Alcohol News: July-September 2004
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Officials Studying Alcohol Use Among GLBTS
Chicago Free Press, IL, September 30, 2004
Health and GLBT community officials from Chicago and across the country gathered at the American Medical Association headquarters Sept. 24 to discuss alcohol-related issues in the GLBT community.
"I thought now was a good time and Chicago would be a good place to convene," said Julio Rodriguez, a founder of Chicago's Association of Latino Men for Action and board member of the Marin Institute.
Rodriguez said the all-day discussion, co-sponsored by Marin, CDPH, the AMA and the Youth Leadership Institute, focused on the way alcohol is marketed to GLBTs, the community's relationship with bars, sponsorship of community events by beverage makers and the idea that GLBTs may be more susceptible to alcohol-related problems because of issues revolving around homophobia.
"How do we educate people about this commodity that's been a friend and a foe in our community?" Rodriguez said. "The LGBT community, like other communities, needs to think about alcohol and its relation to our community." One area the group focused on, he said, is "how the beverage industry markets to us," referring to alcohol advertising in the GLBT media.
Rodriguez said the meeting represents a start toward looking at the issue with the seriousness it deserves.
"This is a landmark event," he said. "We pulled together a bunch of people nationally and said, 'Let's look at this.'"
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College binge drinking brings tragedy
Houston Chronicle, TX, September 28, 2004
...more students will die of alcohol-related causes this year - about 1,400 - than U.S. troops have perished in Iraq. An additional 500,000 will suffer injuries.
Just in the past three weeks, two students have been found dead in fraternity houses after a night of partying....Sadly, these incidents aren't uncommon.
For plenty of parents, paying for tuition may be the least of their worries. The problem of alcohol consumption - anything from a few beers to one-after-another shots of tequila - is like campus kudzu: everywhere and hard to get rid of. There aren't any loans or federal grants to ease the burden.
Studies of the crisis abound. The latest, released earlier this month, concluded that binge drinking was worse than expected. College students may down as many as 24 alcoholic drinks in a row, according to the report funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (Other research had defined binge drinking as having five or more drinks in a row, and maybe more.)
The most quoted study, one conducted by the Harvard University School of Public Health, showed that 51 percent of college men and 40 percent of women had engaged in binge drinking within two weeks of the survey. More than half did this frequently. The consequences were dire, from vehicular deaths to serious injuries to unprotected sex to suicide.
The campus alcohol culture is hard to beat, and I suspect it will require more than education. Being drunk will have to lose its glamour.
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The Truth Behind "Party Schools"
Cost of Underage Drinking
County targets binge drinking
Modesto Bee, CA, September 30, 2004
Stanislaus County has received $206,000 to ramp up efforts to curb binge drinking, a difficult-to-define problem that likely affects thousands of area teenagers and young adults.
Stanislaus County's effort will include an informational campaign and work to increase restrictions on alcohol availability, Jue said. The program will target those from 12 to 25 years old, a range that includes legal and illegal drinkers.
According to results from a 2002 survey, 16.3 percent of students at California State University, Stanislaus, had reported binge drinking in the previous two weeks. That number rose to 44 percent for fraternity and sorority members and 30 percent for intercollegiate athletes.
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Details tell the truth of what's 'good' for you
The Arizona Republic, AZ, September 29, 2004
News stories lately show that recreational gambling, wine drinking and chocolate eating may be good for you.
...Don't rely on the headlines. Read the details of what the researchers are saying. One or two glasses of red wine may have a positive effect, but more can be unhealthy. Four or more glasses can affect the liver and related cancers. Remember one glass is 4 ounces, not a beer mug.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Carteret tightens the lid on bars
Star Ledger Middlesex, NJ, September 28, 2004
Carteret officials have begun cracking down on nightclubs and go-go bars as part of their campaign to improve the gritty borough's image and quality of life.
Last week the mayor and council, sitting as the local Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, found the bars, B&B Lounge, Charlie's Angels, Such's Bar and Carteret Inn, were guilty of charges ranging from closing five minutes late to serving underage or unruly patrons and allowing fighting on the premises...other charges included failure to maintain proper identification and registration of bar employees.
The bar owners pleaded guilty before the mayor and council and were fined $30,000. Their liquor license was suspended for 20 days and they were ordered to place signs on the front doors announcing that the bar was ordered closed and the license suspended for violations of local ordinances and ABC laws.
Mayor Daniel Reiman said he expects there will be action taken against more liquor establishments in town.
Reiman is following in the footsteps of Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas, who launched a quality of life campaign as he unveiled plans to redevelop the city.
With work about to begin on the redevelopment of the borough's old, abandoned business district, known as Chrome, and more projects to develop neighborhoods with luxury apartments, condominiums and other residential buildings in the planning stages, officials felt they had to turn their attention to the bars.
In three years, at least nine bars closed their doors and many others received lengthy suspensions.
Vas has said he launched his campaign to clean up the neighborhood bars after hearing repeated complaints from nearby residents that patrons urinated and fought on their front lawns in the early morning hours after leaving the bars.
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Learning the ABC's of the ABC
Southwest Virginia Enterprise, VA, September 28, 2004
A patron of The Clinic Pub & Eatery on Wytheville's Main Street was refused service because he was intoxicated. When he was told to leave, the man said he could get a ride home with a band member. He was allowed to wait on the premises until the band dismantled its equipment.
Before that happened, the man was arrested by an undercover agent with the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Handcuffed and taken to jail, he was charged with being drunk in public.
The owner of the business was charged with serving alcohol to an intoxicated person and for allowing an intoxicated patron to loiter at the restaurant. That encounter prompted Randy Shelton, who owns The Clinic Pub & Eatery, to action. To become better informed of the agency's laws and regulations, he arranged for ABC officers to conduct a local training session.
"We want to be in compliance with the state laws," Shelton stated. "As a citizen and businessman, I want to make sure I do my part to ensure the safety of the community." His invitation to all local businesses with ABC licenses to attend the Responsible Sellers and Servers Virginia Program - RSVP -was accepted by some 30 representatives.
RSVP teaches employees how to prevent sales of alcohol to minors and intoxicated customers. It shows them how to spot fake identifications and how to document alcohol-related incidents. Also, participants learn about the laws and administrative regulations that govern alcohol sales and consumption in Virginia.
"We should be working hand-in-hand with ABC officers. We should be considered more as partners." Shelton commented.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Teen Bingeing
Science Central News, September 28, 2004
Adolescent drinking is nothing new. During the late 1970s underage drinking reached a peak, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and alcohol is now believed to be the number one drug of choice among children and adolescents.
"What has happened in recent years is there's been a split," explains Aaron White, an alcohol researcher in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University. "There's been an increase in sort of a heavy, repeated binge-type drinking and also an increase in abstention. Most adults when they drink, they drink slowly, they have a few glasses of wine at dinner or beer at the football game or something like that, whereas a lot of young people drink as much as they can and as quickly as they can."
As part of the ongoing Seattle Social Development Project, sociologist Sabrina Oesterle and her colleagues at the Social Development Research Group at the University of Washington in Seattle looked at the long-term health effects of adolescent binge drinking.
Oesterle found that late-onsetters were about 50 percent more likely than non-drinkers to engage in unsafe driving behavior such as driving drunk, driving with others under the influence of drugs or alcohol or not using a seatbelt. This group was also more likely to have been ill in the past year with serious conditions like asthma, diabetes and cancer.
The NIAAA says that the level of underage drinking has remained constant, but disturbingly high, over the last decade. Oesterle believes that starting any kind of prevention early on in elementary school may be the key, "but at the same time it seems important to continue any kind of prevention work throughout the school years and into high school."
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Anheuser-Busch to be beer sponsor for 2008 Olympics
The Miami Herald, FL, September 28, 2004
The St. Louis-based company's Budweiser will be the official "international beer sponsor" for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The sponsorship was announced during a news conference in Beijing.
The deal gives Anheuser-Busch rights to use the 2008 Olympic Games logo for promotional purposes in China and 29 other countries. The company plans to use it on packaging, point-of-sale material, sales promotions, branded merchandise and other marketing.
Anheuser-Busch officials called China the fastest-growing beer market in the world. And the company's presence there has been growing steadily.
Anheuser-Busch's investments in the Budweiser International Brewing Co. in Wuhan, the Tsingtao Brewery Co. in Qingdao, and the Harbin Brewery Group in Harbin total more than $1 billion.
In addition to the 2008 Olympics, Budweiser is the "official beer" sponsor of the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy. Anheuser-Busch's brands also serve as "official beer" sponsors of the U.S. Olympic Committee, extending its support of the U.S. team through 2008. Anheuser-Busch is the exclusive malt-beverage advertiser for all Olympic Games telecasts in the U.S. through 2008.
