be together on New Year's Eve."

The party is slated to run along Congress from Cesar Chavez to 5th Street.

The measure was supported by all but two council members.

The Chamber of Commerce has also pledged its financial support.

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Thursday, December 16, 2004

Oklahoma frats clearing out alcohol
Washington Times, DC, December 16, 2004
Norman, OK, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- This is the final week for University of Oklahoma fraternities to clear alcohol out of their houses, the Oklahoman reported Thursday.

Sororities on the Norman, Okla., campus already ban alcohol.

The OU regents Dec. 6 imposed a ban on alcohol at all fraternities and residence halls. The action came after the alcohol poisoning death of a student last September.

Oklahoma is the latest of several universities around the country to go dry in an effort to control binge drinking.

Fraternity presidents are responsible for making sure there is no alcohol in the houses when the members return for the spring semester.

Andre said he expected to have some problems enforcing the ban, but he said his members have been very supportive.

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How to Address Alcohol Problems on Campus
The Truth Behind Party Schools

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

America Drinks: Sesno Reports on PBS starting TONIGHT
U.S. Newswire, December 13, 2004
Headlines of tragic alcohol-related fatalities have become commonplace in a nation that spends more than $116 billion a year on alcoholic beverages, and recent statistics indicate that some aspects of this problem are getting worse.

Eight and a half percent of Americans abuse alcohol. In 2003 alone, there were 17,013 alcohol-related traffic deaths in the United States. Recent studies also highlight the toll on and around college campuses, which average 1,400 deaths and 75,000 sexual assaults related to alcohol every year. A preliminary study by Aaron White, Ph.D. and his colleagues at Duke University Medical Center shows that on campuses around the country, students routinely drink beyond the common binge-drinking threshold of 4 drinks per female and 5 drinks per male. Data collected from 15,000 first-semester college freshman show that 20 percent of males actually have 10 or more drinks at least once in a two-week period, and 8 percent have 15 or more. The consequences of underage drinking on the U.S. economy totals a breathtaking $53 billion a year and the epidemic has been labeled "the most costly of all drug problems" by The Institute of Medicine.

America Drinks: Sesno Reports" airs on public television stations beginning December 14 and is distributed through American Public Television (APT). The one-hour program is a co-production of WETA Washington, D.C., and the School of Public Policy and the College of Arts and Sciences at George Mason University. Internet media services and editorial assistance are provided by washingtonpost.com.

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College drinking is not a given
Christian Science Monitor, MA, December 14, 2004
Reports of alcohol-related mayhem and tragedies are piling up once again on college campuses.
But these high-profile incidents are only part of the story. For every tragedy or event that makes the news, there are hundreds of thousands of other alcohol-related problems on campuses that nobody hears about. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that each year, drinking by college students has resulted in 1,400 deaths (usually from drinking and driving), 500,000 injuries, 600,000 assaults, and 70,000 sexual assaults or date rapes. Alcohol-fueled riots at Halloween and following sports victories are almost regular occurrences.

The solution is to change the overall drinking environment that envelops collegiate life in America and provides fertile ground for these problems.

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Natrona County has no law addressing the presence of 18- to 20-year-olds in county bars. Some bars allow underage people but won't serve them alcohol.

The law would not affect people under 21 who work in places that serve liquor, although people younger than 18 would be barred from being in rooms where alcohol is dispensed. People under 21 can be in a place where liquor is served, but not dispensed, as long as they are with a parent or legal guardian and it's no later than 10 p.m.

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Monday, December 13, 2004

David Battles Goliath in the Bayou
Marin Institute, December 13, 2004
Parents of former Louisiana State University student Corey Domingue filed a wrongful death suit October 1, 2004 against Winn-Dixie Stores, Bacardi USA and the makers of Castillo Puerto Rican Rum. The suit asserts that Winn-Dixie contributed to the alcohol poisoning death of Tammy and Kirk Domingue’s 19-year-old son when it sold him the potent alcohol and failed to adequately warn him of the risks associated with its use.

Although the suit seeks damages and medical expenses resulting from Corey’s death, the Domingue family is primarily interested in alerting the public to the deadly toll of underage drinking and the failure of some retailers, distributors and manufacturers to reduce harm by avoiding sales to youth and providing adequate warnings of drinking risks to children and young people-particularly that of acute alcohol poisoning.

