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.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Police Actions at Fraternities Disputable
The Daily Californian, CA, August 31, 2004
Last week, UC and Berkeley Police departments closed in on fraternity parties, attempting to stamp out both underage drinking and unapproved parties.
Underage drinking has been and will continue to be a problem at Berkeley, as at the vast majority of college campuses across the United States. But upon receiving a $50,000 grant to cut down underage alcohol consumption, police have been taking innovative measures to do just that.
Undercover Berkeley police have started attending fraternity parties... If fraternities want to keep police out of their parties, they will have to take measures to make parties more exclusive.
On the other hand, with the knowledge that police officers may be present, fraternities can choose of their own volition not to serve alcohol to minors and avoid any legal repercussions.
But before considering the undercover officers, there is the issue that technically, fraternities cannot yet have parties with alcohol anyhow.
Fraternities at UC Berkeley are not allowed to serve alcohol at parties until they take a risk management course offered by the university. This course takes place in two weeks; the university therefore expects all events involving alcohol to be postponed for that time.
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AAA Texas: College Freshmen at Higher Risk of Binge Drinking
Business Wire, CA, August 31, 2004
Several studies completed over the past decade have documented that college students engage in binge drinking at a greater rate than non-college students aged 18-24. Binge drinking is defined as 5 or more drinks on a single occasion for males and 4 or more drinks for a female. Binge drinking can lead to other dangers, such as driving under the influence, alcohol poisoning and the risk of developing alcoholism later in life. First year students are at particular risk because many experience adjustment problems related to leaving home and entering a new environment.
"By analyzing several studies, a national pattern emerges of alcohol use beginning in the freshman year and continuing through the traditional 4 years students spend in college," said Steven Bloch, Ph.D., senior research associate for AAA Texas. "Forty-two percent of freshman report binge drinking, a statistic that has remained consistent since at least 1993."
While in high school, college-bound students do not engage in binge drinking as frequently as their non-college-bound friends do. But once they get to college, these students surpass their working friends.
Some institutions have dealt with drinking and driving and alcohol abuse on campus not just through education, but also by changing campus environments, treating problem drinkers or setting up safe ride or designated driver programs.
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Oceanside, CA, to consider alcohol ban
North County Times, CA, August 30, 2004
City officials are considering banning alcohol in all city parks and have formed a panel to study the idea over the next year.
Megan Brady, a program specialist with the Parks and Recreation Department, said the commission wanted to take a more comprehensive look at the alcohol policy, rather than banning alcohol at parks one by one.
Dannah Hosford, a prevention specialist for the Tri-City Prevention Collaborative, said it has been pushing for the ban to make Oceanside parks more family friendly and reduce the amount of underage drinking in the city's parks.
Hosford said allowing drinking in some parks gives easy access to alcohol for underage drinkers, and that the laws on drinking shouldn't vary from park to park.
Banning alcohol in all parks would not prevent residents from drinking at parks for special events. Residents can get a special permit from the police department. Police officials said those residents who take the time to get a special permit often cause little or no trouble when drinking in the city's parks.
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Monday, August 30, 2004
Binge drinking warning
Dominion Post, New Zealand, August 27, 2004
Research published in the New Scientist magazine this week says experts have not paid enough attention to binge drinking and the harm it causes.
There is growing realisation that most alcohol-related problems stem from those who drink excessively but who are not alcoholic, it says.
In the United States, research suggested 32 per cent of 21 to 25-year-olds regularly got drunk. The figure was worse for university students - 44 per cent binged at least once a fortnight.
One US study suggested that how and when alcohol was consumed may be as important to a healthy liver as the amount consumed. The study found that women who drank only at weekends, even if they drank less overall than other women, were more likely to get liver disease.
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Stand with children and not with alcohol
KINY, AK, August 29, 2004
Drug-pushing as a profession engenders corruption, ruthlessness and denial. One cannot be astonished at the self-serving, self-insulating, self-promoting postures of the alcohol industry. They mimic precisely the mannered cruelty of drug pushers everywhere - heroin peddlers on the street, crack-cocaine cookers in backstreet warehouses. The only difference I see between a heroin peddler and an alcohol peddler is that the alcohol peddler has paid lobbyists manipulating politicians in the halls of Congress and the corridors of our Legislature. Other than that, the ramifications of the trade are identical: broken families, abused children, destroyed lives, eviscerated communities. Nowhere, anywhere in America, is that more true than our own state of Alaska.
An increased alcohol tax is the bare minimum price to be paid for the purveying of alcohol in our community.
Is our community really willing to look our children in the eyes and tell them that the ever-broadening profits of the alcohol industry are more important than the children themselves? Is our community really going to permit the alcohol industry and the users of its products to avoid paying, even in this minimal way, to redress the devastating economic and social horrors associated with alcohol abuse in this community?
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Univ. of Michigan taking steps to discourage student alcohol abuse
Ann Arbor News, MI, August 29, 2004
When University of Michigan students begin their official move-in early this week, most will be arriving fully a week before the start of classes on Sept. 7. U-M officials and staff are taking steps to warn students against alcohol abuse...
Twenty-five percent of all undergraduates have engaged in binge drinking three or more times in the past two weeks. Those students are drinking heavily on a more regular basis and are the ones who are more likely to see risks to themselves and others in terms of public safety. Forty-eight percent of our students either don't engage in binge drinking or are abstinent.
Q: Why do students drink like this? A: It is woven into the culture of college and for some students it's an expectation. It's something they have been looking forward to: When they come to college, they'll have a social life that will include parties, alcohol and letting loose. There are other reasons. One is the influence of the alcohol industry on that perception. It's very woven into media and it perpetuates a lot of those expectations. Some of that is the availability of alcohol to underage adults.
Q: How do you stop this behavior? A: It's a big challenge. We're adapting what we've seen as (being) potentially effective on campuses. It really requires a comprehensive approach to prevention. That really involves the entire campus community and the neighboring Ann Arbor community.
Q: Who are you trying to reach with this? A: The first year, you do this, you target the whole campus, all undergraduates. And in time we may look at (targeting) subgroups. You're trying to change the culture, change the tone, as opposed to making an individual change.
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Florida State Univ. targets high-risk drinking
Tallahassee Democrat, FL, August 29, 2004
Florida State University continues to step up its efforts to reduce underage and high-risk drinking. Statistics show that the percentage of FSU's 37,000-plus students engaged in high-risk drinking, which FSU considers as five or more drinks in one sitting, is declining.
Efforts to curb irresponsible alcohol consumption in the past at FSU have at times been seen as a tug of war between the university and the establishments that sell beer, between educating students about responsible drinking and punishing them when they cross the line.
"We're very clear that we're not prohibitionists," said Mary Coburn, vice president for student affairs. "Our effort is to have alcohol consumption be within the law and at levels we would not consider high risk."
Just about the time students show up in August, the Princeton Review comes out with its college guide ranking the top party schools in the nation. FSU held the No. 1 ranking in 1996 and 1999, fell off the top-10 list last year, only to resurface in the No. 6 spot this year.
"The young people come here primed to party. That's a disservice in my opinion," said Michael Smith, director of the Florida Center for Prevention Research. Smith's center sponsors the Real Project, a social norms advertising campaign that shares the real statistics on drinking compiled through annual student surveys.
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Friday, August 27, 2004
Drinking and death
Courier-Journal Opinion, KY, August 27, 2004
Heavy drinking by minors is taking a huge toll every year...Yet our nation largely remains in denial about the consequences and frequency of binge drinking. In fact, in many ways our attitudes and actions condone and facilitate it. Efforts to combat youth drinking remain far less vigorous than to fight other substance abuse, such as smoking and drug use.
Underage drinking, which is usually much heavier than adult drinking, is associated with violence, injury, depression, suicide, educational failure, and risky and abusive sexual behavior. For adolescents, heavy drinking can even cause mild brain damage, and it seems likely that early drinking increases the chances of developing alcoholism later.
Yet as a society, we just accept that young people are going to spend weekends drinking till they drop.
Minors get most of their booze from adults, of course. Friends and friendly retailers - even some parents - are willing to supply it. And underage drinking is broadly viewed as a rite of passage instead of the danger that it really is.
A few years ago, Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to assess the problem and devise a nationwide strategy to reduce underage drinking. The report, stark and comprehensive, was issued a year ago, but there has been no action so far.
Parents, alcohol producers, retailers, restaurants and bars, the media, educators, community organizations, the military - all need to play a role. Denting the denial will require a massive educational effort, possibly financed by an increase in alcohol taxes.
The most important strategy for preventing tragedies...is to keep minors from getting drunk, not holding them in jails after.
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Update: A Year of "Reducing Underage Drinking"
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Wine war A's vs. Giants
San Francisco Chronicle, CA , August 26, 2004
Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd; Buy me some peanuts and Chardonnay, I don't care if it's oak-barrel aged...
Twenty years ago, the only wine you saw at most major-league ballparks was the Champagne players sprayed on each other when they won.
The rash of expensive new baseball stadiums across America in the past 15 years has done more than boost ticket prices. With the new emphasis on exclusive club levels -- the Giants' SBC Park has two -- fans now expect a total luxury experience. And that includes wine.
As a franchise that understood the importance of on-base percentage before anybody else, the A's are also ahead of the wine curve. This year they introduced their own A's Private Label wine, made by Markham Vineyards in St. Helena.
But the Giants are also heavy hitters in the wine department. Their wine list is longer than Oakland's, and their wine cart on the promenade behind home plate was televised on a Travel Channel show, "Cheech Marin's San Francisco."
Shannon Jelliffe, who works at the centerfield wine cart, says sales follow the Giants' on-field fortunes. "If we have a big inning, people come out and drink more. They're happy," says Jelliffe. "If we're on a losing streak, they won't drink as much."
The ambience depends in part on the opponent..."The Red Sox crowd drinks a lot," Knight says. "We're looking forward to having them."
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Birthday bash leads to charges
Portland Maine Press Herald, ME, August 27, 2004
A Limington woman could face jail time after being charged with buying liquor for her 16-year-old son's birthday party and then leaving the children unsupervised at a Standish campground.
Barbara Dyer, 36, of Brandy Lane, pleaded innocent this week in Bridgton District Court to multiple misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, she faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine on each of the 16 charges.
"The conduct of Ms. Dyer in providing this alcohol to children and leaving them unattended in a campground overnight is irresponsible, inexcusable and criminal," Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson said in a statement Thursday.
"Other parents, who entrusted the care of their children to Ms. Dyer after receiving assurances that there would be adequate supervision and no alcohol at the party, have every right to be outraged."
An investigation...showed that Dyer allegedly bought $140 worth of beer, liquor and malt beverages for her son's party. The beverages included three 30-packs of Budweiser Light, a fifth of Bacardi rum, Smirnoff Ice and other malt beverages, said the county's juvenile prosecutor, Christine Thibeault.
The dozen youths at the party ranged from 13 to 19 and included Dyer's 13-year-old daughter, Anderson said. Some had vehicles there.
Dyer was cited with 12 counts of furnishing liquor to someone under 21 and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, the charge when alcohol is furnished to someone younger than 16. State law requires a mandatory minimum fine of $500 for providing alcohol to anyone younger than 14.
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Thursday, August 26, 2004
Alcohol tax off city ballot
Juneau Empire, AK, August 24, 2004
Bar owners walked out of City Hall beaming Monday night after the Juneau Assembly decided to wait for a legal precedent before placing a new liquor tax on the ballot.
At the same time it tabled a measure asking voters to boost the current 3 percent alcohol tax to 5 percent, on top of the 5 percent general sales tax, the Assembly voted to proceed with a ballot measure for a new high school.
The court will interpret an Alaska statute that prohibits an alcohol tax in municipalities that don't tax other items.
"One argument against the alcohol tax is that it's not a good time. But when is a good time?" asked Assembly member Marc Wheeler, who proposed the alcohol tax increase. "We have some big alcohol problems in our community."
But opponents argued that even the Assembly wasn't sure whether the tax would go into prevention and treatment programs.
Matt Felix, a proponent of the increase, remains optimistic. "As soon as the Alaska Supreme Court decides, the Assembly will have the license to go forward," said Felix, executive director of National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence in Juneau.
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Alcohol in Stores Debate Refrain Familiar
Dallas Morning News, TX, August 25, 2004
Supporters and opponents of beer and wine sales in stores squared off Monday at a forum.
With an election about two weeks away, they repeated themes that have been discussed for months: Supporters say sales will add money to city coffers, and opponents say sales will affect the city's quality of life.
The election is Sept. 11. Supporters cite a study saying Irving would gain at least $1.1 million annually from alcohol sales tax revenue in certain parts of town.
"Do you want to give that away to other cities or do you want to keep it?" said Ike Guest, co-chair of Irving Citizens for Economic Growth, which supports sales.
While $1.1 million is a lot of money, it's insignificant compared with the overall city budget, said Mark Dyer, co-chair of Irving First, which opposes sales. In addition, the city may have to spend money on enforcement efforts because police officers would have to monitor underage sales, he said.
"Convenience has its price," he said. Supporters say alcohol sales may attract high-end grocery stores to Irving. By allowing beer and wine sales, retailers can broaden their product bases, Mr. Guest said.
But there's no guarantee that stores will move to Irving because of alcohol sales, Mr. Dyer said.
Mary Klinetobe attended the forum, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Irving. She's against alcohol sales. "Any money we generate with sales tax will be eaten up with [alcohol enforcement] costs," she said. "On a cost-effective basis, it's not a viable option."
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Later Last Call
Tucson Citizen, AZ, August 26, 2004
It may be some time before operators of Tucson bars and eateries feel the full effect of extending hours by 90 minutes. But one local merchant who serves an after-hours crowd said the drinking habits of bar and nightclub goers could water down any expected economic boon.
Passed by the Arizona Legislature in April, the state's newest liquor law went into effect this morning. It allows liquor sales at bars, restaurants and retail outlets to be extended one hour - to 2 a.m. It gives bar patrons until 2:30 a.m. to finish drinks.
The change has Matthew Davidson rearranging schedules of his staff of six to meet late-night crowds. Davidson, manager of Grill, 100 E. Congress St., who is in his usual end-of-summer hiring mode, said he may have to add two staffers just to deal with the later restaurant rush hour.
Davidson is not convinced the change will result in a significant increase in revenue. Once the novelty of the later deadline wears off, the regular bar and nightclub clients will not only stay out later, they will start their evenings later, he said.
A restaurant industry official said it's hard to predict the impact of later bar hours.
"It could mean that individual bar and restaurant owners won't see a dramatic increase in business, but the same business spread out" over a longer period, Rob LaMaster, vice president of the Tucson chapter of the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said last week.
With 800 to 1,000 people visiting The Key's on its busiest nights, Cusack said, extended bar hours will be a boon.
"A lot of people come to Tucson from other states and are used to later bar hours," he said. "They want to enjoy themselves into the evening without being made to stop drinking at an (earlier) hour."
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Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Putting Caps on Teenage Drinking
New York Times, NY, August 25, 2004
A year ago, at the request of Congress, the National Academy of Sciences issued a nationwide strategy to reduce underage drinking. It hasn't been adopted, and since then more than 3,000 Americans have been killed and nearly 1 million injured in traffic crashes, shootings, stabbings, beatings, drownings, burns, suicide attempts and alcohol poisonings - all linked to underage drinking.
This week, nearly 1,000 prevention advocates and alcohol law enforcement officers are meeting at a conference in San Diego to promote the recommendations from the National Academy report. But despite their dedication to the cause, they probably won't succeed - without a lot more help from Washington. A few federal agencies have taken small steps, and two pieces of legislation have been developed but sit languishing. Lawmakers may be too preoccupied right now to tackle a thorny social problem. And the power of the alcohol lobby makes everybody in Washington skittish.
To do so little in the face of this preventable death and injury toll - particularly when the victims are children - is astonishing. The report provided specific proposals, from a national media campaign and the establishment of an independent prevention foundation, to curbs on alcohol advertising and increased enforcement to stop sales to minors.
Meanwhile, advocates in community coalitions and in some government agencies are being pushed backward. Underage drinking prevention groups have had their grants reduced or eliminated by strapped state and local governments. A federally financed information system to track state alcohol laws and policies faces significant cuts. Alcohol law enforcement departments, chronically underfinanced and understaffed, have been hit by budget cuts in many states.
An adequately financed, nationwide plan to reduce underage drinking, adhering to the National Academy report, would save even more lives.
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Update on "Reducing Underage Drinking"
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Coalition to Roll Out Newest Weapon in Battle to Prevent Underage Drinking and Save Lives
Yahoo News, August 25, 2004
The 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 "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."
AP will promote use of electronic age-verification technology in retail outlets that sell alcoholic beverages. The group is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would provide incentives for vendors of alcohol who purchase and use this technology that is already available.
