Alcohol News: November 2004

Monday, November 29, 2004

Crowds gone wild
Denver Post, CO, November 28, 2004
European teams play in empty stadiums, put up barriers, employ police: Is U.S. next?

As the beer dries and the bruises heal following the Nov. 19 melee at a Detroit Pistons game, some American sports observers say it's time for tough love at home. But a few also wonder if owners and league honchos are willing to lose money in order to keep the peace.

"You've got to care about this stuff and you've got to be willing to say safer arenas matter more than a little profit," said Joseph Kinney, a stadium security expert. Kinney helps professional and college teams control crowds, teaching the importance of plucking out troublemakers.

Many point to alcohol...Some of those fans are into their third beer by the time their digs gain volume and viciousness. Alcohol sales are banned at most college football games and at many professional golf tournaments. After the Piston-Pacer fiasco, some sports observers are suggesting booze be removed from all games.

"Before we put up fences at the games, maybe we eliminate alcohol," says Ilana Kloss, a former pro tennis player and head of World Team Tennis. "Maybe you do have to give up some of that revenue (from alcohol sales). But in the long run, you want the product to be safe.

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Alcohol and Sports - An Unhealthy Mix

Chesapeake Wants State To Put Additional Tax On Alcohol
WAVY-TV, VA, November 29, 2004
(AP) - The Chesapeake City Council is asking Virginia legislators to impose an additional 10 percent state tax on beer and wine.

The council put the surcharge on its list of suggestions for the General Assembly.

Councilman Joe Newman says most people would be willing to pay more for discretionary purchases such as beer and wine in order to have adequate roads and schools and to fund public-safety proposals. He says the surcharge would bring in 125 (M) million dollars statewide.

Jimmy Rogers of Chesapeake says that beer and wine wholesalers like him will oppose the tax vigorously. He says Virginia already charges one of the highest taxes on beer and wine and that the state sales tax increased just recently.

The surcharge would be on top of any other sales taxes. Customers already pay a five percent sales tax on beer and wine bought in retail stores.

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More on Alcohol Excise Taxes

Underage drinking expected to spike as holidays begin
The Blade, OH, November 24, 2004
The problems caused by underage drinkers add up to billions of dollars a year - ranking Ohio sixth in the nation in terms of the money state taxpayers put out to cover the costs associated with underage alcohol consumption, according to a recent study.

In fact, many Midwest states have serious underage drinking problems, despite the region's reputation in the recent presidential election for large pockets of straight-laced values, said Ted Miller, lead researcher of the study by the Pacific Institute of Research and Evaluation.

In Ohio, underage drinkers cost residents $3.1 billion in 2001 - $855 million that year in medical care and loss of work, according to the institute's study.

Bill Sanford, president and chief executive officer of Compass, a nonprofit agency that offers alcohol and drug addiction treatment, said some parents may ease up on the rules around the holidays, turning the other way when their teenagers grab a beer, or offering their youngsters a sip of celebratory wine.

"The families let loose a bit, and that's a dangerous time," he said.

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More on the Costs of Underage Drinking

Council addresses underage drinking
New Milford Times, CT, November 26, 2004
Officials in New Milford are working to crack down on underage drinking, and proposed changes to an ordinance would mean that residents who serve minors alcohol at a party might get a visit from police-who would be empowered to levy fines and looking for other violations or illegal activities.

The proposed changes were presented in draft form to the Town Council Monday night, and a number of concerned citizens attended the meeting to voice their support for penalizing people who allow underage drinking at their homes.

The current ordinance deals with possession of alcoholic beverages on public highways and in public places, but says nothing about the age of the person breaking the law.

Chief McCormack explained that the most important element of the ordinance is that it allows police to go to a private property to enforce the law.

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More on Hosting Underage Drinking Parties

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Angry Coloradan takes on Starbucks
Rocky Mountain News, CO, November 23, 2004
Starbucks is the $5.3 billion, hyper-caffeinated behemoth with more than 8,700 stores worldwide and growing.

Zach Mann owns a pizza joint in the mountain outpost of Paonia - Pizza My Heart - that seats 50.

But Mann is taking on Seattle- based Starbucks one Web site, and one 18-inch white cross, at a time.

Mann is peeved at one of the coffee giant's newest brews: Starbucks Coffee Liqueur, being test-marketed in Denver and Austin, Texas, but set for national rollout by March.

The clash pits a corporation moving to expand its brand name against Mann and a handful of others across the country who charge that Starbucks should not be in the liquor business, given its mass appeal to coffee-sipping youths.

"This is the equivalent of McDonald's putting a beer stand in front of their playground," says Mann, who says he can prove Starbucks is marketing to underage youths.