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Lawsuits Against the Alcohol Industry
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Expert testifies stadium beer vendors disregard limits
The Star-Ledger, NJ, December 11, 2004
Vendors at Giants Stadium routinely violate their own alcohol policies, serving intoxicated patrons and breaking a two-beer limit rule, according to an industry expert who testified yesterday in a case against the stadium concessionaire.

"The practice is to serve people who are intoxicated," Fred Del Marva, a private investigator and special events security consultant, said. "Their methodology is to wait until someone is at the point of excess (before refusing a sale). By that point it's too late."

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Task force considers recommending return of beer to Hughes Stadium, CO
Rocky Mountain Collegian, CO, December 13, 2004
Thursday's Alcohol Task Force meeting revealed a glimpse of the possible recommendations the committee will eventually make to Colorado State University President Larry Penley - most notably, the return of alcohol to Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium.

But nothing is certain yet. Several series of revisions and the task force's approval must be given before the recommendations will hit Penley's desk.

Katie Clausen, a member of the task force and president of the Associated Students of CSU, said the recommendations at the Thursday meeting focused mainly on increased and improved alcohol and drug education efforts, alcohol-related problems in the community and state, and the banning of beer at Hughes Stadium.

One subcommittee, of which Clausen is a member, gave a preliminary recommendation of reinstating beer sales at the stadium, after reaching the conclusion that controlled beer sales within the stadium do not contribute to underage or binge drinking.

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Alcohol and Sports - An Unhealthy Mix
Alcohol Availability on Campus

Dr. Linda C. Degutis, an associate professor of public health at Yale, said that hangovers were "incredibly understudied." Most popular remedies, including those sold over the counter, have no peer-reviewed research to back up assertions. Experts argue that even conducting such research raises ethical issues.

The development of a foolproof hangover cure, for example, may encourage people to drink more, knowing they could take a pill to avoid suffering the next day. The prospect of bus drivers or airplane pilots popping hangover pills then going to work is enough to give anyone pause.

Several researchers argue that hangovers impose such large costs on society that they have to be studied. No one has precise figures, but one study cited in the prickly-pear article estimated the cost of alcohol-related problems, including hangovers, at $150 billion a year in the United States.

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Thumbs Down to "RU-21" Hangover Pills
Alcohol Abuse Costs Billions

Friday, December 10, 2004

Youth drinking: tough nut to crack
Arizona Daily Star, AR, December 10, 2004
Tucson police Officer Jeannie Nagore got an eyeful from drunken revelers as she drove down the back streets around Fourth Avenue and University Boulevard during the Big Az Music Festival in September.

"You see young men urinating in public, and they continue doing it even when I'm there, with my light on them," Nagore complained. "And the young ladies, I get embarrassed for them, the way they act to get the attention of the young men. Oh my gosh, if their moms only knew."

To Nagore, underage drinking is a serious crime.

"I don't want to go to that scene where there's a traffic accident and there's a young person that's dead or a young girl hysterical because she's been raped," she said. "I don't know why people can't just have a party without alcohol, why that has to be the source of the party."

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Facts on Alcohol and Youth
Reducing Underage Drinking

Park County, WY, polls about underage drinking
Billings Gazette, WY, December 9, 2004
Nearly three-quarters of Park County residents agree that it is wrong for individuals under the age of 21 to drink alcohol, bucking the belief by some that underage drinking is acceptable in the county, according to a recent survey of county residents.

"These results show that those surveyed strongly back laws and policies restricting underage drinking," Jay Otto, survey project coordinator, said Wednesday.

"We had the misperception, especially in Cody, that Cody was a party town," Otto said. "We were completely wrong."

He said much of the perception of a "party town" comes from the youth themselves who may believe that the norms and laws of Cody and even Park County as a whole favor underage drinking.

"However, most adults feel very strongly about this," Otto said. "There is a great amount of disconnect between youth and adults in this county."

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Adults and Underage Drinking
Thumbs Up to Cody, Wyoming

Ban on Night Alcohol Sales Sought in Paris
Newsday, December 9, 2004
In the wake of recent violence on and around the Champs-Elysees, a district mayor is pressing police to ban nighttime alcohol sales at convenience stores in the neighborhood around Paris' famous main avenue.