The legislation also calls on Congress to provide increased support to state law enforcement for compliance checks; retail compliance training and monitoring; and ongoing research and evaluation of program effectiveness.
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Study inspires youth drinking crackdown
Montgomery Advertiser Front Page, AL, August 25, 2004
Underage drinking is an even bigger problem than that in Alabama. That is the consensus of government officials and civic organizations working to combat alcohol consumption by minors and the sale of alcohol to youths.
That battle is now moving to new targets -- the clerks and establishments that sell alcoholic beverages to minors.
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board will recruit minors to attempt to buy alcohol illegally and will conduct surveillance at establishments reputed to sell alcohol to youths, according to information from the state Department of Economic and Community Affairs.
"This is not just a concern for parents; it's a concern for the entire community," Peggy Batey, state executive director for the Alabama chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said. "This is an issue that parents especially need to be educated on."
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Law narrows on minors, alcohol
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, August 24, 2004
The state Supreme Court narrowed California's criminal law against buying liquor for minors Monday, ruling that the buyer can try to prove he or she reasonably believed the drinker was 21 or older.
The unanimous decision also said the law, which makes it a crime to purchase alcoholic beverages for anyone under 21, doesn't generally apply to a host of a private party where liquor is served and the guests include minors. Only a specific purchase of alcohol for a particular underage guest is a crime, the court said.
State law bars victims of injuries caused by drunken drivers from seeking damages against the person who sold or furnished the alcoholic beverage, except in the case of a bar that serves an obviously intoxicated minor.
Werdegar also noted that bar owners, who are covered by a separate law against selling liquor to minors, can defend themselves by showing that they relied on an apparently valid identification document indicating the buyer was 21 or older.
The purpose of the law was "to hold adults accountable for bad behavior in buying alcohol for minors,'' said Jennings' lawyer, M. Bradley Wishek.
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Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Alcohol ads sell 'good time' to students
Patriot-News, PA, August 23, 2004
"Every time you see an advertisement, you see a bunch of guys drinking at a bar, people having a good time, and that's what people in college want," said John Orobono, a senior at Lehigh University, of Bucks County. "They make the funniest commercials I've ever seen, and that helps." The 22-year-old marketing major believes liquor and beer commercials effectively sell products to an already willing audience of college students.
But his frat brother, Marc Wasserman of Long Island, N.Y., thinks low-price promotions work better with cash-poor college students. "You go to a bar ... and it's a dollar special, something you don't even like, you're going to choose the dollar beer and get drunk," Wasserman said.
Some alcohol industry observers argue that such low-price drink promotions as $1 pitchers, 25-cent draft beer nights and "penny til you pee" events encourage excessive drinking among college students.
"We suggest that one of the ways to solve the problem is to limit promotions that increase high-risk consumption," said Steve Schmidt, director of the Bureau of Alcohol Education at the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
One of the problems with marketing alcoholic beverages to college students of legal drinking age is "spillover" to their underage classmates, said the Rev. Jesse W. Brown Jr., Pennsylvania coordinator of Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth.
After all, how do you create an ad to appeal to a 21-year-old but not a 20-year-old?
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Examples of Egregious Alcohol Advertising
Alcohol Availability on Campus
Alcohol packaged for kids
Ventura County Star, CA, August 24, 2004
A Wet Willy is a cute little water drop with feet, found on skateboards, caps, sweatshirts and all sorts of skateboarding gear. It seems our youth can't get enough of Wet Willy...
Recently, a new gelatin-based alcohol product has appeared on the shelves in California. It is called Wet Willy's Edible Cocktails. They come in various flavors: blue Hawaiian, chocolate banana, martini, lemon drop, kamikaze, sex on the beach, melon ball, and golden dream. They are sold in a plastic container with individual servings inside that resemble Jell-o gelatin snacks.
The Responsible Alcohol Policy Coalition is especially nervous about the consequences the wine-based gelatin Wet Willy will certainly have on youth in our community. The Wet Willy is designed to appeal to a relatively young market. Its design includes the name of the cartoon icon of the skateboarding world. The skateboarding community is primarily, if not exclusively, under 21.
The packaged product also resembles a lunch item -- Jell-O gelatin deserts -- that parents typically include in children's school lunches. Therefore, the Wet Willy undeniably appeals to kids who are not likely to be of legal drinking age.
The Wet Willy plastic container skillfully disguises the alcohol nature of the product, which enables kids to consume it without teachers, parents and police knowing that the wine-based product contains alcohol.
This poses a major enforcement obstacle for schoolteachers, police and parents. Communities in Northern California have already expressed concern because they have found small retailers selling the products individually instead of by the entire package.
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Monday, August 23, 2004
Police fear more DUIs are coming
Arizona Daily Star, AZ, August 21, 2004
Local public-safety agencies are gearing up for what some studies have shown could be a deadly change - beginning Wednesday, Arizonans will have one more hour to buy alcohol as liquor sales hours are extended to 2 a.m.
There's limited national research and a lot of local uncertainty about exactly how much the extra hour of drinking time will affect public safety and efforts to reduce irresponsible drinking. But Tucson police are bulking up late-night patrols to handle potential increases in drunken driving and other alcohol-fueled crime.
Harper said that in addition to drunken driving, violence can flare up at after-hours gatherings that involve people who have been drinking at the bars.
...safety advocates are concerned by the new law, which makes Arizona the 38th state to allow liquor sales after 1 a.m.
...there is little other research now. What has been done was cited by the Marin Institute, a San Francisco-area group that provides resources to prevent alcohol problems in communities, as it lobbied against a proposal to extend drinking hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. in the Bay area.
The group cited studies from the past two years that show there were fewer drunken-driving arrests if Sunday alcohol sales were banned, as well as a drop in the number of drunken young people crossing into the United States from Ciudad Juarez after the Mexican border city changed its closing time to 3 a.m. from 5 a.m.
"There is enough evidence to show that cities which extend last call are likely to experience more alcohol-related problems," said Amon Rappaport, communications director for the Marin Institute.
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Sides rally for and against booze tax
Juneau Empire, AK, August 20, 2004
Proponents and opponents of a liquor tax increase are ready to have their first match in the Assembly meeting next Monday.
The Assembly will have a public hearing on whether to put a proposal on the October ballot to increase the sales tax of alcoholic beverages from 3 cents to 5 cents on the dollar, effective Jan. 1, 2005. That is in addition to the current 5 percent city sales tax.
"The alcohol tax should be called a user tax," said Matt Felix, executive director of National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence in Juneau. said. "The more you drink, the more you should pay. The consequences of abuse of alcohol are high. It causes great damage to the community."
The ordinance also quoted a study to show the evils of alcohol. "Nationwide, alcohol is implicated in 42 percent of fatal crashes, 45 percent of fatal fires, 50 percent of hospital emergency room visits and 100 percent of fetal alcohol syndrome cases," the ordinance said.
City Finance Director Craig Duncan said if voters approve the proposal, the city will garner about $1.16 million a year just from the 5 percent alcohol sales tax.
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Alcohol ban splits council
Carolina Morning News, SC, Augsut 21, 2004
Call it a "tempest in a beer keg."
Hardeeville City Council members had barely settled in their seats in the new $1 million Community Center's meeting chambers Thursday evening when they were talking about banning alcoholic beverages from city property - including the Community Center.
The Community Center, which opened just two weeks ago, is being touted as belonging to citizens. They will be invited to have reunions, parties, wedding receptions and other gatherings there.
But the city now wants to ban beer, wine and liquor from all events that take place on city property, including the Community Center, ballparks and streets and sidewalks.
Council members voting for the alcohol ban, Bill Horton and Edward Moyd and Mayor Pro Tem Brooks Willis, said the city doesn't need the threat of problems and lawsuits that could spring from alcohol consumption on public property.
"We should keep (Hardeeville) safe and simple," Moyd said.
Willis said alcohol is nothing but trouble. "I've ... seen alcohol destroy families," he said. "The city has to exercise some control."
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The high costs of underage drinking
York Daily Record, PA, August 22, 2004
The cost of underage drinking for each youth in Pennsylvania is $1,699. That added up to $2 billion in 2001, according to the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. When kids drink and when adults provide them with alcohol, they might think about the cost of a keg of beer versus cases but they don’t think about things like violence and traffic crashes.
The biggest part of the cost of underage drinking comes from youth violence related to alcohol - over $1 billion. Traffic crashes are the most visible of the risks associated with underage drinking. The costs of these crashes in Pennsylvania in 2001 was nearly $620 million.
The price tag is $2,010,300,000. That’s a lot of numbers, and yet the price is much higher in the suffering of children and their families that can’t be so easily measured.
Another unmeasurable cost is what would happen if we didn’t have to spend that money on the unintended consequences of underage drinking and were able to put it to better use. We currently spend $9,595 educating the average pupil in Pennsylvania. If we got serious about reducing underage drinking, I wonder what we could do with $1,700 per child?
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Friday, August 20, 2004
It's Miller Time -- With A Single Shade Of Color
Click on Detroit Entertainment, MI, August 16, 2004
A beer company that started out to mark the 50th anniversary of rock-and-roll has brewed up a major controversy, instead.
Miller Brewing is catching some heat for celebrating the 50th anniversary of rock-and-roll with commemorative cans but not including any black artists.
Miller Brewing is out with eight commemorative beer cans featuring Rolling Stone cover shots of rock artists.
The cans feature Rolling Stone covers picturing Blondie, Elvis Presley, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Willie Nelson and the guitars of Eric Clapton and Joe Walsh. None of the artists is black -- and that isn't sitting well with some critics.
By contrast, six of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1986 were black -- including Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles and Little Richard.
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Westchester executive concerned over alcohol machines
Newsday, NY, August 19, 2004
It hasn't even arrived, and already some people want it banned.
A machine that combines alcohol and oxygen to create an inhalable alcoholic mist is set to debut in New York City this weekend, but Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano wants a local or state ban against it because he worries it will attract underage drinkers.
Spano said the Alcohol Without Liquid Machine would harm efforts to drive down underage teen drinking and driving under the influence.
"This is really attractive to youngsters," Spano told the Journal News of Westchester in Thursday's editions.
"It's portable, and it will wind up at parties with kids. ... We don't want it in Westchester, and in fact, we don't want it in the state," Spano added.
Westchester has a chronic underage drinking problem, and recently enlisted the help of a Justice Department contractor, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, to investigate the problem.
The machine, created in England and already in use in other parts of the world, has users wear a mask and breathe in the alcoholic vapor. Promoters praise it for inducing a sense of well-being and say it doesn't lead to hangovers.
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Learning about drinking at college
Dallas Morning News, TX, August 16, 2004
"Just say no" to underage drinking - it's a message students learn well before college. But over the last decade, some universities have also started teaching students to "Just be responsible" about drinking, before and after their 21st birthdays.
"Prohibition didn't work either," says Angela Taylor, associate dean of student development and director of the Alcohol and Drug Education Center at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. "We're giving them skills to last a lifetime."
Now, Dr. Taylor says, universities are beginning to look beyond their campuses to bar and liquor store promotions that contribute to student attitudes about alcohol.
"What student doesn't know drinking and driving is a bad idea?" says Dr. Taylor. "But a third of them get behind the wheel. Where's the disconnect?"
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Thursday, August 19, 2004
Initiative to tackle underage drinking
The Missoulian, MT, August 18, 2004
More Missoula police officers will be walking through bars all over the city. Extra patrol cars will visit underage parties. Youths in their late teens, working with police officers, will visit bars and convenience stores trying to buy liquor. Officers in street clothes will work side-by-side with bouncers to help them hone their skills at spotting fake IDs and turning away potential underage drinkers. Billboards and fliers will remind parents that they're No. 1 on the prevention list. And new sixth-graders and ninth-graders will get training in how to say "no."
Missoula's new strategy is to blanket the city and smother the underage drinking problem.
"Every part of the community has a role in underage drinking," said Jori Frakie, coordinator of the Missoula Forum for Children and Youth. "It's really important to realize that everyone has to be doing their part in order for the community strategy to succeed. Parents can't do it alone. Schools can't do it alone."
The effort includes elected officials from the Missoula County commissioners to the Missoula City Council to parents to alcohol retailers to schools to addiction agencies to law enforcement and justice, said Frakie. It's coordinated by Missoula Underage Substance Abuse Prevention, which is a coalition that's under the umbrella of the Forum for Children and Youth.
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Later bar hours begin next week
KVOA, AZ, August 17, 2004
Some police officers and hospital workers fear an increase in the number of drunken drivers, bar fights and domestic violence when Arizona extends its liquor sales next week.
Starting on Tuesday night, the state will join much of the rest of the nation with liquor sales ending at 2 a.m. instead of 1 a.m.
"It's certainly not going to help things," said Scottsdale police officer David Weaver. "I think there's going to be a lot more problems."
"It's another hour where we have to pick up the pieces somewhere along the line, whether it's a fight in a parking lot or family violence," said Scottsdale Lt. Tom Henny, who oversees bar district patrols.
Authorities hope there won't be a rise in drunken driving arrests. Nearly 27 percent of the 1,118 traffic-accident fatalities in Arizona in 2003 were alcohol-related, according to the most recent statistics available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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Agents protest Oregon liquor sale test
Oregonian, OR, August 18, 2004
The opening of the Portland area's first of at least two liquor outlets inside grocery stores has rekindled a debate pitting what is convenient to consumers against what is fair for existing liquor agents.
Backers of a state pilot program to open six urban grocery-store outlets by Dec. 31, including the one opened Aug. 4 in Lamb's Thriftway Market in Southwest Portland, say in-store liquor sales will promote one-stop shopping, help meet demands of a growing population, boost foot traffic for grocers and in some cases ease parking.
Opponents say the program will hurt business for existing agents, while inching the state toward privatization of liquor distribution and thereby making alcohol more accessible to minors.
"I'm not saying we don't need another liquor store," said George Kuppler, president of the Associated Liquor Stores of Oregon and operator of Oak Grove Liquor in Milwaukie. "I'm just not thrilled about a liquor store within a grocery store, where mom just wheels her cart right up."
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Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Albany is top party school in nation
Associated Press, August 17, 2004
Beating Harvard or Yale on a list of rankings would ordinarily make administrators at the State University of New York at Albany beam. But not when it wins the nation's No. 1 party school crown. Albany was ranked seventh in the use of hard liquor and marijuana, ninth in beer drinking and first in "students (almost) never study," helping get Princeton Review's top party spot.
The review's annual "Best 357 Colleges" survey, conducted since 1992, is based on responses from more than 110,000 students at campuses around the country. The review has no affiliation with Princeton University.
"The rankings are not to be taken seriously, and are certainly not reflective of the serious, hardworking students at Albany," university spokeswoman Lisa James-Goldsberry said in a statement. "If this were a term paper, it would get an "F" in methodology."
The "party school" category is based on questions focusing on the amount of alcohol and drug consumption, the amount of time students spend studying, and the popularity of fraternities and sororities.
The American Medical Association has criticized party school listings, saying they legitimize high-risk drinking and portray alcohol as an essential part of student life. Robert Franek, lead author for the survey, disagrees and says the survey accurately reflects college life - for better or worse - and can be a vehicle for change. "I think we do a great service for college-bound students, being in a very unique position to get onto the 357 best college campuses and ask students tough questions," Franek said.
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Small store owners unsure of Sunday sales
Newsday Business Print Edition, NY, Aug 18, 2004
The New York state budget passed last week by the legislature, pending signature by Gov. George Pataki, includes a measure that would allow liquor stores to expand from six to seven days a week.
While some in the business are toasting the measure, smaller operators like Kenneth Babi - owner of West Hills Wines & Liquors - are on edge. "You can open 24 hours a day, seven days a week but people only drink so much," Babi said yesterday. "You won't get any more business. It spreads your business out."
Last year liquor stores were allowed to open on Sundays if they closed another day, but Babi declined. Now he said he will have to weigh what his immediate competitors do, but doesn't think selling Scotch on Sundays would bring much added revenue.
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Hard alcohol takes its place on Oregon grocery shelves
KATU News, OR, August 17, 2004
The first day of a controversial plan to sell hard liquor in Oregon supermarkets started Tuesday. Lamb's Thriftway grocery store in Southwest Portland opened its first "store-within-a store."
The concept of selling hard liquor is part of a two-year pilot project that will include the opening of six more liquor stores by October. The liquor store is not a normal part of the grocery store; unlike the produce section the hard alcohol portion has its own cash register and its own entrance.
Regardless of the plan's success or failure, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) worry the move into grocery chains will make liquor more accessible to people eventually leading to more alcohol abuse.
