ILCAAAP News, December 2006, Volume 69, No. 4

We're Lettings Down Our Kids Over Tobacco and Alcohol

by Daniel K. Duncan

Is anyone paying attention to the news? Not the headlines about politics and war; I'm talking about some news stories that have to do with the well-being of our kids.

In the past few weeks, we've seen several stories -- seemingly unrelated -- that actually share a common thread. In late August, there was the story about how Big Tobacco secretly has been increasing the nicotine content of cigarettes since 1998, making its deadly product that much more lethal and addictive.

Lethal and addictive to whom? Kids, of course.

Children are a prime target of Big Tobacco, mainly because they have to be. If they can't hook kids to replace the smokers who are dying or quitting, the tobacco companies face serious economic consequences.

By increasing the addictiveness of its products, Big Tobacco again has shown its true colors -- despite lawsuits, settlements and promises of reform. Life and children be damned; profits reign supreme.

Another news story concerned itself with Big Tobacco's twin brother: Big Alcohol. A study out of Columbia University stated that 17.5 percent -- $22.5 billion -- of alcohol industry revenue is attributable to underage drinking.

This complemented an earlier article in the Journal of the American Medical Association that stated, "Half of all money spent on alcohol comes from the pockets of underage and adult excessive drinkers." The study concluded that "the industry has a compelling financial motive to attempt to maintain or increase rates of underage drinking." Sound familiar?

A few days after that, another story reported that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had denounced the alcohol industry for not abiding by its self-imposed ban on radio advertising to teens, a practice steadfastly denied by the industry.

As Big Tobacco did for decades, Big Alcohol is ready to present good news stats and "facts" that deny they market to youth and that advertising has nothing to do with why kids drink. Yet the industry is every bit as addicted to its profits as an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. Indeed, it is trapped.

Could the industry afford to lose the kinds of profits that genuine social responsibility would bring? What would stockholders say?

It's not so hard to understand that the children of yesterday are the addicted smokers and problem drinkers of today, and that the children of today are the addicted smokers and problem drinkers of tomorrow. What is hard to understand is why we all are not working more diligently to protect our youth better, especially considering the targets on their foreheads?

Instead, our nation continues to subsidize tobacco growers, resist efforts to protect nonsmokers from toxic smoke and seemingly revel in an increasingly enmeshed social dependency on alcohol.

As a result, we continue to sacrifice to these monster industries our most precious commodity: our youth.

Does this make any sense at all? Doesn't this amount to offering up our own cultural integrity, common sense and intelligence to the chemicals of addiction?

It has been said a community can be judged by how it treats its youth. If we are not willing to better protect our youth from the predation of the tobacco and alcohol industries, perhaps we no longer deserve the privilege of calling ourself the greatest nation on earth.

Daniel K. Duncan is director of community services for the St. Louis chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.

This op-ed was published on Sept. 14, 2006 in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Reprinted with permission.

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Staff Activities

In order to give our readers an idea of how and where their donations are allocated, some of our activities are listed on this page.

The ILCAAAP Teen Board gave presentations and performed alcohol prevention skits for Red Ribbon Week at Enos Elementary After-School Program in Springfield and at Gleenwood High School in Chatham. To schedule a presentation for your school, church, or community, contact Elisabeth Phillips by phone (877-204-6863) or by e-mail (mail@ilcaaap.org).

The American Council on Alcohol Problems held its annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on September 19-22. ACAP officers presented an award to speaker Dr. Gordon Lindsay, chair of Health Sciences at Brigham Young University, for his efforts in developing public health strategies to prevent alcohol and tobacco addiction. Pictured left to right are Dr. Dan Ireland, Executive Director (AL), Dr. Gordon Lindsay, Anita Bedell, Secretary-Treasurer (IL), and Robert Van Komen, President (UT).

11th annual Alcohol Awareness Month Poster Contest

Submit artwork to Illinois Churches in Action by March 24, 2007

Open to all students in Grades 6 -12 in public, private, home schools, Sunday School and Youth Groups

Four U.S. Savings Bonds will be awarded as prizes. Smaller prizes will be awarded to individual school winners.