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Stardrunks Web Site
Alcohol Advertising and Youth

Anti-Drinking Campaign Just A 'Start' For Activists
AdWeek.com, November 23, 2004
What public-health-advocacy groups want is a fully funded paid-media campaign targeting underage drinking--just like the White House's $140 million anti-drug media effort. What they're getting is an $800,000 public-service effort sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services and done through the Ad Council.

The plan is to target the parents of children ages 11-15, with a secondary target of parents of kids under 21, SAMHSA officials said.

Of the three legislative efforts to create a national alcohol-awareness campaign, the Ad Council's PSA effort is the only one so far to get passed by Congress and receive funding. A bill to create a larger paid-media campaign is stalled, and a bill to stop underage drinking--which would provide $1 million in taxpayers' money to fund a media campaign targeting underage drinkers--has yet to move forward.

George Hacker, director of CSPI's Alcohol Policies Project, said he considers the PSA effort a "good first start" but argued that "this is no substitute for a fully funded national media campaign that controls the timing, placement and targeting of advertising to prevent youth-alcohol problems."

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More on Alcohol and Youth

Store owners praised for tossing malt liquor
Pasadena Star News, CA, November 23, 2004
Police Chief Bernard Melekian honored eight liquor store owners Tuesday for voluntarily pulling several brands of fortified malt liquor from their shelves.

Melekian hailed the compact as a "momentous' step in the effort to curb public drunkenness and other nuisances in the neighborhoods surrounding the stores.

All eight establishments are in Northwest Pasadena, along Orange Grove Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, where the worst nuisance cases have been reported.

"This is totally unheard of,' said Tahra Goraya, executive director of Day One, a group formed to fight substance abuse. "Some folks would worry this would hurt their bottom line, but the bottom line is the health of the community."

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Alcohol and Land Use

Plan would make it illegal for teenagers to be drunk
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, November 22, 2004
Parents could be prosecuted for turning a blind eye to high school drinking parties and drunken teens could lose their drivers licenses under a plan likely to gain favor in the Legislature next year.

The proposal by a special House and Senate committee seeks to eliminate what many regard as loopholes in the state's underage drinking laws.

For example, while it is currently illegal for minors to buy, seek to buy or possess alcohol, it's not illegal for them to be intoxicated. Under the committee's plan, youth could be charged solely for being drunk - regardless of whether they were in possession of alcohol at the time.

The plan would create more ways for adults to run afoul of underage-drinking laws as well. As it is, adults can be charged for helping minors obtain alcohol. The proposal would make it a misdemeanor for adults to knowingly allow teens to drink on their property, even if the adult did not buy the alcohol.

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More on Adults and Underage Drinking

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Pistons say alcohol isn't the problem
Sales were lower than those for the opener, but a fan says drinking was heavy
The Detroit News, November 23, 2004
Blame the excitement, not the alcohol.

That's the Pistons' message coming out of Friday's brawl between the Pacers and Pistons in which Indiana star Ron Artest charged into the stands to fight fans.

"It was a passionate, emotional game against a chief rival in the Indiana Pacers," said Tom Wilson, president of Palace Sports & Entertainment.

According to policy, The Palace have suspended alcohol sales after the third quarter of basketball games since the arena opened. Wilson doesn't expect to change any of those procedures or policies.

"What we do know is that less beer was sold that evening (Friday) than for a playoff game," Wilson said. "There was less beer sold than on opening night. We've had the same rules in place for the 15 million Pistons fans who've watched games here at The Palace."

Wilson said there are safeguards in place to prevent the serving of alcohol to inebriated fans.

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More on Responsible Beverage Service
Reducing Alcohol Problems at Community Events

Editorial: Oakland takes on liquor stores
San Francisco Chronicle, November 21, 2004
Ask members of almost any urban neighborhood association to describe their biggest and most entrenched problem and, with few exceptions, fingers will point to liquor stores. What used to be convenient markets for staples such as bread and milk are now often gathering posts for undesirables, dispensaries for cigarettes and alcohol, and magnets for illegal behavior, trash and blight.

Perhaps nowhere is the problem more pronounced than in Oakland, where liquor stores abound. With 350 of them, the city is "oversaturated,'' according to the state department of Alcohol Beverage Control. In some parts of the city -- particularly the flatlands -- there are two per block.

"For two years, it didn't matter what community meeting we went to, there was always complaints of neighborhood liquor stores,'' said Alex Nguyen, of the Neighborhood Law Corps, a unit within the city attorney's office. The corps was formed in 2002 to hear residents' concerns and then do something about them.

Cities cannot revoke state-issued liquor licenses, but they can impose restrictions on land use, a tack Oakland is now taking with liquor stores.

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How communities can address a problem alcohol outlet
More on Alcohol Sales Licenses

New Mexico State University student dies after binge drinking
Las Cruces Sun-News, November 23, 2004
Funeral services for Steven Judd, a 21-year-old New Mexico State University student who died Thursday, will be held at 1 p.m. today at the Loretto Academy Chapel in El Paso.