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Dry run not easy for college telecasts
Orlando Sentinel, FL, September 27, 2004
After Ohio State defeated Michigan on its way to a national football championship in 2002, the folks on campus in Columbus, Ohio, marked the occasion with a riot. Fans overturned cars, uprooted light posts and set looted furniture on fire, and cops had to respond with tear gas. "And it was almost entirely fueled by alcohol," Ohio State Athletic Director Andy Geiger said.
Still wincing from the memory, Geiger has been trying to sever the connection between alcohol and rowdy sports fans around an organization -- a university athletic department -- that's supposed to promote higher education and responsible behavior.
But even with the help of a Washington advocacy group, more than 200 other NCAA institutions and a roster of college sports heavyweights, he faces a Herculean struggle in his primary quest: to remove alcohol advertising from televised college sports.
The beer industry is opposed to the idea. The TV networks are keeping their lips pursed. The NCAA recently endorsed an Anheuser-Busch-funded survey debunking "widespread myths" about tailgating and beer consumption. And then there are the big Division I-A schools that have been silent, given that the tens of millions of dollars at stake are the same ones that fund their athletic departments.
Ohio State was one of the first schools in the country to sign the "College Commitment," part of the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV run by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Along with 219 other schools, Ohio State has pledged to eliminate alcohol advertising on local stations with which it is affiliated and exert pressure on conferences and the NCAA to do the same nationally.
But of those 220 schools -- a number the Center says represents 20 percent of the NCAA's membership -- most don't have a real financial stake in this battle. For instance, only nine schools play Division I-A football and just four -- Ohio State, Northwestern, Minnesota and Baylor -- belong to the so-called "Bowl Championship Series conferences." So where are all the other big schools?
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Outrage brews over beer ads
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia, September 21, 2004
A suggestive advertising campaign by Tasmanian brewer James Boag has alcohol and sexual assault groups hopping mad.
The new ads feature scantily clad women in seductive poses with the necks of Boag's beer bottles grasped provocatively in their hands. One picture to be used in the campaign even shows a man attempting to expose a woman's breast.
Alcohol and sexual assault groups yesterday labeled the ads outrageous and inappropriate.
Marg D'Arcy, spokeswoman for the Royal Women's Hospital's Centre Against Sexual Assault, said the ads were concerning given the link between alcohol and sexual assault. "It is extremely concerning that they're promoting alcohol with an ad that seems to suggest that he's either sexually harassing the woman, at best, or indecently assaulting her, at worst," she said.
Director of the Community Alcohol Action Network, Geoff Munro, said the campaign suggested drinking Boag's made you sexually available, a message that contravened the alcohol industry's own advertising code.
The Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code, agreed to by industry representatives in April this year, says alcohol advertising "must not promote offensive behaviour". The code also says alcohol ads must not depict the consumption of alcohol as a cause of sexual success.
...Mr. Munro said the new Boag's campaign was further proof the alcohol industry could not regulate itself.
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Stop Ads Designed to Trick Women into Bed
Violence and Alcohol Statistics
Monday, September 27, 2004
Tuscon Police Department trains bars to hunt for fake IDs
Arizona Daily Wildcat, AZ, September 27, 2004
Police are joining forces with restaurants and bars in an effort to stop underage drinking.
Tucson Police Department Lt. Ruben Nunez said police can't have an officer at every single bar every single night so police are training bar owners and servers how to identify fake IDs and how to confiscate them.
Rob LaMaster, regional vice president of the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said businesses have several tools they use to catch fake IDs including software that is downloaded on credit card machines, log books and even video systems.
Tucson Police Department Lt. Ruben Nunez said police would warn a restaurant one or two times.
"On the third we will come after you," he said. "If they have a history, they're not learning from their mistakes, and our purpose is to change their behavior."
Nunez said police plan to start taking all of the IDs that have been confiscated at bars or restaurants, find out whose IDs they were and follow up with sanctions.
Nunez said the TPD and Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association are concentrating on the driver's license suspension in hopes of dissuading people from using fake IDs.
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Univ. of Wyoming officials cracking down on alcohol at football games Billings Gazette, WY, September 25, 2004
The University of Wyoming is cracking down on people who violate alcohol policies before and during football games, athletic director Gary Barta told trustees Friday.
This year the designated drinking area, Tailgate Park, has moved and been expanded. Now that people have an environment available where drinking is legal, with restrictions on time and type of alcohol, the university will have little patience for those who violate the rules.
People drinking at times or in places where alcohol is not allowed will have their alcohol confiscated and they will be subject to additional enforcement actions, Barta told the board at its regular meeting.
Alcohol was a major topic of discussion at the meeting, with the showing of a lengthy video detailing alcohol use and abuse, comments from Wyoming first lady Nancy Freudenthal, and Barta's presentation on practices related to football games.
Still, he said, some people at football games have other goals in mind.
"If there's people who want to come here for the sole purpose of getting drunk, we want them to change their behavior or go somewhere else," he said.
After the video ended, trustees President Kathy Hunt said 46 percent of UW students report engaging in binge drinking, 32 percent have blacked out from alcohol consumption, and 12 percent say alcohol is affecting their academic performance.
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"It's time to party"
The Denver Post, CO, September 26, 2004
At college campuses in Colorado and across the country, underage students are drinking harder and longer than ever before, researchers say. Mass marketing feeds the craze with images of fun-loving friends drinking to have fun.
Beckoning are the sexy images of the Coors twins. Bar promotions such as "Flip Night" and "Power Hour" promise quick intoxication. Then there are the potent concoctions themselves with the creative names - Car Bomb, Bionic Beaver, Mind Eraser.
Numerous CU students say they keep an eye on the school's rank as a party school. In recent years, Princeton Review's guide to colleges rated CU as No. 1. While school officials dismiss the review, its message resonates with students, especially after CU's ranking fell to No. 9 this year. "Being the No. 1 party school is a big influence," said Kim Loeffler, a senior. "It honestly makes people want to do more."
That kind of mentality has students drinking more than ever, according to Harvard studies. While the number of college binge drinkers has plateaued in recent years, those who choose to drink are downing shots at potentially deadly rates.
Critics say the binge drinking is stoked by the bars and liquor stores that target students through volume discounts.
Liquor companies - through promotions, advertising and corporate sponsorships - have become linked with good health and a good time, said Jessica Webster, whose brother Taylor, a student at CSU, died two years ago of alcohol poisoning.
And when students are ready to drink at CSU, Webster noted, they won't have far to go. There are 107 liquor outlets, including stores and restaurants, within a 1-mile radius of campus.
"They associate beer companies with all the fun events in their lives, baseball games, county fairs, etc.," said Webster..."We have to wonder if all this is giving young people the underlying notion that drinking is good."
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What good is alcohol?
USA Today, United Statesman, Septebmer 26, 2004
Any bartender can recite the recipe for a martini: a chilled glass, fine gin, a touch of vermouth, garnished with an olive. If only doctors could so precisely calculate alcohol's effects on the body.
In a report released this summer, researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conclude that, overall, a drink or two a day can be beneficial. But researchers note that alcohol affects people in different ways, based on age, sex, genes and other factors.
While wine may protect a 65-year-old man with high cholesterol, it may offer no help to a 22-year-old. The young have a low risk of heart disease, but a high chance of dying in accidents. And alcohol's benefits cannot be banked for the future.
"Whereas alcoholic drinks may be standardized," researchers concluded, "drinkers are not."
Research now suggests that drinking patterns are as important as total consumption. Alcohol passes through the body relatively quickly, so drinking small amounts every day stretches out the benefits. Bingeing, on the other hand, poses a number of risks. People who want help weighing the odds should consult their doctors, Gunzerath says. And she notes that people can get just as much benefit - without the risks - from regular exercise.
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Alcohol provides big profits
News and Advance, VA, September 26, 2004
Alcohol has been carefully monitored by Virginia’s watchful eye ever since Prohibition ended in 1933. But the long-standing system has some state legislators struggling to reconcile moral philosophy with fiscal reality and some restaurants feeling a bit tipsy about liquor costs.
The intoxicating liquid adds a lot of money to the commonwealth’s budget. As one of 18 states that own and operate liquor stores, Virginia’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Department brought in nearly $56 million in profit. About $12.5 million went to beef up the state’s General Fund, $8.5 million was given to localities and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services received $34.5 million.
No matter the profits, Del. Preston Bryant, R-Lynchburg, said he does have a problem with the state being involved with the liquor industry. By being in the business, he said, Virginia is trying to sell as much hard liquor as it can so it can turn a profit. At the same time, the state wants to limit the sometimes destructive drug’s use.
“We tried prohibition,” Bryant said. “It didn’t work. So it may be in our community’s best interest if the state exercises proper controls.”
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Ways to Exercise Proper Control
Friday, September 24, 2004
Bacardi charged in Texas election scandal
The Miami Herald, September 23, 2004
A Texas grand jury has indicted Bacardi USA on charges of making a $20,000 illegal campaign contribution to Texas Republican state legislative candidates in 2002, in a case linked to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political fund-raising activities.