Two weeks ago, a strip club security guard was shot in a street off the Champs-Elysees by a customer to whom he had refused entry. The next day, an 18-year-old man was stabbed to death on the famed street popular with tourists for its fashionable shops, cinemas and cafes.

The streets adjacent to the celebrated avenue harbor many bars and nightclubs, and all-night grocery stores offer takeaway alcoholic drinks. Critics contend it's a bad mix that has contributed to a spike in crime.

Francois Lebel, the mayor of Paris' 8th district, said much of the crime isn't on the Champs-Elysees itself but in the smaller streets that lead to it.

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Thursday, December 9, 2004

The Time to Purge Binge Drinking is Now
Join Together, December 9, 2004
As the first half of the school year winds down, we can only hope that the impact alcohol will have on America's college campuses in the second half of the year is not nearly as deadly as it was during the fall semester.

If statistics from past years are any guide, approximately 1,400 college students will die during the 2004-2005 school year in alcohol-related incidents. If binge drinking was a disease that caused 1,400 deaths, 500,000 injuries, 70,000 sexual assaults, and 110,000 arrests each year, you could be certain that the response would be massive and comprehensive. How many more students must die before we decide to stop treating binge drinking as a collegiate rite of passage, and confront it as the serious public-health threat that it is?

What is needed most, however, is a greater sense of urgency in insisting that the status quo of 1,400 young deaths each year is unacceptable. that half-hearted efforts will bring little change, and that this is not simply a matter of a "rite of passage" or personal responsibility. Indeed, the National Academy of Sciences, among America's most respected research organizations, in a 2003 report called underage drinking a "collective responsibility."

For college administrators, students, parents, alumni, politicians, and society in general, the time has come to choose: Do we want to cultivate institutions of higher learning or of lower expectations and harder drinking? Opportunities abound to make a difference. What's missing is a concerted will to act. The death toll will be a testament to our timidity.

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The Truth Behind Party Schools
Want to Prevent Alcohol Problems on Campus? Start Here.

Changing the binge drinking culture
Lacrossetribune.com, WI, December 09, 2004
If a community wants to reduce the problems associated with binge drinking, its city leaders, campus officials and tavern owners have to stop finger-pointing and come to a consensus on what the problem is, an expert on college alcohol abuse prevention said Wednesday.

Susan Crowley, director of an alcohol abuse prevention program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said even though the Madison campus has not solved all its alcohol-related problems, it has reduced the rate of binge drinking on campus from 67 percent in 1999 to 59 percent this year.

UW-Madison is one of 10 U.S. campuses that received a 10-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to change the campus and community culture and reduce the consequences of high-risk drinking.

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Our Solution: Environmental Prevention
How to Make a Difference on Campus

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Justices hear cases on shipping wine
USA Today, December 7, 2004
States that block direct shipments of wine to consumers from out-of-state wineries faced skeptical comments from Supreme Court justices on Tuesday.

According to a 1984 Supreme Court decision, the Constitution's commerce clause "applies to liquor and prevents discrimination," Justice Anthony Kennedy told Michigan's solicitor general, Thomas Casey, who was defending Michigan's ban on direct sales. "You have a very substantial burden" to justify the ban, Kennedy said.

Small wineries, wine critics and consumers challenged bans in Michigan and New York state. Federal appeals courts reached different results, striking down the Michigan ban but upholding New York's slightly different approach, which allows out-of-state wineries to escape the ban if they open an in-state office.

Those states, and 22 others, require out-of-state wineries to ship through wholesalers to reach consumers. That process, lawyers for the states argued Tuesday, guarantees that the states can collect sales taxes and police sales to minors.

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Beer or Booze? Nebraska tackles question
Lincoln Journal Star, NE, December 8, 2004
When does a beer stop being a beer?

The answer is at the heart of the problem being looked at in Nebraska and nationally over how to classify flavored malt beverages such as Mike's Hard Lemonade, Smirnoff Ice and Zima.

Sometimes called malternatives, the small but profitable market niche features drinks that start as brewed malt beverages but are flavored with distilled spirits. They generally have the same 5 percent to 8 percent alcohol content as beer.

It's the creation of the drinks, using both brewing and distillation, that has liquor policy makers across the country seeing double. If the drinks remain under the beer classification in Nebraska, they are taxed at a rate of 31 cents a gallon. Call them spirits and the tax goes to $3.75 a gallon.