The young man died Thursday at El Paso’s Thomason Hospital, several hours after he was found unconscious and not breathing in a bedroom at the Delta Chi Fraternity house, located on Plain Street, two blocks from NMSU. Las Cruces police said Judd had been drinking at two bars the night before, celebrating his 21st birthday with several fraternity members.

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Alcohol and Youth Facts

Monday, November 22, 2004

Slippery slope: Pacers-Pistons fight latest shot in growing divide between players, fans
Sports Illustrated, November 22, 2004
If you think the brawl between the Pistons, the Pacers and the public started with Ron Artest's hard foul on Friday night, then you just haven't been paying attention. The tensions that led to that melee have been building for years, as the gulf between athletes and fans has widened, standards of civility have declined and the lust for violence has intensified. It's been getting increasingly nasty out there...

Throw alcohol into the mix and the whole thing explodes like a Molotov cocktail. NBA commissioner David Stern sounded sincere when he said that the league would consider restricting alcohol sales in the future, and there's no doubt that turning off the taps at the start of the fourth quarter, for instance, would reduce the likelihood of brawls like the one on Friday night

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Alcohol and Sports - An Unhealthy Mix

Law sought against hunting while drinking
Associated Press, November 15, 2004
A former Missouri couple has petitioned the state Legislature to stiffen the laws against hunting and drinking.

Their 18-year-old son, David McQuinley of Lebanon, Mo., died four years ago when his friend's father-who had been drinking-shot him to death on a deer-hunting trip.

The man, William Ludlow of Waynesville, told authorities he drank three beers that day.

Ludlow, who is stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, aimed his rifle at what he said he thought was a wild pig. He shot McQuinley, who died instantly.

McQuinley's mother, Vonda Knell, and her husband, Danny, who then were stationed at Fort Leonard Wood and are now stationed in Fort Knox, Ky., have petitioned the Missouri Legislature every year since then.

Knell said it is impossible to know whether Ludlow was drunk at the time because his blood- alcohol level wasn't tested. She wants the state to pass a law to make it illegal to hunt while intoxicated.

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More Alcohol Legislation

Online Wine: Pull Out The Stopper
The Supreme Court should strike down state laws that restrict sales on the Web
Business Week Online, November 29, 2004
For years, California winemaker Terry Speizer put up with the shackles on his business. He was resigned to being unable to sell his pinot noirs and syrahs to nearly half the country because of restrictive state laws. But in 2000, he hit his breaking point. Michigan wine critics Ray and Eleanor Heald asked to review a pinot from his Domaine Alfred winery -- and he couldn't ship them one measly bottle. Michigan is one of 11 states that bar out-of-state wineries from sending bottles directly to consumers, while allowing in-state wineries to do the same thing.

Speizer is getting his day in the nation's highest court. On Dec. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments in his lawsuit and a similar suit from New York. These cases pit alcohol wholesalers and dozens of state attorneys general against wineries and online wine stores. The plaintiffs say the Constitution gives the federal government -- not the states -- the right to regulate interstate trade. Defendants assert that the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition in 1933, gives states the near-absolute right to regulate the sale of alcohol. This conflict between state and federal rights has existed for decades, but the advent of the Internet and the explosion of new wineries has put the issue front and center.

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More on Internet Alcohol Sales

No beer on tap in city
The Times Journal, AL , November 18, 2004
There won’t be any keg parties in Fort Payne anytime soon - not legally, anyway.

That’s because kegs contain draft beer and, under state law, draft beer sales aren’t automatically allowed in Alabama - even in areas where other types of legal alcohol sales are.

Representatives from Alabama Beverage Control spoke to the Fort Payne City Council during a work session on Tuesday concerning ABC’s policies on licensing alcohol vendors and enforcing laws pertaining to alcohol sales.

May suggested the council look at regulatory ordinances already adopted by other cities, which contain restrictions on how many signs may be placed per square feet, or require such signs to be placed on the rear-most walls of businesses where alcohol is sold, such as convenience stores.

May said the council might also consider an amendment prohibiting such businesses from stacking cases of beer next to front windows as a form of advertisement. He said some regulations pertaining to the advertisement of alcohol sales are already covered under state law, such as a prohibition on any type of flashing neon sign advertising alcohol sales.

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Use Zoning to Prevent Alcohol Problems
Limiting Alcohol Sales Licenses

Friday, November 19, 2004

ABC gets questions on alcohol sales
The Times-Journal, AL, November 18, 2004
The Fort Payne City Council got several of their alcohol questions answered Tuesday at a special work session that included representatives of the Alabama Beverage Control board.

Agents Joey May and J.D. Davis were among the ABC personnel on hand, discussing issues concerning the government of legalized alcohol sales in Fort Payne and to talk about ABC’s “Responsible Vendor Program.”