Miami-based Bacardi was named in the indictment along with seven other companies, including Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, and three top political aides to DeLay.
Corporate contributions to state legislative candidates are illegal in Texas. If convicted, Bacardi faces fines of up to $20,000. The indictment alleges that the companies funneled contributions through DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority.
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Alcohol Industry Contributions to CA
Alcohol tied to 75,000 deaths a year in US study
Boston Globe, September 23, 2004
Alcohol abuse kills some 75,000 Americans each year and shortens the lives of these people by an average of 30 years, a U.S. government study suggested Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published the study, estimated that 34,833 people in 2001 died from cirrhosis of the liver, cancer and other diseases linked to drinking too much beer, wine and spirits.
"These results emphasize the importance of adopting effective strategies to reduce excessive drinking, including increasing alcohol excise taxes and screening for alcohol misuse in clinical settings," the study said.
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Health Care Cost of Alcohol Problems
The debate over alcohol sales
Lexington Herald-Leader, KY, September 24, 2004
The debate over alcohol in Kentucky is playing out again this fall in several communities where voters will decide whether to allow sales by the drink at larger restaurants.
The question is whether to allow alcohol sales by the drink at restaurants that seat at least 100 people and get at least 70 percent of their revenue from food sales.
Many of the opponents of alcohol are churchgoers motivated by a belief that consuming alcohol is wrong. Rev. Roy Faulkner, vice-chairman of the London task force, cited the first verse of Proverbs 20: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
Opponents fear that approving even limited alcohol sales at restaurants will be the first step toward wider alcohol sales.
They also argue that making alcohol more widely available will expose children to it and increase problems such as drunken driving, domestic violence, and alcohol abuse and addiction.
"Alcohol is the number one drug problem in this nation," Faulkner said. "I've never seen anything good come from alcohol."
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Committee near agreement on downtown liquor licenses
The Berkshire Eagle, MA, September 23, 2004
Members of an ad-hoc committee studying the number of downtown liquor licenses that should be granted are nearing consensus, according to the committee chairman.
The committee was formed by Mayor James M. Ruberto to study ways of making additional liquor licenses available along the North Street corridor.
At the last meeting, committee member Michael McCarthy presented an eight-page proposed ordinance for issuing special liquor licenses for new downtown restaurants. McCarthy, an attorney, represents the Pittsfield Restaurant and Bar Association, a grouping of existing businesses.
Costi said members of the committee differ on points of the draft ordinance, including what number of additional, "special" liquor licenses should be granted in the downtown, what constitutes a qualified restaurant and how much money new restaurants should pay to buy existing licenses.
The ordinance also proposes that the City Council and mayor be involved in approving special liquor licenses, which Costi said he opposes.
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Mini-grants being made available for alcohol-free parties
The Tufts Daily, MA, September 23, 2004
Students looking to host non-alcoholic alternatives to fraternity house basements are merely a short application away from receiving funding for social events, thanks to Tufts University Health Services.
Director of Drug and Alcohol Education Margot Abels worked with students this summer to create a program that will give money to student groups that hold alcohol-free social events.
"Basically it's free money floating around given out to student groups to use," Tufts Community Union (TCU) Treasurer Jeff Katzin said. "It's like [Abels] is co-sponsoring the event."
"Sponsoring non-alcoholic events provides a lot of social opportunities where people don't have to drink," Abels said.
She argues that a lack of alcohol-free social events has contributed to increasing problems with student drinking on campus. According to Abels, drinking unsafe levels of alcohol is not just a result of parties serving alcoholic drinks, but is also due to the unavailability of other events on campus.
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It's crackdowns in college towns
Rocky Mountain News Local News, CO, September 22, 2004
Boulder and Fort Collins have a combined population of about 219,000, or less than 5 percent of the state's population.
Authorities in the two college towns, both of which are now dealing with deaths of teens after episodes of binge drinking, were among the most prolific in the state in cracking down on liquor license violations.
Both cities were in the top five in Colorado in the total number of establishments that were cited. "Boulder and Fort Collins, both their police departments, are very active in doing compliance checks and that's what this is about," said Laura Harris, the state's director of liquor licensing. "A major municipality, their police departments usually engage in those kinds of activities a few times a year."
The examination of past liquor violations comes in the wake of the deaths of two teens at fraternity houses in Fort Collins and Boulder, each after a night of heavy drinking.
That education goes hand-in- hand with an aggressive effort to crack down on those businesses that don't follow through on the requirements to properly check identification.
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Ireland Should Raise Alcohol Tax to Curb Drinking, Report Says
Bloomberg, Ireland, September 23, 2004
Ireland's government should raise taxes on beer and spirits to reduce alcohol consumption that costs the country 2.65 billion euros ($3.25 billion) a year in health care, auto accidents and absenteeism from work, a government report said.
``Raising alcohol taxes can lead to a reduction in many alcohol related problems such as drinking and driving, alcohol related violence and other crimes,'' the report by the Strategic Taskforce on Alcohol said.
The government wants to curb excessive drinking as part of a crackdown on unhealthy lifestyles that has seen it ban smoking in workplaces including pubs and restaurants and begin campaigns recommending that people turn off their televisions and exercise more often. Germany, Norway and Switzerland have already imposed higher taxes on so-called alcopops to curb underage drinking.
``The 2.65 billion euros is just the economic cost,'' Health Minister Michael Martin said in a statement. ``We also pay when a colleague fails to turn up for work, when a driver gets into a car having consumed alcohol and cannot make the sharp corner on the way home, the family pays when a member is aggressive or abusive.''
Irish people spend almost 6 billion euros on beer, wine and spirits every year, the report on alcohol said. That's 1,942 euros for every person aged 15 years and over. About 58 percent of drinking occasions among Irish men culminated in binge drinking last year, the highest level in a study of seven European countries.
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1st lady joins group to fight underage drinking
Billings Gazette, MT, September 22, 2004
Wyoming first lady Nancy Freudenthal on Monday joined a national steering committee trying to reduce underage drinking.
The panel is under the auspices of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
Freudenthal joined Maryland first lady Kendel Ehrlich at the initial meeting of the Steering Committee on Underage Drinking Research and Prevention in Maryland.
"I am honored to be among such a well-respected group of doctors and professionals who have decades of experience researching and advocating that alcohol and kids don't mix," Freudenthal said.
Research has shown that 40 percent of those who start drinking before age 15 become alcohol dependent later in life, according to the institutes.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Brewers vs. distillers: It's Oregon's teens in the cross hairs
The Oregonian, OR, September 22, 2004
The curious battle over whether to allow the sale of those sweet new alcohol concoctions -- the likes of Smirnoff Ice and Mike's Hard Lemonade -- in Oregon grocery stores has been billed as a spat between distillers and brewers. But it's much more than that. It's actually a battle among multinational alcohol companies for young drinkers, many of whom are underage.
"Flavored malt beverages" are the distillers' answer to their marketing woes. These sweet beverages cater to youthful tastes and carry popular distilled spirits' brand names. They're designed to mask the taste of alcohol in order to reach new, entry-level drinkers whose palates have not matured to the taste of hard liquor. As one industry publication noted, flavored malt beverages "form a bridge to alcohol-beverage consumption for the industry's youthful crowd."
Underage drinking costs the citizens of Oregon nearly $700 million a year. This national epidemic is a leading cause of youth injuries and deaths, car crashes, sexual violence and problems at school and at home.
Researchers at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation estimate that underage drinkers consume more than 17 percent of all the alcohol sold in Oregon. The underage market is the gateway to loyal, heavy drinkers in the future. No wonder distillers are excited about a new product line that caters to the immature palate and reaps the marketing advantages of beer.
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Poll: Salazar Has 11-Point Lead Over Coors In Senate Race
TheDenverChannel.com, CO, September 18, 2004
DENVER -- A poll taken this week found Attorney General Ken Salazar with an 11 percentage point lead over Pete Coors in the U.S. Senate race.
"The thing that is difficult for Coors right now is his image is beer and not much else. A third of the voters look at him and think 'beer,'" said Lori Weigel of Public Opinion Strategies, which conducted the poll for the Rocky Mountain News and a local television station.
The poll found that voters feel Salazar is more in touch with them on the concerns of average families and cares more about the environment. Salazar also was the favorite of rural and Hispanic voters.
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Alcohol Industry Political Campaign Donations in CA
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
10.2 Million Allocated To Reduce Binge Drinking
The San Diego Channel, CA, September 17, 2004
Thirteen counties in California -- including San Diego -- will share $10.2 million to reduce binge drinking in their communities, the state announced Friday.
California was awarded an incentive grant in 2003 from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to strengthen alcohol and other drug-prevention services.
The state will administer the grant over three years in conjunction with the Governor's Prevention Advisory Council, a coalition of 12 state agencies with an interest in preventing alcohol and other drug-related problems.