"Obviously MADD is very concerned about drinking and driving, but also about underage drinking and there's all kinds of implications to having accessibility in a grocery store," said Kathy Stromvig from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
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Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Biggest problems are alcohol caused
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, August 17, 2004
"It's really jack-of-all-trades police work," said Jon King, a lieutenant with the department, which fields 62 officers. "It's all across the map. For me, the basic mission is simple. I just want to make sure the parks are in the kind of condition that meet my personal standards -- that would make me want to bring my family for a visit."
But the biggest problem by far, said King, is overconsumption of alcohol.
"Soooo many of our problems are related to drinking," said King, cruising through Chabot Park. "Fistfights, gunfights, knife fights, domestic violence, fatal car crashes, alcohol poisoning. Say it's a hot summer Saturday afternoon at Lake Chabot. The place is absolutely packed, everybody has been drinking beer all day. By about 5:30, things can start getting pretty wild. You really earn your pay then."
"Seriously, if we catch you up here with alcohol again, we'll arrest you, " Green told one young woman who kept nodding her head. "We want you to have a good time. But you can't break the law here. We'll be watching for you."
"That worked out," said King, getting back behind the wheel of his car. "It's not always about making arrests. If we can interdict something like this in the afternoon, it saves us another trip up here at midnight, when they start getting rowdy, becoming a nuisance, maybe endangering the public by driving back down the hill on a beer run."
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Binge Drinking, Harmful Drinking Linked to U.S. Death Rates
JoinTogether.org, August 16, 2004
Binge drinking and harmful drinking, including both medium to high levels of regular alcohol consumption, account for a substantial number of deaths each year in the United States. Prevention of this underlying cause of mortality must be a public health priority, according to researchers at the University of Washington (UW) who conducted the study.
An estimated 63,718 deaths were attributable to harmful drinking in the U.S. in 2000. Of these deaths, 45,988 were to males (4 percent of all deaths among males) and 17,730 were to females (1.5 percent of all deaths among females).
Heavy episodic drinking (binge drinking) has been defined as five or more drinks per occasion, with a drink equaling 10 grams of alcohol. Motor vehicle crashes were the most frequent cause of death for binge drinkers. Among men, the other common causes of death were homicide, suicide, alcohol poisoning and drowning, and for women, homicide, hemorrhagic stroke, alcohol poisoning and suicide.
"While the number of deaths due to alcohol in our study, nearly 64,000, is considerably less than the 105,095 calculated by the CDC for 1987, these deaths are still a cause for concern and a call to action," says Dr. Frederick Rivara, a UW professor of pediatrics and adjunct professor of epidemiology, and principal investigator for the study. "In contrast to many other causes of death, deaths from alcohol are due to preventable, high-risk behaviors. Previous studies have shown that family- and community-based interventions can have an impact on youth drinking, and brief interventions in clinical settings have been shown to be effective in reducing harmful drinking by adults. Research also shows that raising the taxes on alcohol has the potential to reduce harmful drinking."
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UC Police Dept. fights underage drinking
The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA, August 16, 2004
As UCLA students frequently venture out to consume alcoholic beverages in neighboring bars and restaurants, their desires often clash with the law.
Recently, UCPD and some Westwood residents have been taking steps to eliminate the underage drinking that is so prevalent on and around college campuses.
"We've had a lot of problems with alcohol enforcement in Westwood," said Sandy Brown, president of Holmby-Westwood Property Owners Association. "We must pay closer attention to who is getting served and who is purchasing alcohol."
Many factors affect the effective implementation of stricter alcohol enforcement. From the students' desires to enjoy their weekends to business establishments' fears of declining sales to residents' concerns about the negative effects of underage drinking, enforcement stirs strong emotions from all sides.
The issue is not so much alcohol consumption, residents say, as it is a concern that there are too many liquor establishments in the area which are not strict enough.
In July, a training program was sponsored by UCPD in which bar managers and servers attended seminars about the various methods of curbing underage drinking.
The seminar was part of a program introduced to Westwood in April of 2002 known as Standardized Training for Alcohol Retailers. The seminars teach restaurants how to spot minors and tactfully decline service to patrons.
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Monday, August 16, 2004
A-B goes clubbin' with marketing message
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Business, MO, August 12, 2004
...Anheuser-Busch also has a new rival in mind: distilled spirits. Last year, the volume of spirits consumed increased 4.5 percent, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. In contrast, domestic-beer consumption declined 0.3 percent in 2003, according to trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights.
So, the brewer has been stepping up on-premises marketing efforts by increasing the frequency of older programs like the freshness campaign and adding new ones to keep young adults - ages 21 to 27 - loyal and excited about its malt beverages.
Beer remains the most popular alcoholic beverage in the United States, and no other drink is close to surpassing it.
On a per-capita basis, American adults 18 and older consumed about 307 servings of beer last year, compared with 148 servings of spirits and 71 servings of wine, according to Robert Weinberg, a brewing-industry consultant based in St. Louis.
Besides expanding its on-premises marketing, Anheuser-Busch will be fiercely defending key "beer occasions," the social events people most closely connect to beer.
Sporting events, after-work socializing, family gatherings, picnics and casual dining are events where beer dominates...
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High rate of underage drinking may prompt new alcoholic beverage taxes
KVOA, AZ, August 12, 2004
Some kids in Pima County start drinking at 9 years old. That startling statistic prompted a county-wide commission to find ways to stop underage drinking.
One of the commission's recommendations is to start registering the names of customers who buy kegs.
Another idea is to increase Arizona's tax on alcohol, which Daniel Head, member of the commission, says hasn't been done in more than 20 years.
The commission surveyed 500 people and found that 67% would support an alcohol tax increase if the money would support alcohol treatment programs.
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Girls lead in teen alcohol use
Seattle Times, August 14, 2004
Kelsey Bennett had her first drink when she was 13. She doesn't think she was pressured by her peers. She doesn't think she was swayed by advertising. She just had a few friends over one night and opened some bottles in her parents' liquor cabinet.
There is evidence that it is now girls such as Kelsey, not boys, who constitute the majority of youths using alcohol.
The role that ads may play is highlighted in a study released by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University in Washington. The group looked at the advertising content and readership ages of popular magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Maxim and Sport Illustrated.
The study found that underage youths saw more alcohol advertising than did adults in 2002 - and that teen girls were far more likely to be exposed to that advertising than teen boys.
The group Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free cites 2002 research showing that 38.5 percent of ninth-grade girls reported drinking in the past month, versus 34 percent of boys. Some 21 percent of girls and 19 percent of boys reported binge drinking. Until that year, girls had reported consuming alcohol at rates less than or nearly equal to boys.
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France is sick of alcopops
Sunday Herald, Scotland, August 15, 2004
France, the country that turned boozing into an art form , is leading a European fightback against that garish affront to civilised drinking known as the “pret à boire” - or, in English, the alcopop.
Alarmed by the rapid inroads made by pre-mixed alcoholic cocktails in many neighbouring countries, President Jacques Chirac’s centre-right government has pushed through an amendment to its public health bill which will double the tax on all sales from January. The increase will put up the price of the average alcopop to between €3 and €4 (£2-£2.50) - beyond, it is hoped, the reach of the adolescent market whose drinking habits are a cause of mounting concern. The money raised will be spent on government programmes to combat alcoholism.
“The increase is essential for public health because pre-mixed drinks and other ‘alcopops’ are manufactured in order to capture an ever- younger clientele,” the government says in the preamble to the bill.
“What we are trying to do is discourage consumption of alcoholic drinks whose strong alcoholic taste or whose bitterness has been masked by the addition of other products. The sale of these drinks is a pure marketing strategy aimed at young consumers, who are attracted by the sweet taste.”
“Today Swiss and German teenagers drink more alcopops than beer,” he said. “We want to kill these new products by making them so expensive that the kids stop buying them. When it comes to the health of our young, we will not allow companies to get away with anything in the name of profit.”
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Friday, August 13, 2004
The Coors and the Kerrys
CounterPunch, August 12, 2004
Coors, of the brewery family which has funneled huge sums of money to ultra-right groups, proposed during his campaign that the drinking age be lowered. Coors doesn't care about the horrible damage that teenage drinking does--beer company profits are under pressure and the money has to come from somewhere. Lowering the drinking age would go hand in hand with the takeover of live music venues which breweries have staged, along with their fellow drug-pushers in the tobacco industry.
Pete Coors is also a board member of the Heinz Corporation, the giant business empire controlled by Teresa Heinz, aka Mrs. John Kerry. The Heinz Corporation is the ultimate source of much of the money the Kerrys are using to run for President.
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In Our View: Misuse of Mouse
Columbian, WA, August 12, 2004
It's yet another example of that wonderful invention the Internet unsheathing its ugly side and betraying us. It's underage drinker grabbing a mouse and using a computer and a credit card to illegally buy liquor online.
Last month underage drinkers who are students at Gonzaga University in Spokane used the Internet to buy and later receive liquor, wine and beer. They're members of Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, and they're demanding that state Attorney General Christine Gregoire lower the boom on illegal sales of alcohol to minors via the Internet.
We join the call for tighter enforcement by the state, but first we must point out that government cannot do everything. Parental control, education outreach programs and personal responsibility are the most effective prevention strategies.
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Colorado Univ. begins cracking down
Denver Post News, CO, August 12, 2004
The University of Colorado is trying to shed its image as the No. 1 party school in the nation by imposing tougher alcohol policies, including a required Web class on alcohol abuse for freshmen.
The school's Board of Regents on Wednesday also debated pulling illegally displayed CU logos from liquor- store promotions and protesting liquor-license applications near campus.
Wednesday's newly announced drinking policies were first discussed before allegations about CU's football recruiting practices were made public in January. But they are designed to address a runaway campus culture that fostered the scandal.
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N. Charleston council votes no alcohol at festivals
Charleston Post Courier, SC, August 13, 2004
In a surprising reversal, North Charleston City Council voted 8-3 Thursday night to shoot down a proposed new law that would have allowed drinking in public during special events and festivals.
The vote followed nearly two hours of pleas by residents, the overwhelming majority of whom said they feared passage of the proposed ordinance would lead to debauchery and problems with rowdy drunks in the community.
"I felt like I went to sleep and woke up to find North Charleston had become New Orleans," said former Mayor John Bourne, who was joined by roughly two dozen others who spoke out in protest. "We don't need to go out of our way to make things hard on ourselves."
The majority of council members, who previously approved the measure in finance committee, said they were swayed by the turnout of those opposed.
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Death, injury rates on U.S. highways drop in ’03
MSNBC, The Associated Press, August 10, 2004
Fewer people were killed or injured on U.S. highways last year, a decline that regulators said owed much to an increase in seat belt use and a decrease in accidents involving drunken drivers...Decline due largely to seat belt use, fewer drunk-driving accidents.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said Tuesday that 42,643 people died in traffic crashes in 2003, down 362 from the previous year.
The drop is more striking for the fact that people did more driving in 2003.
NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge said the data indicate that the agency’s emphasis on seat belts and drunken driving is having some effect.
Drunken driving deaths also fell for the first time since 1999. Runge said it helped that 14 states adopted the tougher blood-alcohol standard of 0.08 last year to avoid losing federal funds.
“We’re hoping it’s a trend,” said Lynne Goughler, vice president of public policy for Mothers Against Drunken Driving. “Every state has gotten down to 0.08, and we know that works.”
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Thursday, August 12, 2004
Parent group says NC town soft on teen abuse
Chapel Hill News (NC), Wed, Aug 11, 2004
A group bent on drying up teen drinking and drugging is finding allies with school administrators and police.
A small grassroots team of mostly parents, the Committee for Alcohol- and Drug-Free Teenagers, wants to reform what members call a lax attitude toward substance abuse in Chapel Hill. This casual approach of parents, police and teachers comes at middle and high school students' expense, according to Dale Pratt-Wilson, a mother of two who started the small group.
"When I say they're buying and selling at school, they are," she said. "When I say they're drinking alcohol in class from water bottles, they are."
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The good the bad and the ugly of alcohol in a resort town
Aspen.com (CO), Thu, Aug 12, 2004
Booze is big business in Aspen.
Conjure up a few mental images of these local traditions: the Food & Wine Magazine Classic, the après-ski scene, Aspen Crud at the Hotel Jerome, a summer picnic on the listening lawn at the Benedict Music Tent, the most recent Aspen Cocktail Classic. A bottle of wine, a jigger of whisky, or a pint of beer is nearly always part of the picture.
But conspicuous consumption of alcohol (as with money, fine dining and other aspects of living large) is just another aspect of Aspen life that's rarely questioned. In this quintessential resort and party town there's always been a fair amount of shot-slamming and beer-chugging in the bars, snifter-sipping by the fire and wine-pouring by master sommeliers.
Today there are 82 establishments with licenses to sell booze within city limits. That's one liquor license for every 80 year-round Aspen residents. While that's in line with other resort towns, Fruita, a similarly sized town near Grand Junction, has a total of 17 liquor licenses in their town, one for every 470 people.
The town has a generally permissive attitude toward drinking and recreational drugs, and police say alcohol is a frequent factor in crimes.
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Momentum Builds to End Beer Ads in College Sports
JoinTogether.org, 8/11/2004
More than 200 colleges in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have pledged to end alcohol advertising on college sports broadcasts. Those schools are joined by two Division I conferences -- the Ivy League and the Big South Conference -- which have also signed the "College Commitment," a nationwide effort promoted by the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV.
The College Commitment asks schools to end alcohol ads on local broadcasts of their sporting events and to vote within their conference and the NCAA to end alcohol ads on all televised college sports events.
"College presidents, athletic directors, and coaches are increasingly uncomfortable trying to combat alcohol problems on campus on the one hand, and promoting beer on their sports broadcasts on the other," said George A. Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which runs the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV. "In just a few months, 20 percent of NCAA-member schools joined the campaign to sever the link between alcohol advertising and college sports."
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Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Coors wins Senate primary race in Colorado
New York Times, NY, August 11, 2004
The great-grandson of beer baron Adolph Coors handily won the Republican primary for Colorado's U.S. Senate seat, triggering a face-off with the state's Democratic attorney general this fall.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting early Wednesday, Peter Coors, on leave as chairman of Coors Brewing Co., had 200,051 votes, or 61 percent, and former Rep. Bob Schaffer had 130,103 votes, or 39 percent.
Coors, 57, a political novice, said the Senate has 57 lawyers and does not need another one. ``I've said all along the Senate needs more people with business experience,'' he said.
Coors said he supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and he contends lowering the drinking age would teach responsibility at a younger age. He also has said many of his policies as chairman made good business sense.
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Boise State, University of Idaho want to sell alcohol
The Idaho Statesmen, ID, August 11, 2004
The schools are asking the board to grant them a waiver so they can sell beer and wine in designated areas on campus at home football games this fall. The board meets Thursday and Friday at the College of Southern Idaho and is expected to act on the request Thursday.
Idaho has served beer on campus before football games in previous years with a waiver. BSU never has had alcohol at its football games, but the board did grant a waiver last year that allowed it to be served in a tent village at the Humanitarian Bowl. BSU is asking for the same thing for its seven home football games, including the Sept. 4 opener against Idaho.
“It would only be allowed in the secured area north of the stadium,” BSU athletic director Gene Bleymaier said. “We would sell tents to businesses and corporations, and the area is not going to be open to the general public. You’d need to be an invited guest.”
Bleymaier said the area would be patrolled by security and wristbands or hand stamps would be required if a person was to consume alcohol.
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Police opposition delays liquor license
Juneau Empire, AK, August 10, 2004
With the Juneau Police Department opposing a proposed liquor license for the Bergmann Hotel's bar, the Juneau Assembly Human Resources Committee recommended Monday that police and the owner work together on a possible agreement allowing the license with conditions.
Human Resources Committee Chairman Stan Ridgeway recommended they delay action on the issue and let the parties work out an agreement. The issue will come before the committee again on Aug. 23.
Although seven people spoke in favor of the license Monday, the committee heavily weighed the comments from one: Juneau Police Chief Richard Gummow. He recommended the committee protest the license because he said it would increase alcohol-related incidences and cost taxpayers.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2004
A few clicks can get minors liquor
Post Intelligencer, WA, August 9, 2004
All an underage person needs to get booze now is a credit card and a computer.
That's what a bunch of Gonzaga University students found out last month. They ordered liquor, beer and wine and had it delivered to their front doors without ever being questioned about their age.
Armed with full bottles and delivery receipts, the students are demanding that state Attorney General Christine Gregoire investigate several online companies selling and delivering alcohol to minors.
In Washington, state Attorney General Christine Gregoire's staff has not decided what will be done about the Gonzaga request or the practice of online liquor sales, but state attorneys general are likely to act if presented with evidence, as they did in the case of Internet tobacco retailers two years ago, said spokeswoman Lori Takahashi.