The Responsible Vendor Program provides training for employees involved in the sale or service of alcohol. May said the training has proven crucial in reducing illegal alcohol sales to minors and intoxicated customers, as well as in reducing the risks of liability lawsuits related to alcohol sales.

Although participation in the program is not a requirement of the state, it is required under a local ordinance regulating alcohol sales in Fort Payne. Fort Payne residents voted to approve citywide legal alcohol sales in a referendum held earlier this month.

May suggested the city make use of zoning laws to better regulate where and how alcohol is sold in Fort Payne.

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Internet Alcohol Sales
Use Zoning to Prevent Problems

Ohio State warns visitors of harsher alcohol policing
The Michigan Daily, OH, November 19, 2004
A student who cracks open a beer while tailgating in a public area in Columbus before Michigan plays Ohio State tomorrow could face a fine of up to a $1,000 and possibly six months in jail.

It’s a fate awaiting students who are unaware of the alcohol laws in Ohio, which are harsher than those in Michigan.

The consequences for violating the open container law in Michigan are not as severe as in Ohio. “If you’re over 21 and you’re drinking in public, the maximum penalty is 30 days in jail or a $100 fine or both,” said Dana Fair, assistant to the vice president for student affairs.

Fair said the Office of Student Affairs at Ohio State University contacted the University in an effort to make sure students are aware of the penalties for violating Ohio alcohol laws. Fair specifically cited the law that prohibits anyone-even people older than 21-from having an open container of alcohol in public, which includes sidewalks and streets. He also said the penalties that accompany the law are relatively high.

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The Truth Behind Party Schools

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Mrs. Freudenthal leads charge on underage drinking
Casper Star Tribune, WY, November 17, 2004
Cheyenne, Wyoming adults need to help crack down on underage drinking, first lady Nancy Freudenthal said Wednesday in launching a public-awareness program.

"We need to get the message to Wyoming parents that alcohol contributes to more deaths among our children than all illicit drugs combined -- six times as many," Mrs. Freudenthal said at a Capitol news conference.

"We need to stand up and say it's not acceptable," she said, adding that parents' own drinking habits and their allowing access to alcohol in the home, along with media advertising play a large role in teen and preteen use of liquor.

"We just can't blame our children," she said. "Our children don't live in a vacuum." Parents tend to look on youthful drinking as a rite of passage, a part of society, she said, but "it's time to change the cultural norm."

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Council Rejects Alcohol Sales at Gas Station
Valley Sun, CA , November 18, 2004
With members indicating they couldn't see the need to allow additional offsite alcohol sales in the downtown area, the La Cañada Flintridge City Council Monday denied a beer and wine sales permit sought by a gas station proposed for major renovation.

The corporate-owned Chevron station, at 623 Foothill Blvd., needed City Council approval to sell beer and wine at a proposed upscale convenience store because the state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will not grant a license due to crime levels and the number of alcohol sellers in that area.

"I think you're just inviting all kinds of issues. It's not an ideal place to sell alcohol," Councilman Steven Del Guercio said, adding there are a number of studies showing a direct correlation between alcohol and increases in crime.

"I think we've reached the point where the community is saturated," Councilman Greg Brown said of the number of offsite alcohol sellers within three blocks of the gas station.

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Limiting Alcohol Sales Licenses

The Joe Camel of our time
Silver Chips Online, MD, November 17, 2004
Beer commercials target teens, glamorize underage drinking...Recent research shows a connection between the mass advertising teens are exposed to and the pressure to unlawfully drink. Teens are viewing more alcohol ads than ever before. CAMY found that almost 90,000 additional alcohol-related television ads appeared in 2003 than in 2001, and teens ages 13 to 19 saw an average of 245 alchol-related ads in 2001. They saw more ads for beer than for other products like juice, gum, chips, sneakers or jeans.

"Why would [alcohol] advertisers be spending so much if they didn't think it would help their return?" Jay Hedlund, the manager of the campaign for Alcohol Free Sports TV says.

Until stricter policies are placed on the alcohol industry to force them into regulating their commercials, teens continue to be the target of beer ads. Just as cigarette commercials were outlawed from television in 1971 due to the health concerns of smoking, it is time for the alcohol industry to face a ban or, at the very least, heavy restrictions.

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Alcohol Advertising and Youth

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Marin County Youth drinking targeted
The San Francisco Chronicle, November 17, 2004
It is going to get harder for teenagers in Marin County to booze it up and raise hell after the announcement Tuesday that $890,000 is going to be spent on a tippling crackdown.

The state grant money will be used in an effort to change the drinking habits of Marin's youth, who have a higher rate of alcohol use and binge drinking than young people statewide. Among the strategies to be considered are reducing the availability of alcohol for underage drinkers and increasing law enforcement.

"Binge drinking among youth and young adults in Marin County is a very serious problem," said Larry Meredith, director of the county Department of Health and Human Services. "Alcohol is a key factor in the three leading causes of death among our young people, including traffic crashes, homicides and suicides, and is also used by our Marin County youth more than any other drug, including marijuana and tobacco."