The substance-abuse prevention department will distribute annual grants to counties to support local prevention efforts, with a particular focus on binge drinking among 12- to 25-year-olds and its impact on communities, officials said.
In the first year of awards, 13 counties were chosen to receive funding: Alameda, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Mono, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Ventura.
"Binge drinking is a community problem that affects us all and will only be solved at the local level by working together to make a change in the way that society views binge drinking by our youth," Kathryn Jett, director of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, said.
County leaders will use their network of regional community collaboratives to expand the current Underage Drinking Initiative to include youth and young adult binge drinking, according to planners.
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Casino Sued in DWI Wreck
Albuquerque Journal, NM, September 21, 2004
A Las Cruces family injured in an accident involving a drunken Inn of the Mountain Gods Casino and Resort employee has sued the casino and four New Mexico liquor distributors, saying a round-the-clock liquor promotion caused the crash. Joe and Peggy Chavez and their 7-year-old niece, Katrina Baca, were injured when a car driven by 23-year-old George Starr crossed the median on U.S. 70 and hit their Chevrolet Blazer head on.
The Chavezes were on their way to a family reunion in Roswell that morning. Starr had been drinking at the Travel Center Casino, the Mescalero Apache Tribe's newest casino, during its grand opening celebration, according to the lawsuit. The grand opening promotion featured all-night alcohol service- an exception to the statewide 2 a.m. closing time- and Starr drank between 2 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed in state District Court in Santa Fe, alleges the company that manages the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino and the Travel Center Casino was negligent in serving alcohol through the night. "The casino hoped to make more money by keeping patrons drinking and gambling at the casino," the lawsuit alleges. It also says the liquor distributors were part of the promotion and also hoped to make more money by selling alcohol after closing time. "They knew this was going to put drunk folks on the road at a time when it was not expected and someone was going to get hurt or killed," said Lee Hunt, one of the lawyers who brought the suit on behalf of the Chavezes and Katrina Baca.
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Sunday liquor? Better call ahead
The Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, September 19, 2004
A new law in Ohio today ends a ban of more than 70 years on Sunday package liquor sales. The goal: Make shopping easier for consumers - and maybe give the state more tax revenue.
In Ohio, legal constraints in individual jurisdictions mean that only 121 of the state's 417 liquor stores will be able to open today. In addition, some of those 121 now eligible will stay shuttered, because their owners don't think Sunday sales will be profitable - a belief contested by others in the industry.
While Ohio laws limit how much profit that storeowners will get from sales, liquor sales have turned the corner on a 20-year decline, and have been rising for six years. "People are drinking less, but they're drinking better," said David Ozgo, economist for Distilled Spirits Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.
In 2003, the number of cases of distilled spirits sold grew 3.9 percent, led by sales of premium and super-premium brands, like high-end scotches, bourbons, cognacs and vodkas. Jon Stiles, general manager of the Party Source in Bellevue, calls it the Grey Goose phenomenon (for the premium flavored-vodkas sold in a frosted-glass bottles).
With the new changes, Ohio and Kentucky are among 32 states that now allow Sunday carryout liquor sales. The two states join nine others that have approved the change in the last two and a half years.
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Is alcohol a parental blind spot?
Newsday Entertainment Columnists, NY, September 22, 2004
We live the most examined lives in history, and nothing is more examined than the way we raise our kids. News articles and television specials alert us to the dangers that lurk everywhere in this hostile world: childhood obesity, too much television, movie violence, sexual predators, guns, inadequate schooling, unsafe sex and cigarette smoking.
Strangely, one of our most frightening health problems - underage drinking - seems to hover near the bottom of our list of concerns. This week, a bipartisan bill is pending before the House and Senate (H.R. 4888 and S. 2718) which would allocate about $20 million for strategies to curb underage drinking.
Underage drinking accounts for 20 percent of all drinking in the United States. The damage done by this drinking costs us $58 billion a year, according to recent studies, to say nothing of the high-risk sex and personal violence with which it is associated. It is a key factor in all four leading causes of teenage death: car crashes, accidents, homicide and suicide.
Teenage drinking is on the rise. Our kids can't smoke or do drugs with our blessing, but they can have a keg party and maybe we'll even join them. Most teenagers get their alcohol from adults, and studies show that many adults underestimate the extent of underage alcohol abuse.
We were outraged when our children got a glimpse of female anatomy during the Super Bowl broadcast, but the fact that they also were bombarded with ads for this country's No. 1 drug seemed to escape our notice.
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Friday, September 17, 2004
State's schools take a look at drinking problems
Tribune-Review, PA, September 16, 2004
Bloomsburg University has a distinction IUP and other colleges in Pennsylvania want no part of. It's a staggering figure that has caused Bloomsburg police Chief Leo Sokoloski to refer soberly to the borough where he's worked for 18 years as the "tragedy capital." Since 1987, 15 Bloomsburg students have died in off-campus alcohol-related incidents. The cases include a 21-year-old transfer student falling off a 150-foot embankment with a blood-alcohol level of 0.29 percent in June 2003 and an 18-year-old freshman who died just hours after friends videotaped him guzzling 100-proof vodka in January 2001.
A study released earlier this month by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation revealed many California students drink at levels high enough to cause "catastrophic health consequences." A survey of the Golden State found that college drinkers might have 12 or more beverages on about 10 percent of drinking occasions. The incidence rate was even higher when isolated for males, finding that about 20 percent of drinking sessions involved 12 or more drinks.
The problem at Penn State is not confined to the bars, dorms and off-campus parties. Often, the issue of underage drinking spills away from the university and onto the roads. Last year, university and State College borough police arrested 559 people for drunken driving.
State College police Chief Tom King pressed the legislators to consider increasing the fines levied for offenses like DUI, UAD, giving police false identification, and furnishing alcohol to minors. He also encouraged the adoption of legislation that would require a keg distributor to collect the name, address and phone number of a customer. That proposal was referred to the committee in January 2003.
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Kinnick Stadium, IA, to allow some alcohol
Iowa City Press-Citizen, IA, September 16, 2004
Beer and wine sales and consumption will be allowed within the indoor premium seating and suites that will be part of the renovations to Kinnick Stadium, the home of the University of Iowa football team, UI President David Skorton announced today.
The new policy will go into effect when the Kinnick renovation project is completed, which is expected to be in time for the 2006 football season. The policy will be reviewed after the completion of the 2006 season.
"Allowing beer and wine consumption, but not hard liquor, in the new premium seating areas of Kinnick Stadium is consistent with what we allow for tailgating in University-owned parking lots on the days that football games are played," Skorton said. "It is also consistent with our alcohol policy on other areas of campus, such as the Iowa Memorial Union and Hancher Auditorium.
"We must squarely face the fact that the University of Iowa continues to be plagued by student binge drinking rates far beyond the national average, and that students who abuse alcohol tend to abuse their fellow students and others in our community, which is both unfair and unacceptable," Skorton said. "However, our efforts to bring binge drinking under control are aimed not at prohibition, but at reducing the harmful effects of excessive and abusive drinking.
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Colorado State University bans beer in Hughes
The Coloradoan, CO, September 17, 2004
Beer sales inside Hughes Stadium have been suspended for the 2004 football season, Colorado State University President Larry Penley announced Thursday.
The announcement came as Penley named the 22 members of a newly formed alcohol and substance-abuse task force and Fort Collins police cited 19 people for providing alcohol to underage drinkers, including Samantha Spady. Spady is the 19-year-old sophomore found dead Sept. 5 in the Sigma Pi fraternity house.
The ban on beer sales -- which will be in effect until the task force issues its report Feb. 1 -- became necessary after a proposed increase in the alcohol content of beer sold at the stadium became a distraction, university officials said.
Alcohol will be allowed in Ram's Horn, a booster-seating area. Tailgating also will be allowed to continue outside the stadium. "We felt the whole issue of the change in the liquor license was becoming a distraction," CSU Athletic Director Mark Driscoll said Thursday.
The change, however, came at an inopportune time for CSU. The university took some heat from the media and public for making the change just weeks after groups of students rioted in the streets for two nights and Spady was found dead.
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Thursday, September 16, 2004
Teen Drinking Not Increasing, Still High
News4Jax.com, FL, September 15, 2004
Underage drinking has decreased since its peak in the late 1970s, but drinking by youths has stabilized at disturbingly high levels, researchers say.
Analysis of three ongoing national studies found that almost 80 percent of adolescents have consumed alcohol by the time they are 12th-graders. About 12 percent of 8th-graders have consumed five or more drinks on a single occasion within the past two weeks.
"Stable is better than up," said researcher Vivian Faden. "However, the current stability in youth drinking prevalence is quite worrisome."
"Much remains to be done to get those numbers moving down again," Faden said. "We need to re-examine the approaches we have taken to prevent underage drinking, so that in another 10 years we can report a downturn in this high-prevalence behavior instead of a stable situation."
