Editorial: The Olympian, Washington: Liquor initiative creates far more problems than it solves

Washington voters rejected two liquor privatization measures last year, but undeterred, wholesale giant Costco is back with yet another initiative to create more liquor outlets across the state.

While we value Costco's warehouse prices and the shopping opportunities they afford consumers, we don't appreciate them trying to engineer public policy through a poorly crafted Initiative 1183.

We, as a state, value public safety. We support strong liquor enforcement to protect minors, and we don't want a liquor outlet on every street corner like the state of California. Initiative 1183 will provide less choice, higher prices and create social harm.

Costco has put $5 million into the "Yes on 1183 campaign" - about 96 percent of the campaign treasury. It's true that the association of large grocers like Safeway, Fred Meyer and QFC, have added their support, because they, too, want to be able to offer hard liquor on their store shelves.

Joe Gilliam, president of the Northwest Grocery Association, said in addition to ending the state's monopoly on liquor sales and forcing the state to focus on enforcement, grocers support the initiative because they expect to make a profit. "If we were going to lose money on this initiative we wouldn't be supporting it," he said candidly.

To view the full story, click on this link: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/09/25/1813846/2011-election.html#storylink=misearch 

Source: THE OLYMPIAN

For an issue that's usually relegated to a few paragraphs in history books, Prohibition sure has become a hot topic on TV.

The 18th Amendment - that "Noble Experiment" that turned out to be one of the country's biggest civic failures - is the subject of a fascinating new documentary by Ken Burns. "Prohibition" chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of a constitutional amendment that tried to legislate human behavior and, along the way, unleashed a slew of unintended consequences.

The equally well-executed "Boardwalk Empire" meshes real and fictional historical characters against the booze-soaked backdrop of bootleggers and crooked politicians in Atlantic City, N.J., during the Roaring Twenties, when Prohibition was in full swing.

One show is a drama, the other a documentary. But "Boardwalk Empire" and "Prohibition" go together like gin and tonic.

"They're perfectly symbiotic and complementary pieces," said Burns, who, along with "Prohibition" co-director Lynn Novick, is a big fan of "Boardwalk."

"Our film was finished over a year ago," Burns said. "All of a sudden, we wake up, and there's 'Boardwalk Empire.' We just watched in amazement and went, 'Wow, we picked the right subject.'"

It's a subject that violently polarized the nation, pitting "wets" against "drys," Catholics against Protestants, city folk against small-towners, and immigrants against native-born citizens.

To view the full story, click on this link: http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/rackl/7912096-421/ken-burns-prohibition-tackles-hot-topic-that-polarized-nation.html 

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

If you're throwing a party where alcohol is served and minors are helping themselves, a new law is now in the books that could land you a hefty fine.

The Marshalltown City Council unanimously approved a third and final reading Monday toward enacting the Social Host Ordinance, a rule that holds hosts of social gatherings responsible if underage drinking is involved.

City Attorney Curt Ward said at a previous meeting the ordinance includes any social situation that creates a danger or is getting out of control, whether minors are present or not. Either would be justification for police involvement regardless if the party is thrown by an adult, parent or property owner.

To view the full story, click on this link: http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/543188/Social-Host-Ordinance-becomes-law.html 

Source:Times-Republican

Most parents recognize that the influence of peers on their children's behavior is an undeniable fact. But, just how far do these influences reach? A study published in the September/October issue of Academic Pediatrics reports that adolescents are more likely to start drinking alcoholic beverages when they have large social networks of friends.

The findings suggest that, in addition to well-established demographic risk factors like age, race, and team sports, adolescents are at heightened risk of alcohol use onset because of their position in the social network in relationship to their friends and the friends of their friends, regardless of the drinking status of individuals within those networks. The study also found that closer proximity to more popular individuals was a factor in drinking initiation.

"In this study, adolescents in higher density school networks were more likely to initiate alcohol use," according to Marlon P. Mundt, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison. "More dense networks exhibit more interconnected clusters that magnify the spread of influence. Notably, the results come to light in view of computer simulations showing that more dense networks amplify the dynamics of influence cascades."

To view the full story, click on this link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110921120044.htm 

Source: ScienceDaily

States Putting Hopes in 'Bottoms Up' to Help the Bottom Line

Letter to the Editor: Vote against alcohol initiatives