A $750,000 state incentive grant will be used over the next three years to reduce binge drinking in young people between the ages of 12 and 25. Another $140,000 grant from the federal Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws Program will be used by Novato over the next two years for anti-drinking programs in middle schools and high schools.

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Marin Alcohol Facts

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) pressured to ban alcohol advertising on vehicles
The Burlington Union, MA, November 17, 2004
A group representing MBTA riders has asked the massive public transit authority to delay bidding on a five-year advertising contract until the group decides whether to recommend banning ads that promote products containing alcohol.

Members of the 24-member MBTA Riders Oversight Committee, which was created by the authority in November 2003 during its last round of fare hikes, likened the detrimental effects of alcohol to tobacco and urged their colleagues to oust alcohol ads from a system that serves thousands of teens and children.

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Secondhand effects of alcohol in Boston

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Brewers Focus on Hispanic Market
New York Times, NY, November 15, 2004
The accounts of five Mexican beers, with combined spending estimated in the tens of millions of dollars, are being reassigned after reviews to four agencies, a shift that underscores the growing importance to brewers of the Hispanic market and of brands with roots in Spanish-speaking countries.

The deal comes as the beer industry intensifies its focus on Latino consumers, as illustrated by an advertising contract signed last month by the Miller Brewing Company division of SABMiller with Univision Communications, the biggest Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States.

"The Hispanic, specifically the Mexican, component of the beer market is huge, and going to get huger," said Steve Davis, senior vice president for marketing at Heineken USA in White Plains, New York.

Hispanics, the fastest-growing American demographic group, are becoming more prized by marketers. The group is also younger than the general population, an important feature to brewers because drinkers aged 21 to 34 consume more beer than older drinkers and tend to be less brand loyal.

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Latino Community Success Story

Social norms ads fail to reduce alcohol use
The Daily Pennsylvanian, PA, November 16, 2004
...ads created by the University since 2000 promote the idea that the average Penn student drinks four or fewer alcoholic beverages when partying.

This alcohol education approach is modeled after social norming campaigns used at other schools that aim to correct the tendency of undergraduates to overestimate how much their peers drink. These programs have proved effective at a number of universities.

Yet, on the whole, such campaigns are largely ineffective and have even been linked to increased alcohol use, according to a study surveying over 100 colleges conducted by the Harvard University School of Public Health.

The findings indicated that social norming campaigns did not cause a decrease in alcohol consumption as measured by quantity or frequency. Levels of drunkenness and heavy episodic drinking also did not decline.

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Our Solution: Environmental Prevention

The warnings will be similar to those found on cigarette packets and will also promote website drinkaware.co.uk, which allows people to compare their alcohol intake with government guidelines.

The UK Government is becoming increasingly concerned about levels of binge drinking in Britain and other brewers are expected to follow Scottish & Newcastle's example. Coors, which brews Carling and Grolsch lagers, has said it will introduce a similar policy next year.

Harvard tells rules for Game
Yale Daily News Special, CT, November 12, 2004
Harvard Undergraduate Council President Matthew Mahan announced Thursday the final regulations for tailgates at the Nov. 20 Harvard-Yale football game in Cambridge, Mass.

These new regulations were announced after Harvard obtained a liquor license Wednesday afternoon. All other previously-announced regulations, such as bans on kegs, U-Hauls and Winnebagos, and limits on the amount of alcohol each person can carry into the tailgate -- 20 gallons of malt beverages, one gallon of hard alcohol and three gallons of other alcoholic beverages -- remain the same.

Harvard tailgate organizers had experienced an unexpected delay in obtaining the license when liquor distributor United Liquors pulled out of its agreement to provide beer for the tailgate in early October. Mahan said Harvard has since found another distributor to replace United Liquors, but declined to name the company, saying inaccurate press coverage in the Harvard Crimson had led United Liquors to bow out.

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Alcohol and Sports - An Unhealthy Mix

University officials said the numbers reflect alcohol abuse among students and indicate that the problem is still rampant.

"What it says is we have an environment that provides cheap alcohol that is available for underage drinking," said Phillip Jones, the vice president for Student Services. "It looks bad; we are among the nation's worst."

He continues to support a 21-ordinance that would deny minors entrance to the city's bars. The current 19-ordinance aids underage drinking, he said.

Jason Pierce, who represents the UI greek community as coordinator of campus programs and student activities, said the numbers show that alcohol education doesn't work. He said that each year, greeks are required to attend alcohol-education meetings and host nonalcoholic social events.

Friday, November 12, 2004

Whiskey With Honey? Distillers Try 'Entry-Level' Scotch
Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2004
For more than a generation, whiskey makers have watched as vodka became the cocktail ingredient of choice for waves of hip, young people, while their own product's image seemed stuck in the 1940s.