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To Keep Teens Safe, Some Parents Allow Drinking at Home
The Wall Street Journal, NY, September 14, 2004
In February 2004, state legislation was introduced to clamp down on parents and others who "knowingly allow" underage drinking.
Last year 2,395 teens died in alcohol-related car accidents, according to a report released last month by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For parents of teens, alcohol's lure presents almost unbearable choices. Advocacy groups, such as MADD and the American Medical Association, sternly preach "zero tolerance" for teen drinking. But many parents feel that's unrealistic.
Last year the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, both part of the National Academies,...argued in a report that parents may be worsening the underage drinking epidemic by tacitly supporting alcohol use or by declining to involve themselves adequately in their children's lives. The report,...called for a government-sponsored media campaign to pressure parents to police their teens' drinking.
"Parents either think the drinking is unstoppable, so they make a curious compromise with it, or they see drinking as a rite of passage to adulthood," says psychologist Michael Thompson, of Arlington, Mass., who has written several books on child rearing. "They don't want to deprive their kids of the opportunity but want to keep them safe." He says parents who allow their children to drink "are sending a dangerous message that following the law is a matter of individual taste. I can't take issue with parents who let their own children drink at a family function," says Dr. Thompson, "but those who allow other teens to drink in their homes are taking a huge risk."
Only about 14 states, including Florida, Ohio and New Jersey, have laws that make it a crime for an adult to allow underage drinkers to imbibe in their homes. But Rhode Island's proposal was even broader and called for making it a crime for anyone to knowingly allow underage drinking anywhere.
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Koreans' 'Drinking Culture' Blamed for Youth Drunk Driving in L.A.
New California Media, CA, September 14, 2004
Growing incidences of drunk driving among Korean youth in Los Angeles is causing wide concern in the Koreatown community. An editorial in the daily Korean-language Korea Times blamed Koreans' drinking culture.
The number of young Korean Americans in their late teens and early 20s arrested for drunk driving in the Los Angeles area has increased, according to Emanuel Kim, director of Kim's Driving School in Los Angeles' Koreatown.
He attributed the noticeable increase to stricter traffic laws in recent years with "zero tolerance" for any measurable amount of alcohol in the blood. But Korean parents and their drinking habits are contributing factors, he said.
"They are the second generation who have grown up in such a drinking culture," deplored a Korea Times editorial on Sept. 10, entitled "Teens' Drunk Driving Past the Danger Level."
"The presence of too many drinking places in Koreatown, reflect the Korean drinking culture," the editorial, cited a Sept. 4 auto accident in Rowland Heights in Los Angeles County, said. "New drinking places are opening up, one after another, (attracting) young customers, who get drunk."
In the past, the Korean drinking culture was dominated by men, but now more women are resorting to alcohol as a way of releasing their stress, said Kim.
These are mostly working women in their 20s and 30s who usually gather to drink in small groups of two or three after work, he said. "They seem to have been motivated by Korean liquor advertisements, which have been increasingly using women as models."
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Wednesday, September 15, 2004
SABMiller may join Molson bid
Globe and Mail, Ontario, September 15, 2004
SABMiller PLC is in talks with Ian Molson and Onex Corp. that could lead to a rival, hostile bid for Molson Inc.Sources said the London-based beer giant decided to take another look at the 218-year old brewery after chief executive officer Dan O'Neill acknowledged last week that he may not have enough shareholder votes to complete Molson's proposed merger with Adolph Coors. Co.
"The fact that Dan O'Neill has quite clearly signalled to the market that there's a possibility that the merger won't go through, I think, has probably encouraged everyone to go back and have another look at the file," said a person close to the discussions.
But sources said yesterday that the discussions involving SABMiller are more limited and are not close to finalizing a price. That's because Molson and Coors have not yet disclosed the full terms of a profit-sharing arrangement, which is seen as a sort of a poison pill by the rival bidders.
Discussions could become more serious after the breweries release takeover documents, expected in the next couple of weeks, which could disclose details of that arrangement. Coors has warned that if another brewery wins control of Molson, it will back out of a lucrative brewing agreement.
Coors revealed last week that it could force Molson Inc. to continue brewing Coors Light in Canada for 10 years -- without the benefit of the profit-sharing agreement -- if another group wins control of the Montreal-based brewer.
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Teens ask Hall County to 'toss the trash'
Grand Island Independent, NE, Sep 15, 2004
Grand Island high school students brought two cardboard boxes full of T-shirts, posters, key chains, koozies and other items with alcohol advertising to the Grand Island City Council meeting Tuesday night.
"We are asking not only the youth of our community to toss the trash from the alcohol industry, we are asking everyone to help save the lives and futures of our brothers and sisters, friends and classmates by not promoting underage drinking," said 15-year-old Sarah Pielstick of Grand Island.
She, along with 16-year-olds, Nicole Starkey and Jeralynn Stanton, who both attend Central Catholic High School, were representing Youth-in-Action in their request for community support against underage drinking.
The teens, along with Youth-In-Action sponsor, Project Extra Mile Project Coordinator Lex Ann Roach, referred to numerous reports and studies outlining the documented dangers of alcohol and how environment can impact the availability of alcohol and frequency with which teens drink.
"The mission of Youth in Action and Project Extra Mile is to create a community consensus that clearly states that underage alcohol use is illegal, unhealthy, and unacceptable," Stanton said. "We ask all of Grand Island and Hall County to join us in demonstrating that underage drinking is unacceptable."
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Youths call for tougher underage drinking laws
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO, September 13, 2004
Suspension of a drivers license, a higher tax on alcohol and penalties for adults are under consideration as ways to help curb underage drinking in Missouri. A bipartisan legislative panel heard testimony for five hours Monday in Kirkwood about the effects of student drinking.
"This issue affects every kid," said the panel's leader and Sen. Majority Floor Leader Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood. "Not everyone will develop an alcohol problem or get in a crash, but every kid will have to make a decision about whether to drink or not."
Underage drinking each year costs people in the United States $53 billion and Missourians $1.4 billion, said Daniel K. Duncan, director of community services for the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in the St. Louis region. Those numbers include medical costs, law enforcement costs and property damage.
Sixteen students and adults testified Monday. Matt Brimer, 18, a Lindbergh High School senior, said drinking is "culturally pervasive." Brimer suggested a legal consequence for a parent who hosts a party where there is alcohol. Illinois has prosecuted adults for such behavior.
Shawn Freeman, consumer awareness and education coordinator for Grey Eagle Distributing-St. Louis, said the distributors and Anheuser-Busch oppose increasing the excise tax. Sen. John Griesheimer, R-Washington, said he doubts support exists for raising the excise tax on beer. "We do have a problem with underage drinking statewide," Griesheimer said. "There will be legislation next year on this issue."
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Tuesday, September 14, 2004
6% of youth abuse alcohol, panel hears
The Cincinnati Enquirer, OH, September 14, 2004
About 6 percent of Ohio children ages 12-17 abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent, according to testimony Monday at the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati.
Underage drinking - even casual use - costs the nation $53 billion each year in traffic crashes, health care costs and violent crime.
"As a society, we are not diligent enough about the casual use of alcohol by adolescents, and we are paying a huge price," said Nan Franks Richardson, chief executive officer of the Alcoholism Council of the Cincinnati Area.
The state panel will conduct four more hearings across Ohio to develop recommendations for how Ohio and its communities can better respond to the problem.
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More potent beer on tap for Colorado State football fans
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, September 14, 2004
Colorado State University vendors will be selling more potent beer at the stadium this football season, though alcohol use is under heightened scrutiny following the death of a student and two riots.
Sodexho, the food and beverage contractor for Hughes Stadium, secured changes to its liquor license after a process that began last year. The new permit allows Sodexho to sell wine, hard liquor and beer with alcohol percentages over 3.2 percent, Larimer County Deputy County Clerk Gael Cookman said Monday.
The change means beer that is 5 percent alcohol by volume will be sold in the stands.
Selling alcohol at the stadium is one of the issues a special university task force on alcohol will take look at, CUSP spokesman Tom Milligan said.
"Students should be responsible enough not to riot or get out of control," said Munro, a junior nutrition and fitness major. "But is it realistic they re-evaluate that policy after what has happened? Yes."
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Monday, September 13, 2004
Possible Liquor Tax to Curb Underage Drinking
KGUN9.com, September 12, 2004
An advisory commission report shows the average age Pima County children try alcohol for the first time is 12. Now, county supervisors are considering a luxury liquor tax to curb underage drinking.
It may cost you more to pay for a cocktail at a restaurant or bar if the Pima County Board of Supervisors decides to propose a liquor tax up to 10-cents per drink. The tax dollars would help pay for programs to treat and prevent young people from drinking alcohol while beefing up law enforcement against underage drinking.
Ray Carroll says, "Most of this liquor comes from keg parties or raiding parents liquor cabinets. We'd like to educate parents as well as kids about the dangers and temptation of alcohol and the serious consequences of messing with alcohol."