Not only are taxes involved, but because distributors of alcohol in Nebraska hold different licenses based on what they sell, some that currently offer the malted beverages may not be able to if they were classified as spirits.

Alcohol wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers and the grocery industry urged the Legislature's General Affairs Committee at a hearing Tuesday not to do anything until after the federal Tax and Trade Bureau weighs in. Its definition of flavored malt beverages, once expected to be released in 2003, is now expected in January or February.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2004

U.S. Department of Labor offers tips for controlling alcohol use at company parties
Society for Human Resource Management, VA, December 6, 2004
Holiday cheer is not so cheerful when over-imbibing alcohol at company parties leads to impaired driving and its consequences. For employers, those consequences can include increased absenteeism, additional use of health care benefits and potential legal liability.

“The annual employer cost of motor vehicle crashes in which at least one driver was alcohol-impaired exceeds $9 billion, including wage-risk premiums. Out of this, $3.1 billion comes from job-related alcohol involvement,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported earlier this year.

...Employers who serve alcohol at office celebrations and other company-sponsored events may run a liability risk, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) office of the assistant secretary for policy.

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Focus on behavior in alcoholism battle
Los Angeles Times, CA, December 6, 2004
Instead of blaming our ancestors, let's take a good look at why heavy drinking is acceptable behavior. We are bombarded by alcohol images, messages and substances every day. Heavy drinking is an essential part of socializing and drowning our sorrow with booze is a common remedy for depression.

While designing drugs to curb alcohol cravings is a significant and immediate treatment, it is more important to dissuade people from heavy drinking. Long-term prevention requires us to end our codependent relationship with alcohol.

Efforts should focus on banning youth-targeted advertising, enforcing penalties for selling alcohol to minors, increasing the price of beer and liquor, limiting the number of liquor outlets in low income areas and eliminating happy hour drink specials.

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Commissioner says 30 days, not too tough
WJBF News Channel 6, GA, December 6, 2004
One Augusta Commissioner says a proposed ordinance on underage drinking will send a powerful message to the business community. Tuesday Commissioners will consider new regulations for businesses caught serving alcohol to minors. A first offense would result in an automatic thirty-day suspension of a store's liquor license.

Current regulations allow commissioners to put a business on probation for a first offense.

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Monday, December 6, 2004

Underage drinking may cost parents
Monterey County Herald, CA, December 5, 2004
WALNUT CREEK - An Orinda man arrested this summer for allegedly allowing two 12-year-old girls to drink so much that they ended up in the hospital told officers that he couldn't be "responsible for what a bunch of kids do" at his home, according to court records.

But earlier this year, California joined the growing number of states passing laws that make parents more liable when they allow teens to drink.

Many states have introduced public awareness campaigns warning about the repercussions of providing alcohol or allowing minors to drink. Rhode Island produced a TV ad: "Keg: $43. Plastic cups: $12.87. Emergency Room: $3,500. Lawyer: $25,000... Hosting an underage drinking party can get expensive."

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Adults and Underage Drinking

Coalition blames advertisers for underage drinking
Port Clinton News Herald, OH, December 4, 2004
In a statewide effort to prevent underage drinking and related youth problems, Jessica Roe, youth coordinator for Texans Standing Tall, visited San Jacinto College central campus and spoke about the effects of advertising on youth alcohol abuse.

"Holding young people solely responsible for underage drinking is like holding fish responsible for dying in a polluted stream," said Laurie Lieber of the Center for Alcohol Advertising.

TST, a statewide coalition to prevent underage drinking, aspires to educate youth about alcohol and to eventually promote a healthy, alcohol-free environment. In school, students are taught how to 'just say no,' but then they see all the advertisements that tell them to say 'yes' and in a very effective way," Roe said.

Roe presented advertisements to the audience showing examples of how TST believes the alcohol industry targets people under 21 years old. Advertisements that promote alcohol using sexual implications, cartoons and candy are examples of what TST sees as propaganda aimed at youth ages 12-20.

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Alcohol Advertising and Youth

AMA condemns NASCAR decision to allow liquor sponsorship
American Medical News, December 6, 2004
The American Medical Association expressed dismay at the November decision of the National Assn. for Stock Car Auto Racing to allow distilled spirits makers to sponsor the sport.