Distillers have tried spending millions of dollars on youth-oriented marketing campaigns. They have run ads highlighting whiskey's history and tradition. They have pitched the drink to bartenders to entice them to serve it more. Yet none of it has worked to spur overall sales growth.

Now the scotch industry is trying a more radical step: pushing lighter and alternative flavors of the product itself. Scotch whisky is, to put it politely, an acquired taste, and distillers are trying to make it easier to swallow with versions redolent of citrus and vanilla that they hope will appeal to younger drinkers and women.

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Drug and alcohol forum seeks public input
Nashua Telegraph, NH, November 11, 2004
Anyone concerned about the effects of alcohol and other drugs on community life is invited to attend a meeting next week, one of a series organized across the state to address issues of prevention, intervention and treatment.

“It’s an opportunity to have a voice, (express) concerns, hopes for addressing the issues in our community,” said Betsy Abrahams, executive director of The Youth Council, a co-sponsor of the event slated for Nov. 17, from 7-8:30 p.m. at Bonhoeffer’s Cafe at Grace Fellowship Church, 34 Franklin St.

The aim of the meeting is to draw attention to alcohol and other drug issues, make suggestions about how to use limited funds to improve services, and give parents, teenagers, school officials, law enforcement personnel and elected officials an opportunity to share ideas and experiences.

The Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment was established four years ago - the same year the state Legislature passed a bill that dedicates a portion of the profits from alcohol sales to prevention and treatment.

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Our Solution: Environmental Prevention

The legislation permits retailers to set their own price -- at or above the state-set minimum -- at any level they think they can get for hard liquor. The minimum price will continue to be set by the Liquor Control Commission. The bill's impact on consumers, and on the state treasury, is hard to predict. In a practice dating to the end of Prohibition in 1933, retailers must charge whatever price the commission sets.

Bars and restaurants that serve liquor already are allowed to mark up the price of alcoholic drinks they serve. Beer and wine prices aren't affected by the legislation.

Liquor tax rates would not be affected, but the amount of sales tax revenue that goes to the state could increase -- if consumption isn't affected by the price hikes.

A number of reports released in the past few years have revealed how complex brain development is and how alcohol inhibits that process, leading to memory impairment, learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

"While the skeleton, skin and body stop growing, the brain is still growing," said Isabel Burk, a nationally certified health education specialist and instructor for the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. "At 18, the brain is still well into the growing phase."

Burk is a sought-after speaker who has lectured in 38 states on the dangers of drugs and alcohol. She recently made a presentation on drinking and brain development for local educators through the Long Island Regional Student Support Services. She has appeared on "20/20," "CBS This Morning," "The View," and Fox News. The main point she tries to hammer home is that the brain develops on a very complex schedule, and drinking disrupts that schedule.

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More on the Affects of Alcohol

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Underage drinking leads to more problems
Tri Valley Dispatch, AZ, November 09, 2004
Some ask, "Why does it matter if teens drink alcohol?" Research tells us that if we can keep people from drinking until the age of 21, they are much less likely to drink alcoholicly - become dependent upon alcohol.

According to an analysis of the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, persons reporting they first used alcohol before age 15 are more than five times as likely to report past-year alcohol dependence or abuse as adults than persons who first used alcohol at age 21 or older. The report, entitled "Alcohol Dependence or Abuse and Age of First Use," is available on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Web page at http://www.oas.samhsa. gov.

"SAMHSA is also shedding light on the processes that underlie the exceptional susceptibility to addiction experienced by boys and girls who begin using drugs in adolescence. Recent studies provide evidence that drugs affect the developing brain differently than they do the matured brain." (NIDA notes, Vol. 19, No. 3, Page 3)

In short, the decision to keep human beings from consuming beverage alcohol until the age of 21 is a health-based decision. Adolescent and pre-adolescent brains and bodies are still developing, so we want to do everything we can to ensure proper and safe development. Introducing a sedative drug into a developing body is not a healthy choice. Those who choose to use alcohol before the age of 21 are five times more likely to become alcohol abusers or alcoholics than if they just wait until they are legally allowed to drink.

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The Costs of Underage Drinking
Alcohol and Youth Facts

Officers work later since later last call
Arizona Republic News, AZ, November 09, 2004
When the closing time for watering holes changed to 2 a.m. in August, bars expected a surge in profits while critics worried about the increased number of drunken drivers.But three months later, profits haven't soared nor have the number of drunken driving incidents. But for two Valley nightlife hotspots the change translates to police working later into the morning to answer calls associated with the night owls.

"People just don't seem to be going to bed. They go to Del Taco. They're walking the streets, hanging out the parking lots. Our officers are spending more of their time backing up officers at more criminal calls fights, domestic violence."said Sgt. John Butler. Officers in Scottsdale and Tempe bumped shift changes back so that officers accustomed to getting off at 3 or 4 a.m. are often forced to stay on the streets until near daybreak, especially on weekends.