The Tucson-Pima County Commission on Addiction Treatment and Prevention wants the board of supervisors to start a task force to keep youth from drinking alcohol. Carroll says the task force would take the liquor tax proposal to the state legislature.
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The 'malternative' mess
The Oregonian, OH, September 13, 2004
The brouhaha over malted beverages has been building for years within the state's alcohol industry. These "malternatives" -- brewed malt drinks supposedly "flavored" with distilled spirits -- have enjoyed increasing popularity. The giant distilling industry has pushed these products aggressively as a way of avoiding hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes by marketing the cocktails as beer, which is subject to considerably lower tax rates all across the nation.
Their cause got a big boost in 2002 when testing by federal alcohol officials found that a large majority of malternative drinks drew more than 75 percent of their alcohol content from distilled liquor, not from malt brewing. That led to an Oregon Liquor Control Commission ruling that these high-octane malternatives violated the state's strict liquor law dictating that beverages can't be sold in grocery stores if more than half of 1 percent of the alcohol comes from distillation.
In the meantime, many of the liquor companies have had time to adjust. The makers of such sweet, intoxicating concoctions as Bacardi Silver, Skyy Blue and Zima have reportedly reformulated their drinks to conform to Oregon law.
But the boozy tussle is far from over. It erupted anew last week with reports that Smirnoff Ice and Mike's Hard Lemonade, two of the state's best-selling spirit-spiked beverages, have not been reformulated to conform with Oregon law and thus will be banned from grocery stores after Dec. 31.
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College drinking gains attention
Union-News, MA, September 12, 2004
SPRINGFIELD - The group whose next meeting is Wednesday is called the Springfield City and College Communities Coalition on Alcohol Abuse. But participants say their work is a lot more fruitful than the formal name might suggest.
The 20-plus-person group consists of college and city officials, police and neighborhood representatives who discuss both the drinking problems that emanate from or at least involve the colleges and ways to resolve them. "It's excellent, it's an excellent collaboration with police and the institutions of higher education," said Springfield Police Capt. Mark S. Anthony of the Crime Prevention and Youth Aid bureaus.
The initiative began with Public Safety Director Gary Barnes and other officials at Western New England College. "It's been a great effort," said Barbara A. Campanella, spokeswoman for Western New England College.
The panel evolved from college meetings with groups such as the Sixteen Acres Civic Association and the Outer Belt Civic Association about noise and other problems from wild, off-campus student parties, Campanella said.
Managers of bars and restaurants that students frequent near campuses have been brought in for discussions.
One issue is bars' college nights. Some college identification cards lack birth dates, which can lead to students younger than the legal age of 21 drinking alcohol, License Commission Chairman Peter L. Sygnator said. "It's just these little things we can do," said Sygnator, who said the group began meeting about four months ago.
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Alcohol Sales Skyrocket
KWWL, IA, September 9, 2004
Alcohol sales are skyrocketing across Eastern Iowa. Over the past year, alcohol sales in Black Hawk County jumped 11.5%. In Johnson County the increase is 11.3%. Alcohol sales in Dubuque County rose 10.4% and Linn County saw a 9.6% increase.
Lew Converse owns College Street Billiard in Iowa City. He says more people are coming into the bar, which means big bucks for his business. "Our liquor sales are up at least 10% here. Our beer sales, they shifted from the lighter beers to the micro brews, probably about 15%."
There are 62 different places to buy alcohol in Iowa City within a mile of the University of Iowa. People who are concerned about the increase in alcohol sales say part of the problem is drink specials. Jim Clayton with the Stepping Up Project says, "Yesterday, there was a bar in town with a sign that said mixed drinks were a quarter, between the hours of eight and ten, that encourages our young people to go out and drink as quickly as they can."
Lew Converse disagrees. He says most bars are selling more alcohol because they're taking the customers from other Iowa City businesses which have shut down after losing their liquor licenses. Converse says the real increase in alcohol sales are at grocery, liquor, and convenience stores. "I think a lot of its being bought for home consumption and that's probably why they're seeing a lot of increase, because they'll buy two or three bottles and take them home and drink them instead of coming here."
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Friday, September 10, 2004
New Study Reveals Reductions in Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems at Colleges Using AMA Program
American Medical Association, September 10, 2004
CHICAGO, IL - College students at universities participating in an American Medical Association (AMA) program, “A Matter of Degree” (AMOD), are less likely to miss class, be assaulted by a drunk student or hurt themselves after drinking, according to an evaluation conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and appearing in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study also found a decline in the drinking rates themselves at colleges incorporating the most AMOD policies or “interventions.” AMOD, a program funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and managed by AMA, helps universities collaborate with their students and surrounding communities to reduce the environmental factors that lead to high-risk drinking.
The mid-project study found that five of the 10 AMOD colleges implementing the most environmental changes to their campus and community drinking environments saw significant reductions in drinking rates and in the problems caused by heavy drinking, compared to a group of 32 schools with similarly high levels of alcohol consumption and harm at the program’s outset that did not participate in AMOD.
“AMOD policies and programs work because they go beyond the traditional prevention efforts that focus solely on the individual drinker,” said AMA President-elect J. Edward Hill, MD. “Today’s college students face powerful social and commercial influences to drink. If we are to reduce the dangerous levels of campus drinking and its consequences, colleges and surrounding communities must cooperate to reduce the numerous environmental factors that contribute to alcohol abuse.”
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Alcohol-Free "Solano Avenue Stroll" in Albany/Berkeley, California, Celebrates 30th Anniversary
It's almost time again for the street festival that gets it right--where the vibes are always mellow and the air is filled with flavors of fifty different cuisine and rhythms of fifty different bands.
This alcohol-free event promotes the unique traits of Solano Avenue, helping local businesses, local artists, and community organizations to thrive. The Stroll solidifies community spirit, neighbors find old friends, and families enjoy an afternoon in the sun.
It's the 30th Solano Avenue Stroll, the annual celebration that columnist Martin Snapp calls "the best party in the Bay Area" and the Library of Congress designated a National Local Legacy.
On Sunday, Sept. 12, mile-long Solano Avenue in Berkeley and Albany turns into the Bay Area's biggest block party, drawing more than 150,000 festivalgoers.
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Death spurs CSU frats to ban booze at houses
The Denver Post,CO, September 10, 2004
Greek leaders at Colorado State University voted Thursday to prohibit alcohol from their houses beginning Oct. 11. The move came just hours after the school terminated the charter of a fraternity that was already facing sanctions for recent parties before a female student was found dead in the frat's house.
The national Sigma Pi organization has also revoked the CSU chapter because of persistent problems, including a basement kegger for up to 100 partygoers in March when underage women were served alcohol, college officials say. The fraternity also had an illegal party Aug. 19, during recruitment, in which people were served booze.
Samantha Spady's body was found at the fraternity house at 6:22 p.m. Sunday, about 12 hours after she died. According to the Larimer County Coroner's Office, the "manner and cause" of Spady's death are still under investigation.
The student-run councils that oversee CSU's Greek system announced policy changes Thursday that include banning alcohol at parties not held at facilities licensed to serve alcohol.
Alcohol will also not be allowed in sorority and fraternity houses, said Maura Ryan, president of the Panhellenic Council. The change will affect 11 fraternities that had allowed members of legal drinking age to have alcohol in their houses.
Enforcement will be done through the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council, which oversee sororities and fraternities at CSU. The university will soon name members of a task force that will examine Colorado State's programs and policies in dealing with alcohol abuse. The task force will examine CSU's fraternity and sorority culture and binge and underage drinking.
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Manitoba bans all-you-can-drink promotions
The Globe and Mail, Canada, September 9, 2004
Manitoba bars that offer all-you-can-drink promotions or hold contests involving alcohol consumption could have their licences temporarily suspended under new rules approved by the provincial cabinet.
The regulations are part of an ongoing provincial crackdown on practices the government believes could encourage binge drinking.
"Our mandate is to ensure the responsible sale and consumption of alcohol," Diana Soroka, of the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission, said in an interview.
Policies issued by the commission are simply guidelines and do not carry any penalties. So the commission and the provincial government have now decided to make the policy a formal regulation under the Liquor Control Act, which allows the commission to temporarily shut down any bars that contravene the law.
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Wednesday, September 8, 2004
Extreme binges: More than 24 drinks not uncommon among young college drinkers, study shows
Pacific Institute for Evaulation and Research, September 7, 2004
College drinking may be worse than people think. More than 24 drinks in a row among freshmen male drinkers is not uncommon, a new study shows.
While alcohol abuse has been recognized as a serious problem on college campuses, the study by the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation shows that many students drink at levels high enough to cause catastrophic health consequences. Past research on binge drinking has looked only at consumption of five drinks or more, without quantifying how much more. As it turns out, some students may drink a lot more. The recent survey of college students in California found that among 1,000 male college drinkers, there are 50 or more occasions per month in which 24 or more drinks may be consumed.