For more information call 877-204-6863 or visit the website at www.ilcaaap.org

Interfaith Youth Prevention Retreat

Registration information online at www.ilcaaap.org or call 877-204-6863

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Legislation Highlights

Beer Lobbyists Alter Underage Drinking Bill

The National Beer Wholesalers Association, an industry lobbying group, succeeded in amending the H.R. 864, The Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking (STOP) Act to eliminate language referring to alcohol as "the most heavily used drug by children" and other "findings" that detailed the harm caused by underage alcohol use. The amendment also omitted a section that urged the NCAA to ban alcohol ads during college sports broadcasts. The bill which now includes language that protects beer distributors from efforts to break their monopoly on transporting beer to retailers, was passed by the House of Representatives on November 14.

Supporters are hoping to pass a companion bill in the Senate, S.408, before the current Congress ends. That plan could be derailed if Senators make any changes to the bill.

Kim Miller, from CSPI's Alcohol Policies Project, called the STOP Act a "modest, but significant step forward for collective efforts of the past several years to secure implementation of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine's recommendations for a national plan to reduce underage drinking".

Reprinted from Join Together, Oct. 31 and Nov. 17, 2006.

Sunday Alcohol Related Crashes Raise with "Blue Law" Repeal

The repeal of a ban on Sunday sales of alcohol in New Mexico was followed by a 29 percent rise in alcohol-related auto crashes on Sundays and a 42 percent increase in alcohol-related traffic deaths, researchers say.

Crashes and deaths have increased in the five years since the state repealed its "blue laws" banning Sunday alcohol sales, according to research funded by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP). During that period, there were 543 more alcohol-related crashes and 42 deaths on Sundays than in the five years prior to repeal.

"For the first time, we have real data on whether blue laws actually protect public health," said study co-author Garnett McMillan of the Behavioral Health Research Center of the Southwest. "Today's study finds that the Sunday ban saved lives and prevented hundreds of injuries and fatalities from alcohol-related crashes."

Sunday sales also have been repealed recently in other states, and many of the 15 states with such laws still in place have considered repeal.

The research was published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

Reprinted from Join Together, October 4, 2006.

Alcohol Detection Devices Monitor People on Probation

DuPage County will soon implement a pilot program to provide 24-hour monitoring of alcohol offenders. Called SCRAM, for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring, the ankle bracelet could tell if a person on probation had been drinking and would electronically report the information to authorities, the Chicago Tribune reported on October 31, 2006.

"DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett said the program would start with volunteers who recognize they have a drinking problem and want to abstain from alcohol to get a lesser sentence, but eventually could be mandatory for bail, probation or court supervision cases."

DuPage County will be the first county in Illinois to try this program. "Counties in 38 other states already use the program."

Alcohol Near School and Churches

SB 505 is an encroachment by an unknown number of chain restaurants who aspire to sell alcohol closer than 100 feet of a church or school in Chicago. This special legislation allows the issuance of a license if the "principal religious leader does not indicate opposition in writing". This is a difficult position for a pastor in a local community, and undo pressure could be exerted for him to remain silent.

SB 505 also contains language to allow one restaurant owner to obtain a liquor license closer than 100 feet from an elementary school with an After-School Program. SB 505 provides no guarantee or protection that alcohol will not be served during school hours or when children are present.

SB 505 was introduced very quickly in the Veto Session, which was extended to January 9, 2007. Call your State Legislators at 217-782-2000 to voice your concerns.

Gambling Legislation

The sale or lease of the State Lottery to a private company could be addressed in the Spring 2007 Legislative Session. Proceeds generated from the sale of the Lottery are not renewable. A private company will expand the Lottery electronically to increase sales-Keno, Video Lottery Terminals, Internet.

Legislation to legalize slot machines at race tracks, additional casinos, expanding the number of gambling positions at casinos to transform them into huge, Las Vegas-style casinos on land could be introduced in the Spring session, which begins January 10, 2007.

Join ILCAAAP's Action Alert Network to receive up-to-the minute information on Gambling and/or Alcohol Legislation and Action Steps to take. Call 877-204-6863 or sign up at the web site www.ilcaaap.org

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Family Addiction Pool

One in 5 Adult Americans have a family member who is now or has been addicted to alcohol or other drugs, according to the Gallup Family Addiction Poll. That's the bad news.