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Big Boy in Howell petitions to add liquor to the menu
Detroit Free Press, MI, August 10, 2004
That's right, Big Boy -- the classic family restaurant whose mascot is a chubby 6-year-old boy in droopy, checkered overalls -- wants to become the first of its kind to open a full bar. An application with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission is pending.
Robert Hammond, director of the Alcohol Research Information Service in Lansing, said Monday he doesn't want to mix alcohol and the family image projected by Big Boy.
"The alcohol industry, in all sorts of ways, subtly solicits underage drinkers," Hammond said. "I liken this to Joe Camel and the tobacco industry. This has national implications."
"Other restaurants, like Applebee's and Bennigan's, serve alcohol, but they don't use this kind of a kid-friendly, family image in their promotions," he said. "That's my concern. I want a condition of the license to be that they can no longer use a statue of a 6-year-old kid."
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Nutritional supplements join long list of quick fixes for hangovers
Morning Call, PA, August10, 2004
The latest quick fixes for the day after a long night of drinking are nutritional supplements, products such as Chaser and RU-21, which manufacturers claim can make you feel better or keep you from even getting a hangover.
Although they might seem like an easy solution for drinkers who have partied too hard, not everyone is enchanted with these quick fixes for overindulgence.
More upsetting to physicians such as Brown, as well as alcoholism awareness advocates, is concern that these products target a population already at risk for alcohol abuse: young people.
''Wow, what a dangerous message to send when we have such a major problem with alcoholism in this country,'' Brown says.
Critics like Ames K. Sweet, director of communications for the New York-based National Council on Alcohol Abuse, say these pills offer alcohol consumers a false sense of safety.
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Court Ruling on Campus Alcohol Ads a Step Backwards
Agape Press, MS, August 9, 2004
A three-judge panel of the Third Circuit court in Philadelphia said the ad ban chills free speech and would not reduce the demand for alcohol by underage students. James Fell, a researcher at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, has been on the MADD board of directors since 1999. He says the decision is a step in the wrong direction because it allows the alcohol industry to act irresponsibly.
"The industry standard [for television and radio] is that we will not advertise on programs or in magazines where the adult readership or the adult population in viewing that program is under 70 percent. That's their standard," Fell says. "Now obviously [on] a college campus, at least 50 percent are under the age of 21 -- so I would think that that's violating their own standard."
In addition, Fell suggests both sides of the issue be presented when alcohol ads do appear. "I think if the alcohol industry is going to advertise their product in college newspapers, that for every ad they have there ought to be a counter-ad, paid for by them, about the devastation caused by under-age drinking," he says. There is solid evidence, the researcher says, that a bombardment of alcohol advertising predisposes young people to drink.
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Monday, August 9, 2004
Univ. of New Hampshire To Combat Drinking On Campus
WMUR Channel.com, NH, August 7, 2004
University of New Hampshire officials are considering a plan to minimize abuse of alcohol by students that could include asking them to quit popular outdoor drinking games.
The move was prompted by disturbances last year following several sporting events. In October an estimated 2,500 people rushed the streets after the Red Sox lost a playoff game. Seven people, including six students, were arrested. A similar incident the spring of 2003 led to 87 arrests.
In response, UNH President Ann Weaver Hart formed the Alcohol Planning Group in May to craft a strategy to respond to such high-risk alcohol use on campus.
Rubinstein said the new plan is a work in progress, but said the group has found that the university lacks a wide-ranging plan for dealing with high-risk alcohol and drug use.
Rubinstein said drinking games such as Beer Pong, in which players compete over a large table and try to throw a ball into beer-filled cups to make their opponents drink, make alcohol the center of social events.
University officials plan to take steps to discourage large parties and drinking on front lawns of apartments and fraternity and sorority houses near campus.
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Labels to warn of dangers of drinking: French minister
Expatica, August 5, 2004
French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Thursday called for labels on bottles of alcohol to warn pregnant women of the dangers that drinking could pose for their unborn children.
His statements came one day after prosecutors in the northern French city of Lille began an investigation into whether alcohol producers should be held liable for the health problems of children born to mothers who drink.
"I will see to it that there are labels on the bottles," a spokesman for Douste-Blazy quoted the minister as saying.
He also said that from September France's centre-right government would launch a nationwide campaign primarily aimed at pregnant women and adolescents about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption.
The Lille enquiry - the first-ever of its kind - was to see whether a judicial file should be opened into a possible charge of "endangering the life of another person, misleading marketing and causing involuntary harm."
Benoit Titran, attorney for the family rights association, highlighted that while bottles of French wine exported to the United States have labels listing the possible risks, bottles destined for domestic consumption do not have warning labels.
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Namibia, Africa, in Drive for Responsible Drinking
AllAfrica.com, Africa, August 6, 2004
Namibia has moved to curb drinking, which drains the country of millions of dollars, destroys family relationships, harms children's upbringing and accelerates the spread of HIV/AIDS.
According to the United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative Khin-Sandi Lwin, alcohol is "a problem that threatens the very fabric of Namibian society and the future of the nation."
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS) launched a movement, the Coalition on Responsible Drinking (CORD) to change people's attitudes towards drinking.
The coalition will enforce laws that restrict under-age drinking, drunk driving and alcohol sales; ensure that advertising on alcoholic beverages is restricted; put health warning labels on all alcohol products and also lobby for the implementation of alcohol taxation laws.
MOHSS Minister Dr Libertine Amathila said high risk drinking and its negative effects on the community are serious problems requiring thoughtful and on-going attention, taking the problems seriously and acknowledging that the country has a problem is the first step towards making progress.
...the abuse of alcohol is responsible for the loss of N$2.9 million through crime and disorder, injuries and illnesses and loss of productivity at workplaces, said Dr Libertine Amathila.
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Beer, wine sales debate heats up
The Dallas Morning News, TX, August 7, 2004
With an election about five weeks away, at least five council members - including Mayor Joe Putnam - say they want residents to cast "no" votes. Others are keeping quiet about how they will vote, saying it's a matter that voters - not the council - will decide on Sept. 11.
In addition, the council on Wednesday learned that state provisions limit the city's ability to regulate alcohol sales. And the council decided not to instruct a city commission to study zoning ordinances before the election.
Beer and wine sales in grocery and convenience stores have been the hottest topic in Irving this summer. Supporters say that sales would keep more tax revenue in town, but opponents believe the sales would harm the city's quality of life.
Clem Lear, a member of Irving Citizens for Economic Growth, which supports alcohol sales, said she's glad that council members discussed that the city has some power to enact regulations regarding alcohol sales.
But those powers are limited, said Mark Dyer, co-chair of Irving First, an opposition group. And, he believes, they wouldn't protect the city substantially.
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Friday, August 6, 2004
France probes alcohol damage to unborn
Washington Times, DC, August 6, 2004
A French public prosecutor has started a criminal investigation of the damage caused by alcohol to unborn children, the Independent reported Friday.
If the investigation, based in northern France's Lille community, advances, potential defendants could include the nation's alcohol industry and government, for failing to warn women of the dangers of drinking, even moderately, while pregnant.
The investigation stems from a campaign in Roubaix by a leading pediatrician and his lawyer son, who formally complained to the public prosecutor in the spring.
"The alcohol producers know what the dangers are," Benoit Titran, the lawyer, said. "We are not necessarily trying to force litigation, on the American model. We just want to force the state to accept its responsibilities."
"Many mothers have come forward to bear witness to the problems they have endured with their children, from physical malformations to mental and nervous deficiencies, even after drinking only moderately while pregnant."
More than 6,000 babies born in France each year are believed to suffer from mental or physical damage from "passive consumption" of alcohol in the womb.
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New program to help deny youth alcohol
North County News, UT, August 5, 2004
Getting alcohol in Utah County isn't going to be as "EASY" for youth as it used to be.
The Utah County Health Department conducted its first training for a new program called EASY (Eliminate Alcohol Sales to Youth) in Springville on July 28.The county is gearing up to train more than 4,000 employees who sell beer at 160 businesses throughout the county. It should take about four months, said Bret Davis, substance abuse prevention coordinator.
The eight store clerks who completed an hour-long course and took an exam Wednesday will now be given a beer handler's permit, something that will be required in at least 11 cities throughout the county before an employee can sell beer.
Davis and others will teach employees throughout the county the state alcohol laws, how to recognize fake identification cards, when a person is intoxicated and how to refuse to sell beer to a person.
"You don't have to make that sale," he said during the course.
State law requires all businesses that sell beer to train their employees on the laws, but youth in Utah County are still getting alcohol, said Pat Bird, county substance abuse prevention manager.
Two out of five high school students in Utah County have said they've tried alcohol; one out of five have had a drink within the past 30 days, according to a survey by the health department. Last year, 575 youth in Utah County were arrested for drinking alcohol.
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Thursday, August 5, 2004
Oakland closes liquor store it says is a magnet for drug dealers
San Francisco Chronicle, CA, August 4, 2004
Oakland has ordered the closing of a notorious corner liquor store and alleged haven for drug dealers as part of a crackdown on businesses that attract crime.
The move marks the first time the city has tried to revoke a liquor store's use permit based on a nuisance enforcement ordinance that Oakland's City Council adopted last November.
"This puts property owners on notice that they've got to do everything they can to address problems like this, and it gives neighbors hope that the city will do something if they complain,'' said Arturo Sanchez of the city manager's nuisance enforcement unit.
Councilwoman Jane Brunner credited neighbors with prompting city action by organizing and effectively documenting problems with the store. At least 30 neighbors formed a group called West Street Watch, which wrote letters to Alaoudi in 2002 and 2003 and claimed it got no response from the store owner.
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Colorado University officials reconsidering ban on beer
Colorado Daily, CO, August 4, 2004
It's not a new idea, but it's getting a lot of attention. CU Regents and university officials are reconsidering a ban of beer sales at the Coors Events Center, the only university venue that openly serves beer to all legal spectators .
"It was my resolution to ban beer sales from Folsom Field in '94-'95," CU Regent Jim Martin said. "It's a small step, but a needed step in just being consistent with an overall policy that alcohol is abused in tying it with athletics at the college level....Will it totally solve the problem of alcohol abuse on the CU campus? No. It does begin to send a message that alcohol and sporting events can be involved without alcohol."
According to Crespin, CU is the only campus out of the Big 12 Conference that still sells beer during basketball games. She hopes that by following the lead of the other Big 12 campuses, the result would be less drinking.
Veronica Crespin, representative of the student body on the Academic Policy Board claims CU is the only campus out of the Big 12 Conference that still sells beer during basketball games. She hopes that by following the lead of the other Big 12 campuses, the result would be less drinking.
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Ian Molson one to watch in Coors/Molson Merger
Denver Post Business , CO, August 5, 2004
In the proposed merger between Molson Inc. and Adolph Coors Co., Ian Molson is the wild card looking to trump the deal.
It is not yet known whether Molson, a cousin of company chairman Eric Molson, will bring his reported $4 billion counteroffer to the table. But according to those who know him, the 49-year-old former investment banker is bright, ambitious and capable of putting a deal together.
"All you have to do is take a look at his track record as a businessperson to realize that he's extremely intelligent," said Bill Molson, Ian Molson's brother. "He's an ethical, straightforward guy."
Ian Molson, who could not be reached for comment, joined the Molson board in 1996. He has been widely credited with turning the company around after a diversification strategy in the mid-1990s left Molson struggling.
Several industry analysts have noted that Ian Molson needs the backing of a major brewer to make his deal viable. One company rumored to be interested in joining him is Heineken NV, the Dutch brewer and the third-largest player in the international beer industry in terms of volume, according to New York trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights.
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Wednesday, August 4, 2004
Russia Bans Prime-Time Alcohol Ads
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, August 4, 2004
Beer advertising is set to be banned on Russian television between 7am and 10pm because of growing concerns about the number of children who have become addicted to alcohol.
It is a significant step in a country where beer is treated as only slightly stronger than a soft drink. In Moscow, a clinic to treat child alcoholics was opened last year, and senior health officials say the number of children under 14 with an addiction - most often to alcohol - has risen from about 6300 10 years ago to more than 22,000 today.
In Russia, beer is available almost everywhere, at any time, and is a common accessory for morning commuters and the after-school crowd. Half-litre bottles, priced as low as 20 roubles ($1), are lined up at fast-food stalls and in street kiosks alongside bottled water and cartons of fruit juice.
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British struggle against increased public drinking
Contra Costa Times, CA, August 2, 2004
Britain has always been a place where people enjoy a drink or two (or more) at the local pub, and where football hooligans and so-called lager louts represent the public face of overconsumption.
But lately the country's growing inability to hold its liquor has taken on the scope of a national crisis.
Cheaper and more readily available alcohol, changing drinking patterns, a steep increase in drinking among young women and a decline in old standards of civility have turned what was once a manageable part of life into a problem that costs society, according to government estimates, $35 billion a year.
The most widely debated change is to allow some pubs to stay open past the current closing time of 11:20 p.m., starting in the autumn of next year.
"It's hard to see how it could help," said Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London. "The evidence suggests that the longer the opening hours and the easier it is to have access to alcohol, the higher the consumption."
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Tuesday, August 3, 2004
Cost of alcohol, drug abuse examined
Bangor Daily News, ME, August 2, 2004
A study given to lawmakers last week estimates the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse in Maine was $618 million in 2000, but makes no recommendations on what to do about the problem. That concerns some lawmakers.
"The importance of the number is to give a dimension to the issues of substance abuse in Maine," Sen. Michael Brennan, D-Portland, co-chairman of the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee said. "I don't think the Legislature or the public recognizes the full economic impact of substance abuse on the state."
Brennan said there were many recommendations for a wide range of prevention and treatment programs proposed in the 1998 study. The study listed 43 recommendations, with funding coming from an increase in the taxes on beer, wine and spirits. He also expressed concern the new study lacked any recommendations to address the problem.
Brennan said the problem of substance abuse has been plaguing Maine for a very long time. He said the state needs to spend more resources on both prevention and treatment and that the 1998 study provided several suggestions for addressing the problem.
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Federal grant helps market grain liquor
Houston Chronicle, TX, July 26, 2004
Jack Daniels and Jim Beam are getting a boost from Uncle Sam.
For the first time, the national trade group representing the liquor industry is getting government help promoting its products to overseas consumers.
The Distilled Spirits Council has received a yearlong grant worth $62,000 from the Agriculture Department to participate in an overseas marketing program for U.S. agricultural products. Spirits that are made from grains qualify, said Frank Coleman, a spokesman for the trade group.
Government watchdog groups criticized the industry's participation in the program. "We would call it corporate welfare for the liquor lobby," said Aileen Roder of the Washington-based group Taxpayers for Commonsense.
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Beyond Hangovers: Heavy Drinking Poses Serious Dangers
Newswise, August 2, 2004
As American college students gear up to head back to campus later this month, they’ll look forward to all the usual college traditions: football games, late-night discussions, and pizza with new friends after classes. But almost half of all college students share a tradition that could wreck their futures: heavy alcohol drinking that puts them at risk for everything from bad grades and date rape to fights, serious injuries and even death.
“People commonly think of drinking in college, in particular heavy drinking, as a rite of passage -- implying that it’s common and those who don’t do it are missing out on something,” says Robert Zucker, Ph.D., head of the U-M Health System’s Addiction Research Center. “But the research data we now have paints a picture that there are all sorts of negative experiences that are associated with binge drinking, ranging from loss of life to being involved in something you will never be able to live down.”
This level of heavy alcohol consumption, which corresponds to about five drinks in two hours for men and four drinks in two hours for women, is far more common among college-aged young people than among the larger population.
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Monday, August 2, 2004
Time for city to get serious about alcohol
Iowa City Press-Citizen, IA, July 31, 2004
A year after Iowa City adopted its 19-only-some-of-the-time bar entry ordinance, a panel of various interests has concluded that there's still an underage drinking problem downtown.
That's hardly a revelation. While some downtown businesses have worked hard to comply with the law, a few still don't do enough. Despite the incredible numbers of students who suffer negative health effects from binge drinking, their campus leaders have done virtually nothing to address the problem let alone acknowledge it. Though pol-ice write more and more alcohol-related tickets, some city councilors waffle on changing the bar-entry age. And ignoring community concern over drunken students damaging property and creating public disturbances, university administrators won't commit to fully funding anti-alcohol programs such as Stepping Up.
When the City Council meets in September to decide if 19-only stays or not, it ought to take a two-pronged approach to once and for all confront this health, public safety and economic issue: raise the bar entry age to 21 at all times - The simplest law will prove the easiest to enforce, and younger students ultimately will find other entertainment and adopt a keg ordinance - To discourage house parties for underage drinkers, a keg ordinance, now the law in 30 other states, would go a long way.