Results of the study, which was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, indicate that college drinkers may have 12 or more drinks on about 10 percent of drinking occasions. Male college drinkers may have 12 or more drinks on 20 percent of these occasions.
Prevention efforts such as responsible beverage sales and service, reductions in the numbers of outlets that sell alcohol around campuses and police enforcement programs that deter underage sales and drinking can be effective. These strategies can be made even more effective when policy makers understand the extremely dangerous drinking that occurs among young students, said Paul J. Gruenewald, Ph.D., senior researcher at the Berkeley, CA-based Prevention Research Center.
“We want to see many fewer reports of student tragedies related to extremely high levels of drinking,” he said. “Our new understanding of peak drinking among college students can pave the way towards better college prevention programs.”
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Report Questions Alcohol's Heart-Healthy Effects
Reuters Health, NY, September 8, 2004
The idea that light to moderate alcohol drinking protects against heart disease has become entrenched, but findings from a new study challenge this.
Analyzing data from a decade-long study, researchers found that alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk of heart disease, but only among whites. Among black men, the opposite was true -- alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of heart disease and death from heart disease.
The researchers say in their report in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the contrasting findings between blacks and whites "raise the question of whether the cardioprotective effect of alcohol is real or may be confounded by lifestyle characteristics of drinkers."
The study's results cast doubts on the idea that people should drink alcohol as a preventive health strategy to protect against heart disease. "Moderate consumption of alcohol does not increase the risk for a heart attack...but it is not clear if it protects against a heart attack," Dr. Flavio Fuchs of Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil said.
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Molson CEO says shareholders expect another bid
Globe and Mail, Canada, September 8, 2004
Molson Inc. chief Dan O'Neill acknowledged for the first time yesterday that he may not have the votes needed to win shareholder approval for a proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co. In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail, Mr. O'Neill said Molson hasn't done a good job of selling shareholders on the merits of the proposed deal.
Mr. O'Neill said he is firmly convinced that the so-called merger of equals provides the best possible outcome for shareholders, but he said he doesn't know whether it will obtain the required support of the company's class A non-voting shareholders.
"I don't know at this point. I don't know. I think the overall feeling that we have is there's still a lot of skepticism for the principal reason that people feel there will be another offer coming," said Mr. O'Neill, Molson's chief executive officer.
He said many of his colleagues doubt whether a much anticipated rival bid, from a group led by former vice-chairman Ian Molson, will ever surface.
The Molson-Coors proposal needs to be approved by two-thirds of the holders of each class of shares, voting and non-voting. The voting shares are controlled by chairman Eric Molson, who could block a rival bid. But the non-voting shares are believed to be in the hands of funds and retail investors who aren't thrilled by the prospects of the Molson-Coors merger.
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Univ. of Vermont police can ticket for city violations
Boston Globe, MA, September 7, 2004
University of Vermont police can now write tickets for excessive noise and other quality-of-life violations. In March, voters authorized UVM police to help the Burlington Police Department enforce city ordinances.
The Legislature, which has ultimate jurisdiction over city charter changes, also passed the measure, which is intended to beef up the city's response to quality-of-life complaints near campus. Before the charter change, UVM officers could write tickets for state-enforced laws, such as underage drinking. They also dealt with misdemeanors and felonies, but they couldn't enforce city ordinances, such as those dealing with noise, public urination and open containers.
"Now, we'll be of greater assistance to Burlington police and not just standing by while they're writing a ticket," said Gary Margolis, director of UVM's Police Services.
The return of college students has already prompted complaints among neighbors on the hill. Since the bulk of the student population returned the last weekend of August, Burlington police have issued tickets for various city ordinance violations.
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Tuesday, September 7, 2004
Friday Night Live: Las Piedras Park, CA, focus of youth group
Santa Paula Times, CA, September 3, 2004
Friday Night Live (FNL) has been out cleaning up Las Piedras Park not only of trash but also of those using the park for purposes outside its correct use.
FNL members also did a community survey of those living on the park perimeter and received 32 replies.
Of those surveyed 46 percent replied that they believe that alcohol has the most negative impact in the community.
Residents who replied to the survey also noted that more police patrols and lighting is needed at the park.
FNL recommendations included more signage to spell out all park rules and regulations after residents noted that they could not remember if signage had ever been posted at Las Piedras Park.
Continued community involvement as well as a stronger city emphasis on park improvement are positives, the FNL team noted. But, children are still playing amid trash and adult drinkers - including those using the soccer fields - drive older residents away from park usage.
“I just wish more people had been involved,” in the FNL survey, noted Councilman Rick Cook, who suggested that soccer players be banned from the park for using alcoholic beverages.
The city has been working to rehabilitate the restroom and has changed contractors hired to do the work.
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Absolut to Try Television Ads
The New York Times, NY, September 2, 2004
To introduce a raspberry-flavored version of its flagship brand, the Absolut Spirits Company will boldly go where no Absolut vodka has gone before in the United States: onto television.
The campaign for Absolut Raspberri, the sixth flavored variety, will include four television commercials, scheduled to begin Monday on national cable networks like E, FX and VH1. The commercials are the first on TV in this country for Absolut...
"We look at it as bringing the print ads to life," said Carl Horton, president and chief executive of Absolut Spirits in New York, part of the V&S Absolut Spirits division of V&S Vin and Sprit of Sweden."Our campaign has continued to evolve over the years," he said. "TV is another part of the mix."
The arrival of Absolut on American television - the brand is already sold on TV in Europe - is emblematic of a rapidly changing media landscape, particularly with the proliferation of cable networks offering original programming to challenge the traditional national broadcasters. Only since 1996, when the United States liquor industry lifted a decades-old voluntary ban on television and radio, have distillers been able to buy commercial time on the electronic media.
And only since late 2001 have such commercials become widespread. Today, although the big broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC - still refuse liquor spots, they are accepted by more than two dozen cable networks, about 150 local cable systems and more than 420 local stations affiliated with the broadcast networks. Those outlets now run commercials by most major distillers, including Allied Domecq, Bacardi, Brown-Forman, Diageo and Sidney Frank Importing.
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Last call for beer ads?
CNN International, September 3, 2004
It might seem easier to get college fraternities to give up their beer than it is to get college athletics to give up their beer money.
Beer and other alcohol companies spent $50 million advertising on college sports broadcasts last year, according to the Sports Business Journal. That's about 5 percent of the $1 billion in advertising spent on those games overall.
Many schools and conferences get direct sponsorship dollars, too. One Big 12 school got as much as $450,000, according to the publication. The Journal found that 45 percent of the Division 1A football schools get direct sponsorship dollars from alcohol companies, and another 25 percent get indirect money through advertising.
The effort shut off the alcohol's ad and sponsorship dollar tap is being led by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and backed by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth. But it's not just modern day Carrie Nations getting into the game. Some of the highest profile leaders of the effort come from the inner sanctum of big time: big dollar college athletics.
"Alcohol abuse is the leading cause of death on college campuses," said Osborne, who has introduced a non-binding resolution in Congress urging schools and the NCAA to stop taking money from beer and booze concerns. But Osborne is realistic about the chances for even his relatively mild resolution getting through Congress. He's had trouble getting co-sponsors, not surprising given the fact that about 85 percent of the House and two-thirds of the Senate have received campaign contributions from the beer, wine or spirits industry in the current election cycle.
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Alcohol industry donations to CA state senate and assembly
Alcohol and Sports - An Unhealthy Mix
Alcohol at University of Delaware fest raises eyebrows
News Journal, DE, September 6, 2004
The University of Delaware and Newark Mayor Vance Funk III will usher in the new school year by co-sponsoring the first "Taste of Newark," a sold-out event that will feature menu specialities from about 25 downtown Newark restaurants and several wine and beer suppliers.
While billed as an event to bring university students, downtown merchants and Newark residents together, some city officials have expressed concerns about a large event involving alcohol.
The city has focused on alcohol abuse since 1996, when the university received a five-year grant to curb binge drinking. A campus and community partnership that advocates the responsible use of alcohol was formed - the Building Responsibility Coalition.
"No matter what you do about alcohol, people are going to look for inconsistencies," Tracy Downs, program director for the coalition, said. "If I'm out drinking a glass of wine, someone will say something about it. People say we're prohibitionists, but we're not. We advocate the legal and responsible use of alcohol."
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Friday, September 3, 2004
Supermarkets may be able to sell alcohol round clock
Southport, UK, September 2, 2004
Supermarkets could be allowed to sell alcohol 24 hours a day under new rules being considered by Liverpool City Council. At the moment shops such as Asda or Tesco, which open through the night, are only allowed to sell drink until 11pm.
But new government legislation will give local authorities the chance to alter their licensing laws. The news has been met with concern from groups who deal with the aftermath of alcohol abuse. They are worried the changes could make it harder for people to beat their addiction.