The good news is that the vast majority of family members interviewed say their addicted relatives who sought treatment either recovered completely or showed substantial improvement.

Respondents who said their addicted relative completely recovered attributed family support, self-determination or health concerns as the major factors assisting that recovery.

More survey respondents say their family member has overcome his or her addiction (41%) than say he or she is currently addicted (30%).

The remaining 29% say their family member has since died or they are unaware of their relative's current condition.

The impact of addiction to alcohol or other drugs was not confined to the person suffering from that addiction. Relatives of those addicted also experienced a wide range of problems stemming from the addiction of a member of their family. Women bore the brunt of such problems, as shown here.

Percentage who suffered major negative effects on their:

Emotional or mental health		35% Women
		23% Men
Relationships with other family members		22%
		19%
Marriage		21%
		11%
Personal financial situation		19%
		12%
Physical health		18%
		8%
Relationships with friends		14%
		10%
Job		9%
		6%

Reprinted with permission from Monday Morning Report, Volume 30, Number 19, October 9, 2006

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Fight Teen Drinking from the Outside

When considering how to prevent use of the No. 1 drug of choice for youth - alcohol - people usually think of awareness programs that tell teens and their parents why underage drinking is bad. Such individual behavioral approaches may be common, but the newest, most promising means is changing the overall environment where problems take root, thereby protecting whole populations.

As any parent knows, trying to change the behavior for a teenager can be very difficult. So, rather than attempting to keep each one of our nation's teens out of harm's way, environmental strategies try to keep harm out of millions of teens' way.

Governments, police and communities are at work around the country developing and implementing laws to deter underage drinking parties. These involve changing the environment where teen drinking occurs by targeting out-of-school parties. The strategy isn't to educate the kids not to party, but to alter the high-risk environment by holding party hosts and adults who furnish alcohol accountable.

Still other work involves how to prevent alcohol retailers and wholesalers from selling and marketing alcohol to teens. Research shows that minors can purchase alcohol fairly easily, and they are inundated by advertising and marketing of alcohol.

Environmental strategies for controlling alcohol-related problems are controversial because they involve businesses that produce, market and sell alcohol-- businesses focused on making a living, not on curing social ills. Marketing and selling it aren't inherently bad, but the environment created by some sales and marketing practices, and the density of outlets, have been suggested as the cause of problems.

Various segments of the alcohol industry would prefer that the prevention of alcohol problems focus on individual behaviors, not on the environment where production, sales, marketing and large-scale consumption take place. But scientists cannot ignore the environment in which a problem occurs just because it might be controversial. Nor can lawmakers, law enforcers and advocates ignore promising, research-based solutions that could help solve pernicious problems in their communities.

Too often, our society seeks to remedy its problems by concentrating on the individual with the problem, not on the environment where the problem germinates and spreads.

Reprinted with permission from author Debra Furr-Holden, published in the Baltimore Sun, August 23,2006

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Alcohol Company to Launch Web-based Entertainment Network

"Anheuser-Busch is using cutting-edge technology to launch its online television channel that will beam Budweiser-themed shows to personal computers and cell phones." according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. Bud.TV will premier in February, 2007, and will be aimed at young people who use video sites like YouTube and social networking sites like MySpace.

A coalition of 60 public health and safety organizations in the field of alcohol prevention -- including ILCAAAP -- sent letters to several top Hollywood actors urging them to reconsider their participation in Bud.TV. "Despite clear evidence that hundreds of thousands of underage internet users already visit Anheuser-Busch's beer web sites, and evidence of the ineffectiveness of the current A-B "honor system" of age verification (which requires only the entry of any birth date), the company planned to inaugurate Bud.TV without adequate age verification technology."

Alcohol Issues Insight (ALL), a trade publication that covers the alcoholic-beverage industry reported in its October 27 issue that Anheuser-Busch has done an "about-face" on its age verification system. Retreating from the honor system upon which it had relied, Anheuser-Busch has announced that it will adopt an "independent age-check process" for Bud.TV and its other brand Web sites.

Alcohol Policies Project, Center for Science in the Public Interest

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