In addition, student government leaders need to accept the seriousness of this issue and address it through alcohol-free events, providing health information about alcohol abuse and publicly taking a stand against illegal drinking. University ad-ministrators can redouble their efforts in those areas as well. Failure to provide this support only undercuts efforts to address this problem - and encourages students to break the law.
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Laws put 'squeeze' on wine industry
Today's Sunbeam, NJ, August 1, 2004
The bill, sponsored by three northern New Jersey legislators and signed into law by Gov. James E. McGreevey in July, will prohibit wineries in the Garden State from shipping to non-licensed establishments in the state like homes and businesses. Wineries can continue to ship to licensed liquor stores or outlets.
Barnes said the law resulted from discussions between the state Attorney General's Office and the Alcohol Beverage Control Division. Neither division wanted to waste tax dollars on what was perceived to be a losing court battle against out-of-state wineries hoping to penetrate New Jersey's direct shipping market.
Ending the direct shipping of wine also eliminates another potential problem -- the possibility that an under-aged person might order the alcoholic beverage. Barnes said the most popular way to have wine directly shipped is through the Internet.
"It's a good thing the state has done. It's very difficult to ship to someone's home, and every time we have done it we get nervous because you do not know if the people you are dealing with are legitimate," Jack Tomasello, vice president of the Hammonton-based Tomasello Winery, said.
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Friday, July 30, 2004
National and State Community Groups Back Michigan's U.S. Supreme Court Bid to Stop Unaccountable Alcohol Sales
PR Newswire (press release), July 29, 2004
LANSING, Mich. -- Members of the Coalition for a Safe and Responsible Michigan were joined by health, safety and education groups from across the nation in signing an amicus brief delivered to the U.S. Supreme Court today, in support of Michigan's appeal to maintain its alcohol regulation laws. The high court is scheduled to take up the appeal during its fall session which begins October 2004, with a decision expected in early 2005.
The brief focuses on the danger posed to minors if alcohol regulations are eliminated. The brief maintains that eliminating Michigan's longstanding system of alcohol regulation, which would be dismantled if a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision stands, would greatly increase underage access through Internet and phone sales and would render state alcohol regulation unenforceable.
"As principals, we are on the front lines everyday, protecting our students from the dangers of drinking and we are quick to oppose anything that would make it easier for kids to gain access to alcohol," said Jim Ballard, executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. "We think it is extremely important to tell the Supreme Court how strongly we feel about this issue and how dangerous de-regulation of alcohol will be to our communities."
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Winemakers seek health tag in thirst for sales
UK Guardian, July 30, 2004
An increasingly heated row is raging in France between wine makers and the medical establishment about how, or whether, this once most bibulous of countries should be persuaded to drink more wine.
The crisis facing French wine exports, reeling from an onslaught of New World competitors cheaper, easier to identify, more consistent and often far more drinkable, is well documented.
Less well known is the fact that the French themselves are now drinking a mere 340m litres of wine a year, against 430m litres in 1980, and that the annual consumption of each French adult has plunged from more than 100 litres in the 1960s to 58 litres (102 pints) last year.
A white paper presented yesterday by five MPs from wine-making areas says the decline could be halted by giving wine a special legal status, reclassifying it as a foodstuff with nutritional value, and advertising its beneficial and healthy properties.
Doctors disagree. They point out that alcohol is responsible for about 40,000 premature deaths a year in France, and that one of the government's recently stated public health objectives is to cut alcohol consumption by 20% within five years.
Doctors say two-thirds of the deaths in France attributed to alcohol, either directly from fatal illness or indirectly via accidents, murders and suicides, are due to excessive consumption of wine. They also stress the dangers of the term "moderation". Dr Reynaud said: "It's a terrible trap. Everyone defines for themselves what moderation is. Almost all excessive drinkers consider themselves within the norm.
"What is needed is more publicity on the dangers of alcohol, not encouragement to drink 'moderately'."
The wine lobby wants the government to exempt wine at least partially from the Loi Evin, a 1991 law which bans alcohol adverts on television and in the cinema, and limits those in the print media to factual information.
"There's the public health reality and the commercial reality of production and marketing. The two will never meet; they can't. They are poles apart."
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New restrictions for some bars, liquor stores
Argus Online, CA, July 30, 2004
Some alcohol sales outlets, such as bars and liquor stores, will find it harder to operate in unincorporated Alameda County as the result of actions by county supervisors this week.
The supervisors' decision will limit efforts to transfer a new liquor sales license, without review, to a certain category of bars or liquor stores that have been closed for more than 30 days and are adjacent to other alcohol sales outlets.
The action arose, said Supervisor Nate Miley, as a result of long-standing problems at the Terrace Club on Foothill Boulevard in the unincorporated area south of San Leandro.
"The benefit of this ordinance is that it will aid the county in implementing its current zoning standards on alcohol outlets that have existed for decades under a nonconforming status," Miley explained.
Under current zoning laws, some longtime liquor sales businesses may be "grandfathered" in as "legal, nonconforming uses" if they are next to other alcohol sales outlets. They are exempt from current county ordinances that review new alcohol sales outlets and their proximity to similar businesses.
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Court: State ban on alcohol ads in college newspapers is unconstitutional
Centre Daily Times, PA, July 29, 2004
A Pennsylvania law banning paid advertisements for alcohol in college newspapers is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 1996 law, which was intended to combat underage drinking, placed an unfair financial burden on student-run publications and hindered their right to free speech while doing little to achieve its goal.
The law was challenged by The Pitt News, a student-run paper at the University of Pittsburgh.
In a 17-page opinion, Judge Samuel Alito said the state faces a heavy burden anytime it tries to restrict speech, but had offered only "speculation" and "conjecture" to support its contention that the ad ban would slacken the demand for alcohol by underage Pitt students.
Pitt News business manager, Pitt senior Bethany Litzinger, praised the court's ruling Thursday. She said the advertising ban was well-intentioned, but misguided. "We did understand the concerns of the legislators. They felt the ads promoted underage drinking. But 70 percent of our readers are over 21," Litzinger said.
After a federal judge initially upheld the law, the newspaper had defiantly begun a feature called "Drink Specials," in which it published beer and mixed-drink prices at local bars free of charge.
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Thursday, July 29, 2004
Crispin Porter + Bogusky ripped over ads for Molson
The Miami Herald, FL, July 29, 2004
An alcohol industry watchdog wants Molson USA to yank a marketing campaign created by Miami's Crispin Porter + Bogusky because, the group charges, the ads encourage men to trick women into having sex.
Print ads appearing in women's magazines depict Molson drinkers as rugged but sensitive guys. In men's magazines, however, Molson ads tell readers that there are ``hundreds of thousands of women pre-programmed for your convenience.''
The ''Friends'' campaign -- which won CP+B a silver Clio award in May -- violates the Beer Institute's Advertising and Marketing Code, said the Marin Institute, which fired off a letter of complaint to Molson and the Beer Institute on Wednesday.
''This ad campaign goes over the line by giving men the tools to deceive women into sex,'' said Amon Rappaport, communications director for the California-based Marin Institute, an alcohol watchdog group. ``When 25 percent of American women experience sexual assault, including rape, and half of the incidents involve alcohol, it's irresponsible for any beer company or ad agency to make that connection.''
Linking booze and sex is nothing new in marketing, of course, especially when the biggest group of beer drinkers consists of men ages 21 to 28, said Eric Shepherd, executive editor of the trade publication Beer Marketer's Insight.
Nor are the Molson ads the first to land CP+B smack in the center of controversy. In 2002, the furniture retailer IKEA pulled a CP+B ad after receiving complaints from a national gay advocacy group.
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White House Considers Role in Wine Case
Washington Post, D.C., July 29, 2004
The Bush administration has until the end of today to decide whether to take a stand in a Supreme Court case pitting former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr and President Bush's brother-in-law against a coalition...
The administration is not a party to the case, in which wine producers are trying to overturn state laws prohibiting Internet wine shipments. But the White House finds itself caught between two parts of Bush's political base: business interests who favor freer commerce and religious conservatives concerned about minors buying wine.
Starr, representing groups called the Coalition for Free Trade and the Family Winemakers of California, has been prominent in representing the wine industry as it fights bans in Michigan and New York of direct sales of wine across state lines, generally done via the Internet. "The laws of these states are antithetical to the principle of free interstate trade on which this nation was founded," Starr wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "With their blatant discrimination against out-of-state economic interests, these laws are constitutionally indefensible."
On the other side are New York and Michigan, who are supported by attorneys general from 35 states. (About half the states have bans on direct wine sales.) The states are joined by liquor distributors and a coalition of religious and community groups including the National Association of Evangelicals, the Eagle Forum, Concerned Women for America and American Values. These groups have joined a friend-of-the-court brief to be filed today by the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals.
"When I saw this case I immediately jumped on it," said Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. Cizik said he will be "disappointed" if the administration does not side with him. "Underage youth are purchasing alcohol at alarming rates," he said.
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Molson CEO hints he'll leave if Coors merger is rejected
Globe and Mail Business, Canada, July 28, 2004
Molson Inc. chief executive officer Dan O'Neill put his job on the line Tuesday, hinting he would leave the brewery if shareholders vote down his proposed merger with Adolph Coors Co.
After confirming that he is poised to receive an undisclosed change-of-control payment if the so-called "merger of equals" goes ahead, Mr. O'Neill predicted that Molson's share price will tumble if it doesn't.
Leo Kiely, CEO of Coors, provided further concerns for Molson shareholders, repeating that Coors would abandon its partnership with Molson if the deal does not go through.
The Molson CEO said the company had examined other options, including running Molson as an income trust, but determined that a merger with Coors was the best way to proceed.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
In Molson Ads, Tips to Get Girls Turns Some Off
Wall Street Journal, NY, July 28, 2004
The Molson man's accoutrements -- intended to impress women -- are fake, but they're part of a real ad campaign called "Friends." Molson USA says the print ads, which started running earlier this year, are in good fun.
The Marin Institute says the ads for Molson's flagship Molson Canadian brew violate the voluntary marketing and advertising code of the Beer Institute, the Washington trade group that represents the U.S. beer industry. The code stipulates that beer ads must portray beer in a responsible manner and be in "good taste."
Molson USA, a joint venture of Canada's Molson Co. and Adolph Coors Co. that imports Molson products, isn't a member of the Beer Institute, but the proposed merger of Coors and Molson could change that.
Coors, even with its Beer Institute membership, has its own history of edgy advertising and has been criticized for its association with PG-13-rated "Scary Movie 3" and for its television ads featuring buxom twins in scanty outfits. "This is a merger of equals -- both are equally guilty of irresponsible advertising," says Amon Rappaport, spokesman for the Marin Institute. "Coors already targets underage youth."
The fake business cards, family photos and even blood-donor stickers in the Molson Canadian "Friends" campaign, created by Miami ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, are intended to help men meet women, dubbed "hotties" in the ads. One of the ads, which have run in the magazines Stuff and FHM, features a bottle of Molson Canadian and states, "Sexy gals can't resist sensitive guys." It suggests putting the cards and photos in your wallet for the next time you buy a woman a drink, to "start a conversation that really goes somewhere."
The Marin Institute, based in San Rafael, Calif., says Molson's ads promote lying as a means of making friends with the ultimate goal of getting women into bed -- a violation of the Beer Institute's restriction against portraying "amorous activity" as a result of consuming beer.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Ratings Creep
Common Sense Media, July 23, 2004
A Harvard study released on July 12 confirms what we suspected about the movie ratings assigned by the Motion Picture Association: They have deteriorated badly over the past 10 years. Content that once got a PG-13 now gets a PG, and content that once got an R now gets a PG-13. The study documents "ratings creep" or, in academic terms, "decreased stringency." "[T]he MPAA appears to tolerate increasingly more extreme content in any given age-based category (primarily violence, sex, and profanity) over time."
The Harvard researchers, Kimberly M. Thompson and Fumie Yokota, examined the MPAA ratings for several different criteria and concluded that "...The MPAA rating reasons provide important information about content, but they do not identify all types of content found in films and they may particularly miss the depiction of substances" including alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs.
Thompson and Yokota, correctly see this as a problem of children's health. "Public health research demonstrates correlations between children's exposure to media and preventable mental health problems, and suggests that media may provide models for risky behaviors that children and adolescents may imitate." They found "mixed and inappropriate health messages, including glorification of violent acts, smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, and frequent depiction of firearms" in movies approved by the MPAA for young children.
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Push on to vaporize alcohol device
Newsday, NY, July 23, 2004
Before a machine that allows drinkers to inhale vaporized alcohol for a "quick hit" is introduced next month in the United States, a Suffolk County legislator wants to ban it.
Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) filed a bill Wednesday to prohibit the sale, purchase and use of the device, called the Alcohol Without Liquid, or AWOL, machine, in the county. "I feel it's important for us to take a preemptive act in this case before they show up in bars on Long Island," Cooper said.
At a news conference yesterday, Cooper said the machine could harm people's health and increase alcohol abuse, drunken driving and underage drinking. Cooper said the bill will be presented during the Aug. 10 legislature meeting and discussed during a public hearing Aug. 24. The earliest the legislation could be passed is September. "My gut feeling is that it will pass," Cooper said. "I think a strong case will be made for the risks."
Users of the AWOL machine pour liquor into a hand-held device, according to the Web site of the machine's U.S. distributor, Spirit Partners Inc. The liquor then travels to an oxygen generator, and gets breathed in through the mouth via a hose, administering an "instant hit," according to the Web site. The company is marketing the machine as a hangover-, calorie- and carb-free way to use alcohol.
The machine was invented and launched in Great Britain. Spirit Partners Inc. is planning to launch its product Aug. 20 in New York City. The company has taken preliminary orders for the $2,995 machine, but Kevin Morse, a partner in the company, would not say how many.
Because the alcohol is inhaled, it bypasses organs usually responsible for its absorption, metabolism and detoxification, like the stomach, intestines and liver, said Dr. Michael Delman, director of the chemical dependency department at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.
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Drinking hours extended in Wilton Manors, FL
Sun-Sentinel.com , FL, July 23, 2004
The Island City's last call for alcohol is now an hour later on Fridays. City commissioners recently approved an extra hour for alcohol sales citywide after bar owners on Wilton Drive complained that patrons were heading to Fort Lauderdale where drinks are served until 3 a.m. Friday nights. Wilton Manors' bars originally stopped serving alcohol at 2 a.m.
Commissioners voted 3-2, with Mayor Scott Newton and Commissioner Gary Resnick opposing.
"The bar and nightclub owners approached the city from within the arts and entertainment district," City Manager Joseph Gallegos said. "Merchants said they were losing business to the neighboring cities on Friday evenings." Vice Mayor Craig Sherritt said he hopes the extra hour keeps businesses within Wilton Manors.
"It's just to level the playing field between Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale," Sherritt said. "We wanted to make sure our businesses had the opportunity to make a profit."
"We extended the measure everywhere in the city because we felt it was discriminatory" to give the extra hour to businesses only in the entertainment district, Sherritt said. Sherritt added that the extra hour could make the city safer because more patrons will stay in Wilton Manors instead of traveling to Fort Lauderdale. "People will be out on the road less at 2 in the morning," he said.
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Monday, July 26, 2004
Raising the bar Happy Hour
San Francisco Chronicle - San Francisco,CA, July 24, 2004
It's happy hour, which means that for six or seven bucks you can have a drink and a healthy appetizer -- well, healthy in size if not necessarily in, uh, health. By the time happy hour ends at 6:30, the pachyderm will be packed.
"The big difference is people now eat around cocktails," says Clark Wolf, a restaurant consultant who divides his time between New York and San Francisco. "Before, people used to go in, have drinks and maybe stay for dinner.
Thanks to the sputtering economy, this scenario is hardly unique to the Peninsula or the Bay Area or California. Happy days may not be here again, but happy hours are certainly coming back.
Unlike California, nearly half the states have laws restricting happy hours, according to Alexander Wagenaar, director of the Alcohol Epidemiology Program at the University of Minnesota. He said laws vary, but some states prohibit 2-for-1 drinks, advertising happy hours or even offering any sort of a discount.
"If there ever was a bad idea, happy hour fits that," said Henry Wechsler, director of the College Alcohol Studies Program at Harvard University's School of Public Health. "It gets people to drink more than they might in a short period of time."
He said studies of college students have shown there is more binge drinking in areas where there are low-priced specials. "Youth is more influenced by price because they have less money," he said.
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Tribes face long road to end generations of alcohol abuse
missoulian.com, July 25, 2004
Tribes face long road to end generations of alcohol abuse. "We need to think as broadly as we can here, because this is not a problem with an easy solution," Barb Monaco, head of juvenile probation for Lake County, said at a May meeting in Polson. "We need to come up with ideas about schools, about homes, about the justice system. This is no one person's responsibility. This is all of our responsibility."