Butler's biggest worry, though, is something he can't yet quantify. Because the drinkers are keeping later hours, they're on the roads until later at night, or early in the morning, he said. "My own opinion is we're pushing the impaired drivers onto the roads at 4, 5:30 in the morning, when people are taking their kids school, going to work," he said.

As a result the bar time changes could affect more of the public than just those who want to party longer and later.

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More on Later Last Call

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

NASCAR to give hard-liquor ads green flag
USA Today, November 10, 2004
NASCAR officials e-mailed a bulletin to team executives Tuesday afternoon advising them that a longstanding ban on hard-liquor advertising will be lifted for next season.

By removing the ban, officials could create a sponsorship windfall for a couple of racing teams that have been courting liquor companies in recent months.

NASCAR president Mike Helton will make the formal announcement Wednesday. NASCAR is not expected to name an official hard-liquor brand, but teams and tracks will be allowed to advertise hard-liquor products - as long as the advertising programs include a commitment to promoting responsible drinking.

Roush Racing president Geoff Smith called the announcement "a victory for all the teams" but said he was disappointed that officials didn't lift the ban several months ago. Smith has spent much of this year vigorously lobbying NASCAR officials to allow liquor advertising.

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Alcohol Advertising and Youth

DUI crash no reason to be deported
Los Angeles Times, CA, November 10, 2004
The Supreme Court on Tuesday spared millions of legal immigrants from the threat of being deported if they are involved in a drunken driving accident.

In a unanimous opinion written by ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the court disagreed with the Bush administration and ruled that a drunken driving accident is not a "crime of violence," even if the accident results in injuries.

The decision limits the impact of tough immigration reform passed in 1996. According to that law, immigrants -- including those who have lived legally in the United States for many years -- shall be deported if they commit a serious crime, including any "crime of violence."

Tuesday's ruling does not change the practice in California, where the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has refused to deport immigrants for drunken driving injury accidents. Nationally, it marked an important victory for immigrants rights, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

In most states, drunken driving that results in death or injury is a serious crime that can send a motorist to jail for a year or more. The question for the Supreme Court was whether the motorist also could be deported after leaving jail.

...Rehnquist and his colleagues said that in the normal use of language, the phrase "use of force" implies an intent. "Thus, a person would 'use ... physical force against' another when pushing him; however, we would not ordinarily say a person 'uses ... physical force against' another by stumbling and falling into him," the chief justice wrote.

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Tuesday, November 9, 2004

S.F. and Marin top charts of high breast cancer rates
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, November 8, 2004
White women in the Bay Area continue to have some of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world.

For years, California researchers reported that Marin County had the highest rate in the region, triggering citizen concerns and publicly financed studies investigating the reasons.

But a new statistical evaluation shows that San Francisco County has had rates similar to Marin County's for at least the past decade ...

Cancer experts suspect that the higher-than-average socioeconomic status of Bay Area women may correspond to higher proportions of known risk factors - - such as never having given birth or having had a child when they were over age 30.

In the last few years, researchers investigating the Marin cases concluded that these factors appeared to influence the rates, as did an apparent higher-than-average alcohol consumption and the wider use of mammography.

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College students drinking themselves to death
MSNBC Front Page, November 8, 2004
It’s a sad but recurring campus story: This autumn, students are again drinking themselves to death.

“What a college president can do is affect the atmosphere and climate,” said Thomas Hearn, who has been actively involved in alcohol issues during his long tenure as president of Wake Forest University.

“It’s not about telling kids to be more careful and giving them a brochure and CD-ROM,” said Alexander Wagenaar, a University of Florida professor of epidemiology and health policy research. “Changing the environment that fosters it, that’s the key.”

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Monday, November 8, 2004

Are liquor stores 'ugly' neighbors?
Oakland Tribune, CA, Novembr 8, 2004
For more than two years, neighbors of Al's Liquors spent day and night documenting problems at the store. ...And the city responded, flexing its land-use powers for the first time ever in August by revoking the store's operating permit.

But despite their efforts and recommendations from the city attorney and the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a hearing officer's revocation decision was overruled by the Planning Commission in September.

The state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has the power to fine stores and suspend the licenses of owners caught selling to minors or violating their licenses in other ways. After three violations in a three-year period, liquor store license can be permanently revoked. ...But revocations are few and far between...

The issue captured the attention of Alex Nguyen, director of the Neighborhood Law Corps in the City Attorney's office, who along with his staff attended community meeting after community meeting and listened to residents complain constantly about the detrimental effects poorly run stores have on their health, safety and quality of life.

Nguyen's frustration was the catalyst for a report that ranked all of Oakland's liquor stores as "good," "bad" or "ugly," based on the number and type of complaints they had received from ABC, Oakland police or other city departments.