The AMA is concerned that the link will send a mixed message about drinking and driving. The move could also lead to increasing the exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol advertising, and, since NASCAR races are televised, be a backdoor to TV advertising which is not currently permitted.

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Wine Case Goes to High Court
ABC News, December 5, 2004
A case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court pits 3,000 small, independent wineries against established distributors and state governments - 24 of which prohibit wine shipments into their states because of concerns dating back to prohibition, particularly underage drinking.

To drive home that point, the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America commissioned an undercover video showing a teenage girl, with parental permission, ordering alcohol on the Internet. Days later, the alcohol arrived at her home in a plain container.

The wholesalers argue that if the laws change, computer-savvy teenagers will be able to buy alcohol more easily. Michael Cox, Michigan's attorney general, agrees.

"There's huge incentive for minors to purchase liquor, whether it be vodka, whiskey or whatever over Internet," he said.

But the winery owners say that what the wholesalers are really worried about is losing their control over distribution. The small winery owners have hired former independent counsel Ken Starr to represent them. He says the wholesalers are "a multibillion-dollar industry, and they are afraid of the erosion of any of their profits."

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Friday, December 3, 2004

Resident fights to keep bar out of neighborhood
Tribune Review, PA, December 3, 2004
Raising a 12-year-old daughter, Theresa Brangard said she doesn't want to see another bar open near her Uniontown home. Six already stand within a stone's throw.

She got the chance to say that directly to the state Liquor Control Board on Thursday, as an arbiter heard evidence on whether the proprietor of one of the most notorious establishments in the city will be able to serve alcohol at a pub opening across the street from her house.

"We have children living on this street. There's six bars already there. I want to stress this," Brangard said. "We don't need this. It's just bad."

Brangard was the only person to testify against McPatton's Irish Pub, which former Oasis bar owners James and Grace Miller would like to open on North Gallatin Avenue.

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Demand FTC Action to Yank Irresponsible Beer Ads
Center for Science in the Public Interest, December 2, 2004
Anheuser-Busch has been running a series of sports-themed ads for Bud Light that directly violate beer-industry voluntary guidelines. The ads depict “referees" stealing beer from consumers in order to drink it themselves. The "referees" also lie to police and evade capture and questioning.

Section 2(d) of the Beer Institute’s Advertising and Marketing Code Guidelines states: “Beer advertising and marketing materials should not portray or imply illegal activity of any kind.” The “principles” underlying the guidelines state that “Beer advertising should not suggest directly or indirectly (emphasis added) that any of the laws applicable to the sale and consumption of beer should not be complied with. Third, brewers are responsible corporate citizens sensitive to problems of the society in which they exist, and their advertising should reflect that fact."

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Coalition in Victorville targets drinking by teenagers
Bernardino County Sun, CA, December 01, 2004
A coalition of sheriff's deputies, schools, civic leaders and parents launched a holiday campaign Wednesday against teen drinking.

"Alcohol use among underage youth is rising,' Councilman Rudy Cabriales said. "It's a trend that we must reverse.

The coalition which has adopted Reverse as its name plans to send a message throughout the Victor Valley: Teen alcohol use is illegal and comes with a high price to families and society.

The local anti-alcohol campaign for teens is a pilot program expected to be expanded countywide in April.

"We are letting parents know that it is illegal to provide alcohol to their children, and also (it) is illegal to allow teen drinking parties at home."

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Let's Get Honest: Big Alcohol Strategies for Death & Profits
BIG Alcohol.com, November 28, 2004
If you go to the store this moment and pick up an over the counter pain reliever, tuna fish, bananas or even condoms, you will be picking up a product that is regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration. But if you round the corner and pick up a beer, wine, or hard liquor product, the FDA has absolutely nothing to do with its regulation.

The United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms "regulates the qualification and operations of distilleries, wineries, and breweries, as well as importers and wholesalers in the industry. ATF has established mutually beneficial working relationships to minimize the regulatory burdens on businesses while still providing government oversight and protecting consumer interests."

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Thursday, December 2, 2004

Death leads to university alcohol ban
CNN, GA, December 2, 2004
NORMAN, Oklahoma (AP) -- Drinking will be banned at University of Oklahoma fraternities and residence halls under new policies announced Wednesday, two months after a 19-year-old student died of alcohol poisoning.