The reservation and its towns now have a synchronized curfew for kids. An old horn used to warn folks that a reservoir dam had burst now tells the kids of Ronan that they need to get home. Schools are taking a more aggressive approach, looking to intervene more quickly at any sign of trouble.
The days of looking the other direction when adults buy liquor for children is over, too. Adults already have been charged with buying the alcohol that helped kill Joey DuMontier and Tyler Benoist, and a suspect has been identified in the deaths of Justin Benoist and Frankie Nicolai.
"That's probably been the most concrete change we've made," Lake County Sheriff Bill Barron said recently. "We are going to have no tolerance for that. I'd say before that we usually focused on the youth, but now we're looking across the spectrum. It's not just the kid - they got the liquor from somebody."
"When you are dealing with alcohol, one of the best measures is prevention, and that's something we don't do very well, with alcohol or health in general," health director Kevin Howlett said. "We spend almost all our time and money on acute crises, and that is not a very good way to come at a problem like this."
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Any of these in your child's lunch box?
Fremont North Neighborhood Council, CA, July 25, 2004
Most of us are familiar with the center object - Kraft Foods, Inc., gives them away in our school cafeterias. The object on the left is a Wet Willy's gelatinous "Edible Cocktail" packed with 12% alcohol by volume. Just the thing to kick off a student's afternoon! Likewise, the objects on the right are "Jello-shots," also around 12% alcohol by volume.
An effort to ban these lunchbox look-alikes passed the California Assembly but died in the Senate's Committee on Governmental Organization on June 22nd. That body did refer the bill to the Senate Appropriations Committee during the next session.
Wet Willy's come with a variety of non-alcoholic-sounding flavors: Melon Ball, Lemon Drop, Golden Dream, Blue Hawaiian, as well as more adult-sounding types. These Jello-like capsules are easily made at home with recipes abounding on the Internet. There are many different configurations, even one using hypodermic syringes!
So far as we know, Wet Willy's or similar commercial products have yet to arrive in Ventura County. Oxnard's Responsible Acohol Policy Action Coalition (RAPAC) is preparing fact sheets on Wet Willy's and other such alcohol-to-kids marketing contrivances.
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Alcohol's effect on people's health, behaviour and safety
Medical News Today, July 24, 2004
Alcohol is a feature in 50 per cent of all reported crimes and a third of all domestic violence incidents. It is implicated in 22,000 premature deaths each year, 1,000 suicides and 17 million lost working days.
There are two main types of drinking that are a cause for concern - binge drinking and chronic drinking. Binge drinkers tend to be under 25, while chronic drinkers tend to be 30 or over. These two groups are the main targets of the alcohol strategy, which aims to tackle alcohol-related disorder and health problems and to provide better information for people about alcohol misuse while clamping down on the irresponsible promotion of drinking.
The research, undertaken at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and the University of California in San Francisco, found that people who drank more than 100 alcohol units a month suffered from brain damage which led to memory loss, impaired mental function and lowered intelligence.
Crime and disorder are obvious consequences of excess alcohol consumption that also have a heavy impact on health services. Binge drinkers are most at risk of accidents and alcohol poisoning, risk being a victim of violence or sexual assault, and are more likely to commit violence.
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Friday, July 23, 2004
Brewers facing a quandary; nation's top producers must grow or be bought
Denver Post Business, CO, July 22, 2004
Stagnant domestic beer sales and increasing pressure to expand have forced the hands of the nation's top brewers - get bigger or get bought out.
In 2002, South African Breweries Plc bought Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co. for $5 billion, making the combined company, SABMiller, the second-largest brewer in the world. In November, San Antonio-based Pabst Brewing Co., the No. 4 U.S. beermaker, put itself on the block.
And this week, Golden-based Adolph Coors Co., the No. 3 brewer in the country and No. 8 worldwide, said it was in advanced merger talks with Montreal-based Molson Inc. The beer industry, like almost every other industry, is becoming more global," said Eric Shepard, executive editor of Beer Marketer's Insight, a Nanuet, N.Y.-based trade publication.
That trend has forced U.S. beermakers to find ways to grow by increasing their presence elsewhere. In 2001, Coors acquired the No. 2 beer brand in the United Kingdom when it bought Interbrew SA's Carling business for $1.7 billion.
Even if Coors and Molson merge, more deals may be in the works, Gatza said. The combined company could look to acquire other brewers.
Gatza also said Coors and Molson, which is battling Labatt to become Canada's No. 1 beermaker, could target Pabst to increase U.S. market share.
Analysts speculate that the merged company could be the target of a buyout by Heineken, which had been rumored to be interested in Coors in the past. "The global consolidation of the beer industry is probably going to continue for another five years," Gatza said.
Brian Morgan, a U.S. beer analyst with Euromonitor International, said the Coors-Molson merger would benefit both companies.The merger would make it easier for Coors to expand its brand in Canada and help Molson revive its brand in the much bigger U.S. market, Morgan said.
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British Worry That Drinking Has Gotten Out of Hand
The New York Times, July 22, 2004
Britain has always been a place where people enjoy a drink or two...But lately the country's growing inability to hold its liquor has taken on the scope of a national crisis.
By some measures it already has. Cheaper and more readily available alcohol, changing drinking patterns, a steep increase in drinking among young women and a decline in old standards of civility have turned what was once a manageable part of life into a problem that costs society, according to government estimates, $35 billion a year.
But the most widely debated change is to allow some pubs to stay open past the current closing time of 11:20 p.m., starting in the autumn of next year. The change, allowing the pubs to set their own closing times, with approval, is meant to dissuade rushed binge drinking at "last orders."
Some have their doubts and worry that more time at the pub will, well, simply allow people to drink still more.
"It's hard to see how it could help," said Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College London. "The evidence suggests that the longer the opening hours and the easier it is to have access to alcohol, the higher the consumption."
Professor Marmot presided over a recent report from the Academy of Medical Sciences that urged the government to work to reduce alcohol consumption in general. Britain has historically been a hard-drinking place, but the current trends are alarming.
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High Schools Lower Teen Tobacco and Alcohol Use Through Social Norms Interventions
Yahoo News, Thursday July 22, 2004
PRNewswire -- Social norms is an effective method of reducing tobacco and alcohol usage among high school students as reported today at the National Social Norms Conference in Chicago. High schools in Evanston and Naperville, Illinois, which have been among the first in the country to utilize a social norms model on the high school level, have witnessed significant reductions after just two years.
"The success among a growing number of colleges and universities in achieving significant reductions in high-risk drinking and related harmful behavior has paved the way for the social norms approach to be applied successfully in high schools and communities," said Michael Haines, Director of the National Social Norms Resource Center, which presented the conference. "We have developed a guidebook, introduced at the conference, so that high schools across the country can implement their own successful social norms campaigns."
The National Social Norms Conference is presented by the National Social Norms Resource Center and the Bacchus and Gamma Peer Education Network. The National Social Norms Resource Center is an independent center that supports, promotes and provides technical assistance in the application of the social norms approach to a broad range of health, safety and social justice issues, including alcohol-related risk-reduction and the prevention of tobacco use.
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Thursday, July 22, 2004
New Resources on Alcohol Excise Taxes
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) announces a new resource for alcohol-policy activists, policy makers, educators, and journalists. The new resource is intended both to inform the debate on alcohol taxes and other alcohol-policy issues and stimulate discussion about the appropriate role of the beer industry in societal attempts to combat alcohol problems.
The "Factbook on $tate Beer Taxe$" provides comprehensive data on beer-tax rates across the country and examines the steady, inflation-induced decline in the value of those taxes to state government. The data reveal that 22 states have not raised beer taxes for more than two decades, and that one state, New York, has even reduced its rate. It shows how most states have ignored strong fiscal and public health rationales for increasing beer taxes.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is holding a free Alcohol Excise Tax audio conference on July 27, 2004, focusing on a National Research Council report put out by the Institute of Medicine called "Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility". During this event, speakers will discuss the research and data that supports alcohol tax increases and spotlight several States that have been successful in raising taxes. Furthermore, they will discuss new efforts to "roll back the beer tax."
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Coors and Molson announce plans to merge
mlive.com, July 22, 2004
DENVER (AP) -- Adolph Coors Co., the nation's third-biggest brewer, and Canada's Molson Inc. announced plans to merge Thursday in a deal that would create a North American giant to compete against the world's beermaking titans.
The combined company created by the deal, which was described as a merger of equals, would have annual revenues of about $6 billion and rank fifth in the world by brewing volume, the companies said.
It will be known as Molson Coors Brewing Co., and market brands like Coors Original and Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Keystone and Carling.
The deal would merge two family-led breweries both founded more than a century ago. Golden-based Coors trails Anheuser-Busch and SABMiller in the U.S. brewing business, while Montreal-based Molson is neck-and-neck with Interbrew SA's Labatt Brewing in Canada.
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Momentum Builds to End Beer Ads in College Sports
Center for Science in the Public Interest, DC, July 22, 2004
More than 200 colleges in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have pledged to end alcohol advertising on college sports broadcasts. Those schools are joined by two Division I conferences-the Ivy League and the Big South Conference-which have also signed the “College Commitment,” a nationwide effort promoted by the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV.
The "College Commitment" asks schools to end alcohol ads on local broadcasts of their sporting events and to vote within their conference and the NCAA to end alcohol ads on all televised college sports events.
“College presidents, athletic directors, and coaches are increasingly uncomfortable trying to combat alcohol problems on campus on the one hand, and promoting beer on their sports broadcasts on the other,” said George A. Hacker, director of the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which runs the Campaign for Alcohol-Free Sports TV. “In just a few months, 20 percent of NCAA-member schools joined the campaign to sever the link between alcohol advertising and college sports.”
“Eliminating alcohol ads from college games will not in itself eliminate all alcohol problems on campus,” Hacker said. “But it is an important step that colleges should take as part of a comprehensive effort to reduce underage and binge drinking.”
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Drunken crime is a citywide problem
San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA, July 21, 2004
"I think in this community, alcohol, and not just alcohol use, but the negative behaviors and consequences that result from excessive alcohol use and alcohol abuse, is one of the most significant problems in our community," Deborah Linden, the city's police chief, said recently.
Nationwide, the Harvard School of Public Health reports that at least two out of every five U.S. college students regularly binge drink -- defined as consuming at least five drinks in one sitting. Locally, the figures surpass that -- almost half of about 600 students responding to a 2002 Cal Poly survey said they had engaged in binge drinking.
"Alcohol's the one thing that we don't talk about because we use it," said Frank Warren, coordinator of the county Friday Night Live program, which promotes teen lifestyles free of alcohol or drug abuse. "We drink. We as a society have accepted it so much that we're not always willing to look at the underbelly of it."
Cornel Morton, Cal Poly vice president of student affairs, started the University/Community Alcohol Task Force to decrease the destructive behavior that too often accompanies drunkenness, and to help find solutions to the problem of students abusing alcohol.
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Cities planning to put teenage drinking on ice
The Salt Lake Tribune, UT, July 22, 2004
On tap at most Utah County cities: proposals aimed at keeping alcohol out of teens' reach by requiring store clerks to get a county-issued permit to sell beer.
"This will give us another tool in our arsenal to deal with the issue of the sale of alcohol to minors," Provo Chief Administrative Officer Wayne Parker said this week. "This allows us to go after the clerk who sells beer inappropriately."
Launched in Torrance, Calif., in 1996, the Eliminate Alcohol Sales to Youth (E.A.S.Y.) program has spread to cities across the nation.
Clerks caught selling beer to underage youths will have their permits yanked for a year for the first two violations. Three strikes and the beer seller cannot get another permit for three years.
Under the program, county health officials team up with city law officers and underage police decoys for quarterly sting operations.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004
STOP Underage Drinking Act: Important First Step
U.S. Newswire, DC, July 21, 2004
The "STOP Underage Drinking Act" is an important initiative in preventing and reducing underage drinking. Introduced by a bi- partisan group of U.S. senators and representatives, this legislation marks a much-needed recognition of the scope and devastating consequences of underage drinking, which tragically results in the death of more than nine young people every day in this country.
The STOP Underage Drinking Act employs many of the well-tested, common-sense policies and programs recommended in the Institute of Medicine's September 2003 report to Congress. It calls for measures to reduce alcohol's availability to teens, better enforce drinking laws, and provide more resources for local community efforts. It also begins the process of developing an adult- oriented media campaign to educate parents about this issue.
Finally, the bill provides for public health monitoring of the amount of alcohol advertising reaching our youth. This critical information will allow policymakers and parents to hold the alcohol industry accountable and responsible.
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City wants control over group park liquor sales
The Arizone Republic, AZ, July 21, 2004
Having already banned alcohol in city parks, Avondale now wants better control over non-profit groups that sell liquor during large-scale community events.
The City Council approved an ordinance Monday calling for stricter controls on groups that request a "special-event liquor license" from the city and state.
The council voted earlier this month to stop issuing temporary alcohol permits for city parks, meaning residents can no longer have alcohol for picnics, family reunions or other events at the park. The city, however, exempted non-profit groups holding community events, such as the annual Billy Moore Days or Fiestas Patrias festivals. But council members said they wanted to enact guidelines for how those permits are issued.
Assistant City Manager Charlie McClendon said having guidelines in place for the licenses will prevent accusations that the city is "acting in an arbitrary or discriminatory manner" when recommending approval or denial.
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Legal, but Not Always Wanted
The Washington Post, DC, July 18, 2004
"People change when they have alcohol," The Bungalow restaurants' director of operations, Kevin M. Tracy said. "I think people make too many bad judgments. I've had people who were perfectly wonderful snap."
Virginia residents must have permits to carry concealed weapons, which are prohibited by law from establishments that serve alcohol -- but guns openly displayed are permitted.
Activists on both sides of the issue and Virginia lawmakers said the incidents are likely to generate heated discussion over gun laws in the next General Assembly session. Some lawmakers who share Tracy's concern said the debate, as in recent years, is likely to center on whether patrons should be allowed to carry guns in restaurants, such as The Bungalow, that serve alcohol.
Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax) said she'll reintroduce a bill that would prohibit openly carried guns anywhere alcohol is served.
"I think that any reasonable person would agree that alcohol and guns don't mix," Howell said. "It's better to make sure that nothing happens than be sorry afterward. I expect that now that the public is aware of this outrageous behavior they'll be behind" the bill.
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Plans for tighter controls on booze ads
Media Week, UK, July 19, 2004
Media regulator Ofcom has proposed a shake-up of alcohol advertising in response to a government push to cut down on binge drinking and other drink-related problems.
The trigger for the review comes as two academic investigations - cited by Ofcom - blamed advertising as having some impact on young people’s attitudes to alcohol.
Tim Suter, Ofcom's partner, content and standards, said: "The evidence from research, as well as a broad consensus of public and industry opinion, indicates there is a strong case for specific changes to the existing rules on these particular products."
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Coors and Molson Announce They Are in Merger Talks
New York Times, NY, July 20, 2004
The Adolph Coors Company, the third-largest beer company in the United States, and Molson, the biggest Canadian beer company, said yesterday that they were in advanced discussions on a possible merger.
A combination would create a company with more than $6.5 billion in annual revenue and could increase competitiveness in the consolidating beer industry, analysts said. But some analysts said Coors, which is based in Golden, Colo., and Molson, with headquarters in Montreal, had experienced difficulties that a merger would not necessarily remedy.
Molson has been losing market share in Canada to discount brands. Sales of Coors's Coors Light, have slipped as Miller, the second most popular beer in the United States, attracts customers by offering beverages with lower carbohydrates to weight-conscious drinkers.
The companies said an announcement on a deal could be made "in the near future."
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City keeps door closed to alcohol and tobacco ads
Sault Ste. Marie Evening News, MI, July 20, 2004
Advertisements for an icy, cold Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer or Marlboro Cigarettes will not be appearing anytime soon at Pullar Stadium as the Sault Ste. Marie City Commission rejected this potential source of revenue on a 5-2 vote.
The plan, as recommended by the Community Services Board, would have allowed for alcohol and tobacco advertisement on the boards surrounding the rink. It is also believed that advertising space could have been sold on the Zamboni as well, advertising these products. While an exact financial figure was not established, it is believed the city could have raised around $500 during the upcoming season.
"I don't care how hard up we are," said Commissioner Dave Gonyeau flatly rejecting the notion that alcohol and tobacco advertising should be used to enhance city revenues.
Commissioner William Munsell echoed those sentiments, admitting he could not see any positive in advertising alcoholic beverages at youth activities.
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Monday, July 19, 2004
Rodeo wrestles with tobacco and alcohol ties
Idaho Statesman, ID, July 18, 2004
Tobacco and alcohol's presence in the sport a growing concern for some. The Schoeben family of Boise is going to the 89th Snake River Stampede in Nampa this week.