Flexing the city's muscle in such a way is controversial, however, especially among liquor store owners and the powerful liquor industry. And it requires building a meticulous case against the stores.

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More on Alcohol Sales Licenses

Beer planned at Little League park
WFAA, TX, November 5, 2004
Alcohol and youth baseball are about to mix in Mansfield, and it's leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of some residents. The city is building a state-of-the art youth baseball field, and plans to sell beer at the concession stand.

The fields will be open to youth and adult leagues, and that's where the controversy starts. Beer will be on tap anytime there is an adult game being played.

Wanda Allen, whose property will border the new ballpark, is also concerned. "I'm sure that you have seen how parents act at Little League games and they get irate without a beer. You take a beer and they're going to be more irate," she predicted.

But city officials said the alcohol sales will generate much-needed revenue. "People take their kids to the Rangers games all the time. They take them to the Cowboys games. Alcohol is served there and it's a very controlled environment," Willis pointed out. "We believe the alcohol sales will be just a portion of the revenue that's generated by the facility."

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Reducing Alcohol Problems at Community Events

Friday, November 5, 2004

Campaign Urges Parents Not to Give Liquor to Teens
Washington Post, DC, November 4, 2004
Montgomery County officials launched a public-education campaign last week to combat teen drinking, focusing on efforts to persuade parents not to provide alcohol for teenage parties.

County officials estimate that about 80 percent of the alcohol consumed by underage drinkers is purchased legally by adults. Nationally, about 65 percent of alcohol drunk by minors is purchased by adults, said George Griffin, director of Montgomery's Department of Liquor Control.

The slogan for the two-year campaign is "Parents who host lose the most: Don't be a party to underage drinking." Fliers will be distributed through county liquor stores to anyone buying alcohol.

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Thursday, November 4, 2004

Lengendary California wine company is sold
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, November 4, 2004
The world's biggest wine conglomerate, Constellation Brands, has snapped up the iconic but struggling Robert Mondavi Corp. of Oakville for more than a billion dollars, saving Napa Valley's best-known winery from its own draconian plan to split in two and sell off its luxury brands piecemeal.

The deal will keep all Robert Mondavi brands -- from the $5 Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi to the $125 Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve -- under the same roof instead of splitting them among multiple owners.

The acquisition further consolidates Constellation's position as the largest global wine company, boosting its annual production to 80 million cases from 70 million. The next largest producer, E&J Gallo Winery of Modesto, sells about 70 million cases.

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Other Big Alcohol Players

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Salazar edges Coors for Senate
Rocky Mountain News, CO, November 3, 2004
Ken Salazar's narrow victory over Republican Pete Coors sends him to a U.S. Senate that has had only three Hispanics in its history, the last nearly 30 years ago.

"I will now go back to having the greatest job in America - running a beer company," Coors said.

Actually, he probably won't. While Coors was on leave from his job as CEO of the brewery, his company announced a merger with Canadian brewer, Molson. If the merger goes through, Eric Molson will become chairman of the combined Molson Coors firm.

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Our Take on the Molson Coors Merger

Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Liquor Provider Pulls Out of Plans
Crimson, MA, October 29, 2004
The planning for this year’s Harvard-Yale tailgate has hit another glitch. The alcohol distributor tapped to provide beer for The Game pulled out of negotiations earlier this month. With just three weeks until the event, Harvard must work to find a replacement.

United Liquors, the largest liquor distributor in Massachusetts, dropped the agreement because of the bad publicity associated with selling alcohol to College students, according to an employee of United Liquors who asked not to be named.

But Undergraduate Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05 and Special Assistant for Social Programming Zachary A. Corker insisted that planning for the tailgate at Ohiri Fields will go on and that the search for a replacement has already begun.

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Alcohol and Sports - An Unhealthy Mix
Reducing Alcohol Problems Off-Campus

Monday, November 1, 2004

Students duck efforts to fight alcohol
News Journal, DE, October 31, 2004
Nine years after the university began battling binge drinking and the "culture of alcohol" on campus with the help of $1.2 million in grants, booze is regularly finding its way into the hands of underage students.

Administrators and students agree: Even as the campaign against underage drinking shows some positive results, it's still not very hard for students younger than 21 to get - and drink - alcohol on and around campus.

In the mid-'90s, the University of Delaware wasn't known as a "party school" for nothing. But after grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation began rolling in, things changed. Freshmen now say going into a Newark bar with a fake ID is likely to result in confiscation of the ID - or arrest. Rules scale back alcohol use in fraternities and sororities. Homecoming tailgating has been limited.

At the same time, the drinking culture remains. A 22-ounce Bud Light costs $2 at Grotto Pizza on Main Street. In the university's bookstore, shot glasses are sold with a grinning YoUDee mascot on the front running with a football. And on any weekend night, the alcohol flows at students' choice of parties.

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