University of Oklahoma President David Boren said the rules will go into effect January 18 at the start of the new semester. Three violations will end in a student's suspension for one semester.

The university also will set up a hot line for students to report violations and will expand alcohol education programs.Drinking already is prohibited at sororities.

Boren will present the policies to the Board of Regents Monday for approval. Regents have been involved in creating the plan and support it. "These policies send a strong signal that alcohol abuse will not be tolerated at the University of Oklahoma," Boren said.

Citing studies from the National Institutes of Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, Boren said limiting access to alcohol on campus should lessen binge drinking by at least 75 percent."I feel that it is my responsibility to do everything I can to protect the health and safety of students," he said. "I could not turn my back on the statistics."

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The University of Northern Colorado alcohol task force issues report
Greeley Tribune, CO, December 2, 2004
The University of Northern Colorado can do more to prevent students from drinking too much, a report from an alcohol task force found.

Though the review of UNC's policies was prompted by the alcohol-related deaths of five students at other Colorado colleges and universities this semester, the proposed changes may help UNC deal with a growing binge-drinking problem of its own.

Task force recommendations...Require event planners on and off campus to employ trained bartenders who know when to cut people off...Explore possibilities, such as working with bars and liquor outlets; keg registration through the city; working with the city to decrease the time between offense and punishment; rewards such as free soft drinks for designated drivers; and more aggressive intervention treatment and counseling.

With orientation and other programs, the university does a good job raising awareness of alcohol abuse for freshmen but can do more for sophomores, juniors and seniors, said Gloria Reynolds, spokeswoman for UNC.

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Parents who host parties to lose
Victorville Daily Press, CA, December 2, 2004
VICTORVILLE - New law allows sheriff to go after those who provide alcohol or allow minors to drink .Tami Saliba feels like she's in the minority when it comes to vigilant parenting.

The Victorville mother has 15- and 16-year-old daughters. Saliba insists on meeting the parents of her children's friends before letting her girls stay at someone's house or attend a party.

"If I don't know them, I will stay at the party," Saliba said.

Saliba is shocked by the number of parents who don't bother meeting other parents before letting their kids stay at their house or who don't want to be bothered with knowing whether their child is drinking alcohol at parties.

Saliba and like-minded parents are glad to see that the city of Victorville and law enforcement agencies are cracking down on parents and adults who provide alcohol and allow teenagers to drink.

A multiple-agency coalition, REVERSE, kicked off its new program, "Parents Who Host Lose the Most," on Wednesday.

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Adults and Underage Drinking

New laws on underage drinking not needed
Lahontan Valley News, NV, December 1, 2004
The Nevada Division of Child and Family Services, an agency involved in promoting the well being of the state's youth, is pushing for tougher sanctions on underage drinking and wants the Nevada Legislature in 2005 to look at punishing adults who play a role in teens getting alcohol.

Referring to a 2003 Nevada Department of Education survey that indicated one in three high school students who drank alcohol got it from home, the agency recommends getting tougher with adults as a way to cut down on underage drinking and driving.

The agency says Nevada lawmakers should consider making it a misdemeanor for adults to furnish alcohol to teens or allow underage drinking at parties. Another idea is to bill parents for the cost when law enforcement responds to parties and teens are caught drinking alcohol.

Certainly any adult who provides alcohol for teens or sanctions parties where alcohol is abused by teens is woefully irresponsible. But are new laws the answer?

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Adults and Underage Drinking

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

One student's drive to curb teen drinking
Contra Costa Times, CA, December 1, 2004
The Contra Costa Friday Night Live Partnership trains volunteers -- like 17-year-old Melinda Rowe, a Concord High School senior -- to teach the community about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Rowe and her peers regularly mentor middle school students to help decrease dropout rates, prevent drug and alcohol use and improve academic skills.

She's also an active watchdog when it comes to the business community. When Target in Walnut Creek applied for a liquor license last year, Melinda collected letters of opposition to send to the police department, and made a presentation to the Countywide Youth Commission.

"I really got behind the cause," said Melinda, adding that she didn't want to see a "family" store bombarded with advertising displays for beer and wine. "If people take their little kids there and they see those displays, what are they going to think?"

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