Alcohol, tobacco and their connection to sports is not a new topic, but the debate is heating up as some fans, participants and organizers grapple with tobacco use and tobacco and alcohol sponsorships at sporting events.
Alcohol, tobacco and its presence at restaurants and events is something the Schoeben family has discussed. Dawn Schoeben is a former cigarette smoker."Those are family values you have to talk with your kids about," Dawn said.
"You can debate this all over the place because think about the fair. The fair is family-oriented and there is alcohol there," said Middleton cowgirl Jessica Franks.
Rodeo participants, fans, organizers and sponsors are trying to sort it all out. Do chewing tobacco and booze belong at rodeos throughout the nation, especially those that market to families?Should pro rodeo turn its back on sponsors that have helped the sport grow? Should cowboys and cowgirls be role models, and if so, should they have connections to alcohol and tobacco?
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Village, IL, Says Cheers To Liquor Laws
Elk Grove Journal, IL, July 15, 2004
For the next year, Holiday Inn, 1000 Busse Rd., must adhere to a mandatory carding policy when a customer orders an alcoholic beverage due to a liquor infraction at the establishment July 1. Elk Grove Mayor Craig Johnson, also the village's liquor commissioner, believes this will provide a good opportunity for Elk Grove to examine the mandatory carding policy more closely.
Three and a half years ago, Elk Grove Village became the first municipality in Illinois and only the second in the nation to implement mandatory identification (I.D.) checks at liquor package stores.
Minors and alcohol are often mixed at banquets, including wedding receptions where an underage person's family may keep a watchful eye.
"It's against the law," Mayor Johnson said responding to the observation. "We can't control what happens in people's homes, but we can enforce the law in banquet halls." Later in the conversation Johnson remarked, "We don't mess around when it comes to minors and alcohol..."
"During liquor hearings [an underage] kid from west Schaumburg said that he drove to Elk Grove to purchase alcohol because everyone knew this was the place to come and not get carded," Johnson explained...Soon after the hearing, the village implemented mandatory carding.
"This is the town where everyone gets carded," the mayor stressed.
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Safety and Consumer Groups, Just Say No To Beer Industry's "Roll Back the Beer Tax" Break
JoinTogether.org, July 16, 2004
As members of the beer industry roam the halls of Congress this week to seek passage of legislation (H.R. 1305) to cut the national beer tax by 50 percent, a coalition of health, safety and consumer groups today warned of dire consequences if the beer industry gets its way.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) were joined by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) to urge Congress to reject H.R. 1305. They also released a national public opinion poll showing that by a 2 to 1 margin, Americans oppose rolling back the federal excise tax on beer. The majority of Americans -- 71 percent -- would support increasing the national beer tax a few cents per bottle to equal the tax on liquor if the funds were used for substance abuse prevention.
Economic reports estimate that the 1991 increase in beer taxes saves more than 600 young lives in alcohol-related crashes each year. In 2000, alcohol-related traffic deaths rose to 16,653, which was the largest percentage increase on record. Research shows higher beer taxes result in fewer alcohol-related fatalities.
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Attention, parents: Teens want you to lock up your liquor
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL, July 16, 2004
In spite of its murderous effects -- claiming 100,000 lives each year and maiming countless others -- alcohol is the most accepted drug in the United States.
At a national level there are shocking statistics about alcohol abuse among teenagers. Several million teenagers are alcoholics with many more millions who have serious drinking problems.
Parents have been found hosting parties for their teenagers at which alcohol is available, thinking that if their teens are going to drink, they might as well do it where it is "safe." Some national surveys claim almost half of all parents have said they have purchased alcohol for their children.
Parents are not only supplying teenagers with alcohol at parties but are keeping an available supply stored in the cabinet or refrigerator.
Federal research suggests that two-thirds of all teens who drink buy their own liquor. Minors can easily get away with it by using fake identifications, and many stores don't bother checking.
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Friday, July 16, 2004
Heavy Drinking Raises Breast Cancer Risk
Health Central, July 14, 2004
A new study has confirmed that heavy drinking increases the risk of breast cancer, particularly among premenopausal women.
"Our study confirms earlier reports that heavy alcohol consumption is a risk for breast cancer," said Morten Gronbaek, a professor at the Centre for Alcohol Research at the National Institute of Public Health in Denmark.
"The second main finding is that there seems to be no difference in the effect of the different types of alcohol, which indicates that it is ethanol itself and not the type of drink that is responsible for breast-cancer development," he continued.
The study involved more than 13,000 women between 20 and 91 years of age. Heavy drinking was defined as the consumption of more than 27 alcoholic drinks a week.
The study appears in the July issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.
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Underage drinking still a concern for safety advocates
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA, July 15, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers and highway safety advocates yesterday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the law that raised the nation's minimum drinking age from 18 to 21, pointing to federal statistics showing that it has saved an estimated 20,000 young lives.
But the lawmakers, joined at a news conference by leaders of the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving, or MADD, cautioned that the battle against underage drinking and driving isn't yet won.
MADD officials are lobbying Congress to include provisions to expand the federal fight against underage drinking in a massive highway funding bill. The legislation is bogged down in a House-Senate conference committee, which is seeking a consensus on how much to spend for transportation needs.
The report concluded that "underage drinking cannot be successfully addressed by focusing on youth alone," noting that teens usually obtain alcohol -- either directly or indirectly -- from adults. In particular, "parents tend to dramatically underestimate underage drinking generally and their own children's drinking in particular. Efforts to reduce underage drinking, therefore, need to focus on adults and must engage the society at large."
The report also recommended that the federal government increase funding for enforcing current laws prohibiting alcohol sales to teens. In addition, there should be one federal agency designated to deal with underage drinking issues, the report said.
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Town divided over proposal to sell alcohol
News 14 Carolina, NC, July 15, 2004
Johnston County town is divided over a proposal to sell alcohol. Next week, Wilson's Mills residents vote on beer sales and it could be very close.
Peggy Rawls is against selling alcohol in Wilson’s Mills. "Drinking causes a lot of ruckus sometimes," she said. "I've seen what drinking can do to a family."
On Tuesday, the town's residents will decide whether to allow beer and wine sales. Some feel alcohol sales would help the town's struggling economy.
But even if the referendum does pass, not all convenience stores in Wilson's Mills plan to sell beer. Tony Southerland owns J.D.’s Country Store and is not interested in profit from alcohol sales.
"I feel like you need to put more emphasis on the quality of life and the lifestyles families are able to live in this community and not so much emphasis on dollars or bringing in the dollars."
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Thursday, July 15, 2004
Tag-You’re It
TechnologyReview.com, July 13, 2004
From baggage to tires to beer, industry is rapidly embracing RFID as the ultimate tracking technology. Can reality match the hyped expectations?
Lost or mishandled baggage costs Delta “around $100 million dollars” a year, according to a spokesperson...Delta announced in early July that it was investing $15-25 million to implement a radio frequency identification (RFID) system in its luggage handling process.
One of the most compelling cases of RFID usage comes from the British brewing industry. In late May, Trenstar, a Denver-based logistics company, signed a deal with Coors UK, and now has partnerships with the three largest brewing companies in Britain to manage their keg shipments. Previously, the breweries owned their own kegs and managed their shipment and returns-a costly and labor-intensive process. Trenstar bought the kegs from these companies and outfitted each with an RFID tag. The breweries now contract the keg coordination with Trenstar, which provides detailed audit trails of exactly where the kegs are and when they’re due back. “The biggest benefit to brewers from RFID is the reduction of asset loss," says David Adams, vice president for corporate strategy at Trenstar. "Breweries lose on average five to six percent of their kegs every year. We’ve cut that by more than half already.”
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Police target liquor supply to minors
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM, July 13, 2004
Española city police and the Special Investigations Division of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety ran the weekend sting, in which two 19-year-olds approached liquor stores and tried to make purchases.
Under the old law, anyone supplying alcohol to a minor - meaning someone under the age of 18 - could be prosecuted on felony charges of contributing to delinquency. The new law, which went into effect July 1, extends felony prosecution to those who give alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.
“I believe, and the Legislature and the governor believe, that underage drinking is a major contributor to the DWI problem that we face in New Mexico,” Valdez said. “The message is that the drinking age is 21, and not until 21.
Peter Olson, spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, noted that in one of the stores where a clerk was arrested this weekend, there was a state-issued warning sign posted over the cash register warning that the new state law making alcohol sales to young people a felony had gone into effect.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2004
20 Years - 20,000 Lives Saved!
Yahoo News, July 14, 2004
Hailed as one of the most effective anti-drunk driving laws ever passed, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and members of Congress today marked the 20th anniversary of the National Uniform 21 Minimum Drinking Age Act by announcing that 20,000 young lives have been saved from highway crashes since the law was enacted in 1984.
Underage drinking kills 6,000 people annually due to traffic crashes, homicides, suicides and unintentional injuries. A recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study commissioned by the federal government aims to change that...
The number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities and injuries, now accounting for more than 40 percent of all traffic crashes, has stalled and Congress must take action before they leave Capitol Hill this fall. The reauthorization of the federal transportation bill currently pending in Congress must increase accountability for traffic safety spending and establish a nationwide law enforcement mobilization campaign to combat drunk driving and boost seat belt use.
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Stop N Save tags liquor to reduce underage drinking
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO, July 14, 2004
Local Stop N Save stores are trying to reduce underage alcohol purchases by requiring clerks to check customers’ identifications and fill out tags with every beer purchase.
“We’re doing it to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors,” said Bonnie Lightfoot, personnel supervisor for 16 Stop N Save stores in Colorado. The program is in effect at all Stop N Save stores except the store in Vail, which doesn’t sell alcohol.
The program began in April, after a Stop N Save in Edwards was cited for selling alcohol for an underage person, Lightfoot said. The company’s long-standing policy has been to require all beer buyers to show identification proving they’re at least 21, and the tag program was developed as a way to remind clerks to check for IDs, she said.
Lightfoot said that since the tag program started, she believes the convenience store chain has seen a drop in the number of customers who try to buy beer without first showing an ID.
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Tuesday, July 13, 2004
What's behind the Coors name?
Colorado Daily, CO, July 13, 2004
It's a name that has long been synonymous with Colorado and Colorado's flagship university. Its name is everywhere; from the stadium that is home to the Colorado Rockies, to the home court where CU's hoops teams roam, to the stage where CU winter graduates hear "Pomp and Circumstance" on their final day of college.
At the most recent CU Board of Regents meeting in late June, the topic came up again - coincidentally, inside the Coors Events Center - as CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny and Provost Phil DiStefano went over the new "Action Plan" to reform athletics.
BFA Chair Barbara Bintliff told the Colorado Daily last month that for real changes to happen at CU, it would have to take a community-wide effort.
"The alcohol problem is not isolated to athletics - it's in every department, every school, every dorm, every apartment in this town," she said. "But to some extent, that's what college students do. They're on their own and learning how to interact socially ... so they go out and drink."
CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny said the Coors Brewing Company advertising contract might yet be another thing CU could consider discussing in light of the scandal and high drinking levels.
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Youth group takes steps to curb drinking
News 10 Now, NY, July 13, 2004
A youth group in Skaneateles is taking steps to curb drinking in the community. The group hopes to raise enough money to create an alcohol free gathering place for both kids and adults.
Joe Strodel a member of The Collective says that all of the hard work is "so they can after school programs and in village and town. From arts and education, community service projects, helping other people in the community."
The not for profit group wants to raise about $10,000 to call the new community coffeehouse and bookstore home.
The coffeehouse is scheduled to open sometime later this fall. The group hopes to move in soon after and make it a popular community hot spot that's safe and alcohol free.
The group modeled its plan after the Common Grounds Project Cafe, which hosts several youth and alcohol free community events in Cazenovia.
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Lower Alcohol Limit In Delaware
KYW, PA, July 12, 2004
Governor Ruth Ann Minner has signed Delaware's lower blood alcohol limit into law.
She was joined this morning by anti-drunk driving advocates, medical professionals and law enforcement officials at the signing ceremony at Delaware State Police Headquarters.
Minner says the change will keep people on Delaware's roads safer. She estimates that lowering the limit could save as many as four lives in the state and prevent 100 alcohol-related injuries each year.
The governor says she also wants to ban open containers of alcohol from the passenger compartment of motor vehicles.
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Monday, July 12, 2004
Calif. city looks to put a cork on liquor stores
Boston Globe, MA, July 10, 2004
A crackdown on corner liquor stores is looming in this city, as officials consider a moratorium aimed at reducing the number of alcohol outlets in beleaguered neighborhoods that already have more than their fair share.
Oakland has more than 900 stores that sell alcohol -- about one for every 450 residents. The city has been grappling with the problem for decades, say community activists who have long sought action, particularly against neighborhood beer shops concentrated in some of the city's most impoverished, high-crime neighborhoods.
''It's been very difficult to get any kind of attention. For years, residents and communities were making the connection that alcohol and liquor stores were causing so many of the problems in our neighborhoods . . . but they weren't getting any action," said Joan Kiley, founder of the Alcohol Policy Network of Alameda County.
An unpublished study by the University of California at Berkeley suggests that a quarter of all calls made to Oakland Police were related to alcohol. ''A fair proportion of the problems" came from corner liquor stores, said Friedner Wittman, a researcher at the university's Institute for Study of Social Change. It indicates ''a problem that merits immediate attention," he said.
All except one of Oakland's seven districts are deemed by state alcohol authorities as oversaturated with liquor stores.
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Liquor and the little ones
Baton Rouge Advocate, LA, July 12, 2004
... part of a big teen gathering at LSU last month called "4-H University," focused on how teens can help keep their peers from drinking and driving. Alcohol "is usually put where every child can get to it," says Jim Champagne, executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
"There's no effort by families to ensure kids don't use alcohol. There just seems to be a feeling that it happens to other kids and won't happen to me," he said in an interview.
Champagne said children who start drinking as middle-schoolers are highly likely to develop into alcoholics as well as into dangerous drunken drivers. Peer pressure is the No. 1 cause of youthful drinking, the adult and teen experts agreed. At glamorous televised celebrity events, "Everybody has a drink in their hand," she said. "It teaches us that, if you want to be glamorous, you have to drink."
Changing the culture of free-flowing alcohol is one task of the Louisiana Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking, says Dortha Cummins, the group's youth coordinator. Cummins also works to change public policies to discourage irresponsible drinking. She said a new law banning drinking by passengers -- not just drivers -- in vehicles could be a big help.
The long-sought change in the law has some exceptions, such as for passengers in motor homes. But it generally closes a loophole that allowed a drinking driver to pass the drink to a passenger to avoid being cited by police. Cummins said that might help alter the drinking culture among young people. Banning alcohol from the vehicle could make a difference, she said.
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Madison committee wants to end drink specials
WBAY, WI, July 11, 2004
A Madison City Council committee wants to put an end to drink specials.
The chairman of the Alcohol License Review Committee, Ken Kamp, says a ban on drink specials could help curb binge drinking. The U-W campus has been struggling with a high rate of binge drinking.
The Madison proposal would cover all bars, restaurants and hotels that serve alcohol.
Some campus area bars already have voluntary limits on drink specials.
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Friday, July 9, 2004
NASCAR's Policy As Clear As Whiskey
New London Day, CT, July 8, 2004
Imagine Nascar without beer sponsors. Poof! Gone. Beer and wine sponsorships are acceptable in NASCAR, but liquor sponsors are not welcome. Yet.
Roush Racing has Diageo, a large manufacturer of liquors (Johnnie Walker, J&B, Jose Cuervo) ready to sign on for Jeff Burton's No. 99 team. However, NASCAR recently rejected the sponsorship.
“What's at issue here is a long-standing rule going back to the '70s of a cooperation that the network TV partners would have when it comes to hard liquors and spirits,” Brian France, NASCAR's board chairman and chief executive officer, said during a conference call last week.
“Eighty percent of our events are on network TV. Hard liquor and cars (is) another element that you have to consider. We think the timing is just not right now. We'll review it down the road.”
The networks have an informal agreement not to accept liquor advertising, largely because they worry that younger viewers would be affected. Liquor ads are accepted on some cable carriers.
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Northwestern Michigan College wants liquor license
Record-Eagle, MI, July 9, 2004
Northwestern Michigan College is applying for a state liquor license, but that won't affect the ban on alcohol in or near the dorms, officials said.
The license, for which officials recently applied, would allow the college to serve alcohol at events at the Hagerty Center of the Great Lakes Campus, which hosts trade conferences, large meetings and receptions.
Currently, the college has to apply for a liquor license every time it holds such an event, spokeswoman Karen Anderson said.
In addition to providing an amenity for those who attend the events, the license would benefit the college's culinary arts students, said Fred Laughlin, director of the Great Lakes Culinary Institute there.