Roger Newton, service manager for Alcohol Services in Liverpool, said: "When I hear what they are planning, it does worry me."Many alcoholics struggle with the availability of alcohol. When the off licences close they relax a little because they cannot get hold of it. It is already very easy to get hold of alcohol because they just have to pick it off the shelves.
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Law discourages keg use
Truman State Index, MO, September 2, 2004
A new law requiring kegs to be registered at the time of purchase could help police crack down on underage drinking across the state.The keg registration statute requires customers who purchase kegs to fill out identification forms and sign a waiver stating that they are aware of the consequences of supplying alcohol to minors.
Vanessa Mure, the state enforcement agent of the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, said the law was passed last year, but due to state budget shortfalls, it did not go into effect until July."We are trying to get a solution to reduce underage drinking and access to alcohol, so the keg law came into being last year, and this year, it is finally in effect," Mure said.
By law, each registration form must be numbered, and an identification tag with the corresponding number must be placed on the keg. If the police break up a party where minors have been drinking, they can write down the identification number on the keg, check the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control Web site to match the number to the liquor store and find the name and address of the person responsible for the keg from the store's files. Retailers are required to keep keg registration forms for three months following the sale.
The new law also could help police crack down on indirect alcohol sale because many times, party hosts charge an entrance fee to a party or sell cups at the door. Mure said the person listed in the liquor store records could be charged with the felony of selling alcohol without a license, which carries a two- to five-year prison sentence even if no minors are involved. Mure said other consequences could occur as well.
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Police to spot-check alcohol sales
Portsmouth Herald, NH, September 2, 2004
Police will go under cover at local bars and restaurants this Labor Day weekend to make sure bartenders and wait staff don’t serve alcohol to underage patrons. Portsmouth police announced on Wednesday that police in Newington, Portsmouth and Rye will be conducting compliance checks in collaboration with New Hampshire liquor enforcement officers.
Also working with police will be 18- and 19-year-old teenagers who will attempt to buy alcohol at selected establishments with their own, legitimate identification cards, according to Portsmouth Deputy Police Chief Dave Young.
The exercise aims to ensure that bartenders and wait staff check patrons’ IDs before each alcohol sale. A person who sells alcohol illegally could be charged with the Class A misdemeanor of providing alcohol to a person under the age of 21, which carries a penalty of up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Also, the business owner who employs a violator could face administrative penalties by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission’s enforcement bureau, Schwartz said. Bartenders and wait staff who remember to check patrons’ IDs will be rewarded for their efforts.
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Thursday, September 2, 2004
Teen drinking carries problems
Tri Valley Dispatch (AZ), Thu, Sep 2, 2004
Nothing good can come from teen drinking. It is not a rite of passage. It is not 'just kid stuff.'
Underage drinking, especially heavy drinking and frequent heavy drinking (which accounts for about half of teen drinkers), are associated with numerous negative consequences. These can be acute and immediate outcomes of a single episode of drinking, such as accidental death or injury. Or they can be the accumulated effects of chronic drinking, such as poor school performance and fractured relationships. Although many adults assume that the risks and potential consequences of underage drinking are more or less the same as they are for adults, the research suggests that the dangers of youth drinking are magnified.
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City police plan crackdown on teen drinking
Union Leader (NH), Wed, Sep 1, 2004
Manchester police will begin a crackdown on teen drinking in the coming weeks, targeting merchants who sell booze to kids and adults who host underage drinking parties.
Police said special details staffed by two-person patrols on overtime will be funded by a federal grant.
The officers will be able to concentrate on enforcement of teen-drinking laws while the regular complement of city police handles police calls, said Police Chief John Jaskolka.
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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is Still a Threat Says Harvard
Yahoo! Finance, Wed, Sep 1, 2004
The environmental toxin that presents the greatest danger to the highest number of unborn children today is alcohol. Fetal alcohol syndrome is one of the most common known cause of mental retardation in the United States. Despite increasingly wide public understanding of the devastating effects of heavy drinking by pregnant women, it remains too common and difficult to prevent. The September issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter examines the multiple layers of this harmful trend.
Physicians are now urged to use a screening questionnaire to uncover pregnant and potentially pregnant women who abuse alcohol. Research shows that public warnings regarding pregnancy and drinking are usually ignored by heavy drinkers and alcoholics. Women who appear to need help may be given contraceptive advice, cognitive behavioral therapy, or a motivation interview in which they weigh the pleasure of drinking against the risk of birth defects. Heavy drinkers may require additional counseling, family support, or treatment.
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‘It’s a community issue’
Laramie Boomerang (WY), September 02, 2004
It sounds like the riot from hell: hundreds of university students storm down the middle of the street, jumping on cars and barging into downtown bars...
Those are just some of the incidents police say occurred last year after the University of Wyoming homecoming football game against Brigham Young University.
“This is not an issue where the sole responsibility lies with (police),” said Interim Police Chief Jim Kyritsis. “It’s a community issue where all of us must take responsibility.”
During the homecoming parade, people were spotted standing on streets guzzling beer in clear view of children. And in one parade truck, a young man is seen hanging limply out a window, clearly drunk...
...Haskins said the community sent a message that it was OK for college students to drink.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2004
Family Says College 'Drunk Buses' Played Role in Son's Death
ABC News, August 30, 2004
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Jared Dion...took one of the university's Safe Ride program buses from the campus into La Crosse on April 9 and got drunk in the city's bars. Sometime in the early morning hours of Aug. 10, he left a group of friends waiting for the last bus - the so-called "drunk bus" - back to the school, walked into the city's Riverside Park, and apparently fell into the Mississippi River and drowned.
Dion's family has filed a notice of claim, under Wisconsin state law the first step in filing a lawsuit, with the city of La Crosse and the university, seeking $250,000 from each. The notice of claim, filed by the family's lawyer, James Gende II, says that by allowing the school paper to print advertisements from bars and running the bus program, which takes students from the campus to the bar district on weekend nights, the university "encouraged binge drinking," and thus helped to cause Dion's death.
At a public meeting after Dion's body was found in April, La Crosse police Chief Edward Kondracki said, "I personally see these young men as the victims of an alcohol culture that targets them and encourages binge drinking."
Jared Dion's father admitted that his son "made his decision to drink on his own," but said the culture in La Crosse and at the school encouraged him in that decision, and it is that culture he hopes will change as a result of the family's legal action.
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Coalition to Roll Out Newest Weapon in Battle to Prevent Underage Drinking
Yahoo News, August 25, 2004
America's Partners to Prevent Underage Drinking (AP), a campaign of the International Institute for Alcohol Awareness (IIAA), has launched a campaign and push in Congress for legislation aimed at combating the crisis of underage drinking. The centerpiece of this campaign involves installing life-saving electronic age- verification technology in retail stores, bars, restaurants and other points of sale to prevent underage individuals from obtaining alcohol illegally by using fake identification.
"Combating underage drinking at the point of sale is the most effective tactic we can use," said James E. Copple, co-director of IIAA and coordinator of America's Partners to Prevent Underage Drinking. "It will save lives. It will save communities and states billions of dollars."
The U.S. counterfeit identification industry is huge, according to Copple. Counterfeiters churn out an estimated 25 million fake IDs each year, accounting for nearly $1.9 billion in annual sales. Because of the highly advanced technology they use, counterfeiters can produce IDs that appear authentic and deceive well-trained experts and unsuspecting retailers.
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New Hampshire warned of binge drinking, 'risky' behavior
The Union Leader, NH, September 1, 2004
The rate of binge drinking among New Hampshire men and women exceeds the national median, state health officials said yesterday.
Sixteen percent of adults reported binge drinking, which is defined as downing five or more drinks at a single time at least once a month, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
A report titled "New Hampshire Alcohol Data, 1990-2003" also found that one in 20 adults reported "heavy drinking," which is defined by the government as an average daily consumption of two drinks for men and one for women. That statistic was compiled in 2001.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control reported that New Hampshire is the only state in the Northeast without a sales tax for alcohol. As a result, the Granite State has low alcohol prices and the highest per-capita alcohol sales in the country, the CDC said.
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Alcohol linked to increase in crime
The Daily Tar Heel, NC, August 31, 2004
The town of Chapel Hill experienced a rise in crime rates during the last three weekends as students returned for fall classes. State and local law enforcement records show a rise in larcenies, driving while intoxicated arrests, drug-related arrests and noise ordinance violations during each of the last three weekends. Chapel Hill police reports also show that police issued four times the number of underage drinking-related violations this weekend than the previous two weekends combined.
Chapel Hill police records show there were reports of 14 different driving while intoxicated charges this weekend. Four of those charges involved students, reports state. N.C. Alcohol Law Enforcement agents also were busy cracking down on underage drinking.
Serious crimes also have been reported since classes started. This weekend, there were reports of one aggravated assault; one sex offense, which occurred at Fraternity Court; one charge of assault with a deadly weapon; and one case of assault with intent to kill or commit serious injury, according to reports. |