"It's especially important to learn about wine pairings with the food and how they interact," Laughlin said.
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Program to monitor crackdown on teen drinking
Journal News, NY, July 7, 2004
For every teen-ager with a beer, there is an adult who has provided it.
That is the perspective of an increasing number of advocates who claim that deaths due to underage drinking would drop if adults would simply take more responsibility. Now the federal government is testing that theory with a national trial that spotlights four towns in Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.
By 2006, researchers hope to have the first empirical evidence that adults have a substantial influence on underage drinking. Underage drinking accounts for 12 percent of all alcohol sales in the United States, or 3.6 billion drinks a year, according to Justice Department figures.
"One thing we keep saying about underage drinking is that it is an adult problem," said Judith Winston, the assistant director for community-based programs at Student Assistance Services Corp. in Tarrytown, which will manage the trial in New York. "If kids are drowning in a sea of beer, we can teach them to swim or we can stop the flood. This is about holding sellers and servers responsible for their actions."
The plan is to get coalitions built in all of the trial communities in New York and the other four states - Connecticut, Florida, Missouri and California. The coalitions in turn will each be given a $20,000 federal grant from the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention this year and in 2005. The communities will develop new laws to combat underage drinking and smarter ways to enforce the ones already on the books.
"The main focus here is on changing adult attitudes and behaviors, rather than the kids," said Cathryn Adler, the trial's project coordinator in Westchester. "I have heard only excitement about it."
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St. Thomas Aquinas youths made a difference
Foster's Daily Democrat, NH, July 6, 2004
Youths at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover are making an impact statewide.
Overcoming a number of obstacles, students belonging to the school’s Youth to Youth group succeeded in lobbying for a bill that makes hosting underage drinking parties illegal.
The bill became law this year and makes hosting such a party - whether by parents, teens or young adults - punishable under criminal law.
For the third time in one week recently, police in Laconia have broken up parties attended by underage drinkers, arresting their hosts under the new law.
A host arrested for a June 26 party at The Weirs in Laconia could be the first person to be prosecuted under the law.
Underage drinking remains a serious problem in New Hampshire and throughout the nation. Every year, thousands of young people are killed on our highways as a result of drunken driving.
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Thursday, July 8, 2004
College Area Gas Station Wins Alcohol License Fight
NBC Sandiego.com, CA, July 7, 2004
Residents near San Diego State University are upset about a nearby gas station that was given a license on Wednesday morning to sell alchohol.
The business's license was approved in the City Council chambers, where a San Diego city hearing officer approved the license. The College-area ARCO gas station and convenience store, which is located next to SDSU on College Avenue and Montezuma Road, made application last year as well, reported NBC 7/39, but the city rejected the owner's request.
Several people from SDSU showed up for Wednesday's hearing and were disappointed with the outcome. SDSU officials and alcohol-awareness groups said that selling alcohol so close to student dormitories is a threat to student safety and should be prohibited.
"We know that some of them have made, the planners have made recommendations to approve it," said Dr. Cleo Malone, an alcohol- and drug-prevention specialist. "We're going to oppose it, and we'll continue to oppose it, because the ultimate concern is for the health, safety and well-being of those students there."
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Study Links Obesity, Other Health Problems To Adolescent Binge Drinking
Science Daily, July 8, 2004
A University of Washington study has found that people who began binge drinking at age 13 and continued throughout adolescence were nearly four times as likely to be overweight or obese and almost 3½ times as likely to have high blood pressure when they were 24 years old than were people who never or rarely drank heavily during adolescence.
The study looked at young adult health consequences of adolescent binge drinking - consuming five or more drinks on a single occasion - between the ages of 13 and 18. Previous research has shown that adolescent binge drinking results in a number of immediate negative consequences, including involvement in fatal or injurious automobile accidents and engaging in risky sexual behavior. But little had been known about the effects of adolescent heavy drinking into young adulthood.
"Young adults who either did not binge drink or rarely did so during adolescence are the mostly likely to be healthy and engage in safe health-related behaviors," said Sabrina Oesterle, lead author of the study and a research associate in the UW's Social Development Research Group. "Being overweight or having hypertension can be linked to future problems such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. What we are seeing are the first warning signs of more serious health problems. Young adults' history of binge drinking during the teenage years, irrespective of current levels of binge drinking, appears to have serious effects on their health by age 24."
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Alcohol prevention program receives grant
Oneonta Daily Star, NY, July 8, 2004
An Otsego County program focusing on preventing underage or high-risk drinking was included in a federal grant announced recently.
The grant is part of $1.7 million that seven campus-community partnerships will share to enact programs that deal mostly with alcohol-related problems. The money is from a $2.25 million grant the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Services received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, according to a news release. The remainder of the grant will be used to develop a statewide prevention data reporting system.
The task force is a two-year effort by members of the Oneonta police, Otsego County Sheriff's Department, Hartwick College, SUCO, bar owners and other community groups, said Elizabeth Currier, executive director of LEAF, a community partner. It is made up of representatives from the community that recognize "there was a problem that needed to be addressed," she said.
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Wednesday, July 7, 2004
Tailgating scaled back this season
Tribune Chronicle, OH, July 6, 2004
A modified form of tailgating will be back for the Youngstown State University football season this year, said State Rep. Kenneth A. Carano, D-Austintown.
According to a deal worked out with the state liquor control board, some campus organizations, such as the Alumni Association, would have to sell alcohol at the tailgating parties. But after next year, Carano said, ''Tailgating will be back as usual.''
Tailgating at YSU has been on hiatus since the end of the 2003 football season, when an obscure state law against open containers in public places had YSU officials fearing frivolous lawsuits if they allowed tailgating, said Carano. Now, a bill is in State Senate committee that would permit tailgating at state universities. It's already passed the House.
The bill, sponsored by Carano, creates a new liquor license for universities or professional teams that permits open containers in restricted areas.
Carano said he'd negotiated with groups who'd opposed the legislation in the House, including a group that wanted strict controls on underage drinking on campuses. ''While teen drinking is a concern, this was not the platform for that,'' Carano said.
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How to Change Alcohol Policies on Campus
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Tuesday, July 6, 2004
Patterns: With More Ads, More Girls Drink
New York Times, NY, July 6, 2004
In recent years, drinking has become more common among teenage girls than boys, federal surveys have found. A study released today suggests one possible explanation: an increase in alcohol advertising reaching teenage girls.
The study, published in The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, said drinking by all teenagers had increased in recent years. Twice as many students under 18 said they had tried alcohol in 1999 than in 1995, and more girls than boys said in 2002 that they had been drinking at least once in the prior month.
The study cited industry statements showing that alcohol advertising had increased steadily in the same period, especiallyfor low-alcohol drinks like wine coolers and alcoholic iced teas.
The biggest change from 2001 to 2002 came in ads for the low-alcohol drinks, the article said; girls' exposure to such ads jumped 216 percent, while boys' exposure went up 46 percent.
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Officials conduct alcohol retailer training
Grand Island Independent, NE, July 5, 2004
In an effort to reduce the number of sales of alcohol to minors in Hall County, area law enforcement officials offered two training sessions for local alcohol retailers.
The classes were a response to the May 7 compliance checks done in Hall County by local law enforcement. Eighteen percent of the 67 businesses checked were noncompliant with liquor laws. Of the employees who sold to a minor, all but one checked ID and sold the alcohol anyway.
The June 22 training effort was part of the Think B4U Wink campaign that was developed to address adult attitudes condoning underage drinking. The program also increases enforcement of youth alcohol laws in area counties.
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Longs Drugs Agrees To Downtown Store Without Alcohol
Berkeley Daily Planet, CA, July 6, 2004
Longs Drugs is apparently coming to downtown Berkeley and checking its beer and wine selection at the door.
The chain drug store retailer had threatened to pull out of a deal, nearly two years in the making, to bring an outlet to 2300 Shattuck Ave. at the corner of Bancroft Way, when the Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) granted it a use permit that forbade the sale of alcohol.
The plan to carry beer and wine ran into opposition from the Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Police Department. Police Chief Roy Meisner wrote to the State Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and the city’s planning department that alcohol sales at Longs would increase crime in the area that already experienced rates of police calls for drugs or alcohol 97 percent above the city average.
School Board President John Selawsky, who engineered a board resolution opposing Longs, hailed the company’s retreat as “great news. The sale of alcohol so close to a school doesn’t make sense,” he said. “As long as there’s no alcohol I’m happy.”
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College students testing limits of detox clinics
Lacrossetribune.com, WI, July 3, 2004
Binge drinking is on the rise in the United States and is climbing fastest among 18- to 20-year-olds, who are too young to drink legally, according to a 2003 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We're seeing a lot more people in detox," La Crosse Police Chief Edward Kondracki said. "But it's only a small portion of the intoxicated persons who come to the attention of police officers. They're not just inebriated. They have to be incapacitated, unable to care for themselves, to go to detox. I've said it before: They're like a turtle on its back."
"It's frustrating for officers because their only intervention for someone so incapacitated is to take the person to the hospital," Kondracki said. "We're fortunate to have two quality detox units in town, but detox is a band-aid approach and a manifestation of a bigger problem, and binge drinking is a symptom of a bigger problem."
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Friday, July 02, 2004
First lady of Wyoming: Parents can reduce kids' drinking
Casper Star Tribune (WY), Thu, Jul 1, 2004
Many children in Wyoming start using alcohol at very young ages -- by 11 for boys, and by 13 for girls, first lady Nancy Freudenthal said Wednesday at the Wyoming Project Guardian conference in Casper.
She gave some other startling facts: One in four Wyoming eighth-graders has been drunk, and not just on a few sips of beer. In many cases, she said, they are drinking to get drunk.
"The next time your child comes up to you and tells you you're clueless -- they're right," Freudenthal said. "You are clueless when it comes to underage drinking,"
During her presentation at the three-day conference on school and community safety, which began Monday, Freudenthal suggested ways for parents and community members to stop children from drinking alcohol.
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Outdoor Alcohol on Knoxville's Strip
WVLT TV (TN), Fri, Jul 2, 2004
The public debate over allowing patio alcohol sales on Knoxville's Cumberland Avenue strip is over for now. Thursday night, Knoxville City Council members agreed to take no action until police and business owners can work out a compromise.
Cumberland Avenue merchants and Knoxville police sat down and talked about the issue. The City Council was scheduled for a vote on Tuesday, but will table that vote. The debate is over money versus public safety.
Knoxville Police say adding alcohol sales will result in more crime in an already high crime area. Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith says, "Cumberland Avenue has been ranked in the top five crime spots in our community for years. Police say outlawing parking lot beer sales in 2001 reduced assaults on police officers, underage drinking, and over-serving. They say all of that has contributed to a safer environment.
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Lazy Days of Summer Can Lead to Increased Underage Drinking
PR Newswire Retail, Thu, Jul 1, 2004
A recent government report reveals that June and July are the months when young people are most likely to engage in underage drinking. And, according to the Century Council, a leading on-profit organization devoted to curbing underage drinking, 65% of those young people get their alcohol from friends and family. To help educate teens and caution adults about the serious consequences of underage drinking, an innovative, multi-state outreach program entitled the "Alcohol Safety Network" was unveiled in Kansas City today to coincide with the period when teens are most likely to consume alcohol for the first time -- summertime.
The Alcohol Safety Network's "You Can't Afford the Buzz" campaign is
targeting two specific audiences -- adults who could be tempted to purchase alcohol for minors and the teens who are especially vulnerable this time of year. It will utilize eye-catching, stickers which will be posted in retail establishments throughout Kansas and Missouri to inform adults of the potential fines and penalties for providing alcohol to minors. The dramatic red and black point-of-sale stickers feature a man's hands in handcuffs -- a compelling image relaying important information. In Kansas, a conviction can carry up to a $500 fine and possible jail time. In Missouri, adults face up to $1000 in fines and possible jail time.
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Penalty Increases For Providing Alchohol To Minor
KOAT (NM), Thu, Jul 1, 2004
A new law taking effect Thursday will make it a felony to provide alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.
Under the current law the offense is a misdemeanor that is typically punished with a fine or probation.
The maximum penalty under the new law is 18 months in prison and fines of up to $5,000.
Teresa Holguin -- the mother of a 14-year-old girl who died of acute alcohol poisoning after drinking at a slumber party in 2002 -- said she hopes the new law will make those who provide liquor to minors pay the consequences.
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Thursday, July 1, 2004
Students urge a U.S. war on alcohol
Detroit Free Press, MI, June 30, 2004
The United States declared war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people. It's time, say some Bloomfield Hills teens, for the government to wage a new war -- on alcohol.
That's the message three Lahser High School students are trying to get out through a public service announcement that will air this summer on WJBK-TV (Channel 2) in Detroitand possibly other stations.
On Tuesday, with the help of professionals from Forest Post Productions, a video and commercial production company in Farmington Hills, the students put finishing touches on the announcement,which compares the death toll from the terrorist attacks to the tollfrom alcohol.
"Everyone takes 9/11 seriously. We want to get people to look at" the announcement "and get a little bit more serious about fighting alcohol abuse," said 16-year Chris Hutchinson, one of the ad's creators.
According to the students' research, inSeptember 2001 there were 8,000 alcohol-related deaths in the United States-- almost three times as many livesas were claimed in the terrorist attacks. And the deaths continue, they say, with about 300 alcohol-related deaths daily in the United States.
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Porter bans open alcohol at parade
Munster Times,IN, June 30, 2004
Alcohol use on town property has been limited under the provisions of an ordinance passed Tuesday by the Town Council. The new law, which calls for a fine of $500 per infraction, will be publicly posted and in effect in time for Sunday's July Fourth Midnight Parade.
Public intoxication and resulting rowdy and lewd behavior at the parade in recent years were the impetus behind the ordinance, council Vice President Bill Sexton said. The hefty fine was meant as a deterrent to the past alcohol abuse, Sexton said.
Under the ordinance, businesses or individuals must obtain a permit at least 15 days before an event where alcoholic beverages will be available on town property. Outside of approved events, no open containers of alcohol will be permitted.
Despite the hour, there are a lot of families there," Lane said. "I think it's a great idea," Nietzel said. "I know this is a free country and we're celebrating Independence Day, but people should realize Porter doesn't have a Mardi Gras and some day somebody could get hurt."
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Residents concerned about alcohol at Lake Park
Coshocton Tribune, OH, June 30, 2004
Should people be allowed to drink at Lake Park? In fact it happens quite often, since people rent the Lake Park pavilion for such things as weddings and formal banquets.
But people also are drinking beers at the park after softball games, and Mosier said he's seeing if something can be done to stop it. He said he will ask prosecutor Robert Bachelor what sort of drinking is considered a violation of the state's "open container" law.
Mosier said that once he receives a legal opinion from Batchelor, the sheriff's office will notify the public of what the requirements are under the law. "We don't want to go over and just arrest a lot of people."
Mosier said he could not say if drinking is a significant problem at the park, but he would like to see it stopped. He said the department has received some calls about loud confrontations at games, but he can't say whether these incidents are made worse by alcohol.
"We've got a wonderful park area there," Mosier said. "We have as nice a swimming area as any in the state." There is no need for the children using those areas to go past adults who are drinking, he said. "What is the park saying to this community? What are we teaching our youth?" Mike Hammersley said. "How are we going make our community safe if we drink after softball games and drive."
Jill Hammersley says it's completely unnecessary for adult players to drink at the park in the presence of minors. "They're showing our youth this is how our adults have a good time," she said. "My main concern here is the complacency (about) alcohol -- not just in our community but all over."
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Last call for Gaelic Athletic Association drink link
Irish Examiner, June 30, 2004
The recommendations of a task force headed by former Galway hurler Joe Connolly followed a year of consultation with the government, health boards, and its clubs throughout the country.
In a wide-ranging report, the task force calls for the ending of alcohol sponsorship deals with the association; the appointment of a full-time official to promote a healthy approach to drink, and a code of conduct to be established and implemented.
Amongst the proposals was the ambition that: “cups should not be filled with any alcoholic drink by successful GAA teams at any level.”
The issue of whether sporting organisations should continue to accept sponsorship money from the alcohol industry has grown in profile and controversy in recent years and the GAA were incensed by being, they believed, unfairly singled out over the matter by one government minister.
“We have recommended that sponsorship by alcohol companies and pubs in the GAA be phased out. We will leave that to the wisdom of the GAA to implement in their own time scale. We believe that there is a growing culture of being aware of our responsibility that it may be time for the GAA to have a policy on this.
“Ultimately, Guinness being a drinks brand probably isn’t compatible, in the long run, with the GAA..."
Connolly spoke eloquently of the culture in the GAA where underage players were constantly exposed to a drinking environment at functions and after games, a culture, he said, that has to be eradicated. The report also recommends that GAA bars should promote practices such as serving food.
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