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Liquor Commission Eases Penalty Guidelines
The Nebraska Liquor Control Commission voted 2-1 at its February 4, 2002 meeting to loosen penalty guidelines for businesses caught selling alcohol to minors.
The Commission voted to shorten the penalty look-back timeline from ten years down to four years. As a result of the vote, five alcohol license holders who faced having their licenses cancelled later that day kept their licenses and received much lighter punishments.
Four of the five license holders had already pled guilty to a FOURTH OFFENSE sale to minor in the past ten years. The fifth was facing a hearing on its fourth offense sale to a minor later that day.
Minutes before the hearings were set to begin, Chairman Bob Logsdon made a motion to change the number of years the Commission could look back at violations from ten years to four years. Commissioner Rhonda Flower voted yes. Commissioner Richard Coyne, who represents the Omaha-area Congressional District, voted no.
As a result of the vote, none of the five businesses lost their licenses, and several other cases before the Commission received lighter sentences than they faced before the vote.
The alcohol industry and industry-related groups had urged the Commission at a January public hearing to loosen the penalties for retailers who have been caught multiple times selling alcohol to minors. Among the industry-related groups was the Nebraska Retail Grocers Association. PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. testified in favor of retaining the old guidelines and strengthening all efforts to prevent alcohol sales to minors.
The Commission’s internal guidelines will still recommend that any business caught selling alcohol to a minor for a fourth time will face cancellation of its liquor license. However, most observers of the Commission agree that the likelihood of a business being caught four times in four years is very remote. Law enforcement agencies simply do not check businesses often enough for that to actually happen.
States Susie Dugan, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. Executive Director, “This simple vote undoes much progress we in the prevention field have made in recent years regarding accountability of license holders who sell alcohol to minors. For those of us who have attended the NLCC hearings for several years, this is an outrage!” (PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. has been attending for over fourteen years.)
Ms. Dugan also states that it is sad that the Nebraska Retail Grocers Association cares more about aligning itself with the alcohol industry than it cares about children and the families who patronize its members. “We would rather see the Grocers Association working harder to weed out the bad businesses who are repeatedly selling alcohol to children.”
When contacted by PRIDE-Omaha, Inc., Forrest D. Chapman, the Executive Director of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, stated that anyone who is concerned about this vote can contact the Commission by mail. He stated that he will share any correspondence he receives with all three commissioners. Letters should be sent to:
Executive Director Forrest D. Chapman
Nebraska Liquor Control Commission
P.O. Box 95046
Lincoln, NE 68509-5046
-Lincoln Journal Star, 2/12/02, story by Nancy Hicks
Thank You Westroads Mall! Thank You Readers!
The Westroads Mall has removed the Natural Mystic kiosk that was selling merchandise that promoted marijuana use. In a letter to customers who had complained about the kiosk, the management team of General Growth Properties, Inc. stated that they had received several complaints about the pro-marijuana booth and decided that Natural Mystic was not an appropriate tenant for Westroads Mall. Natural Mystic vacated the mall in early January.
Thank you, Westroads Mall! We applaud your decision and appreciate the support this action gives to parents, schools, and all others who are working very hard to create a drug-free environment in which children can grow to their full potential.
PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. had featured a story about this kiosk in the last issue of our newsletter. We had purchased several items at the booth and pictured them in the news story. We did not name the mall because our intent was not to embarrass any single business. We did urge readers to contact us for more information.
Our office received many telephone calls asking for the name of the mall. Readers were given the name, address and phone number of the mall. We know that these concerned citizens did contact the mall management. Many have shared the letter from the mall reporting that the business was now gone.
Thank you especially, to those of you who wrote or telephoned the mall to express your concerns. You helped create one positive change for the benefit of all of the children of our community.
For over twenty-three years, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. has known that “Together, we CAN make a difference!” You again prove the truth in that statement.
Let us continue to work together to create drug-free environments for all children.
Welcome Help For Parents
Concerned parents in the Omaha area again have a reliable, effective organization to turn to for support. After a long absence from our community,
TOUGHLOVE® International is back.TOUGHLOVE® International is a non-profit, self-help organization that provides ongoing education and active support to families, empowering parents and young people to accept responsibility for their actions.
Meetings for parents are now held Tuesday evenings at 7:00 pm (except on holidays) at the Rockbrook United Methodist Church, 9855 West Center Road in Omaha. You do not need an appointment to attend. Susie Dugan, Executive Director of PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. states, “TOUGHLOVE® used to be active in Omaha, and parents often reported back to us that the group was very helpful to their families. We are pleased to see them return and wish them success as they provide needed support to families.”
For more information, contact 215-384-7090 or www.toughlove.org.
Kick Butts Day
April 3, 2002 is National Kick Butts Day. On that day, youth advocates from across the United States and the world will lead the fight for policies, programs and practices that protect kids from tobacco use and secondhand smoke. On that day, adults will also stand up for kids.
Activities will be held in schools, businesses, churches and many other places. Young people and their supporters will conduct many different activities including, Tribute Day, Stick It To ‘Em, Community Breath-Easy Guide, Spread the Word, No On-Screen Smoking, Operation Storefront, Operation Air Patrol, We Don’t Buy It! Dance, and Stick Up for the Truth about Tobacco Sticker Campaign.
A Manual that is filled with activity ideas for Kick Butts Day is available from PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. or on the Internet at www.tobaccofreekids.org or www.kickbuttsday.org. The kit includes valuable hints for media coverage of Kick Butts Day activities.
Because of the acknowledged controversial nature of this campaign’s name, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids recommends that any alternate title can be used. One suggestion is “Stop Tobacco Day”. The same activities can be planned, substituting names.
Preventing Drug Use Can Be As Easy As Raising Taxes
Studies of best drug prevention strategies and practices often mention the importance of pricing related to the use of alcohol and tobacco. Children are the most price-sensitive consumer age group, especially when it comes to alcohol and tobacco. When the price of either drug is increased significantly, use by youth goes down proportionately.
In Nebraska, the tax on alcohol has not been increased for fifteen years, not even keeping up with inflation. Beer today in Nebraska is often cheaper than orange juice. A 50-cent increase in tobacco taxes would result in approximately $59 million of revenue each year in our state.
These two drugs are often one of the first drugs children try. They are both referred to as “Gateway Drugs” because children who use alcohol or tobacco are at high risk to not only increase their use of these drugs but also to move on to other drugs. Raising prices significantly, together with implementation of comprehensive prevention programs, has caused dramatic drops in consumption, especially among youth in other states.
Alcohol Ads On Television -- You Can Help
NBC television ended its voluntary ban on hard liquor ads last year. On December 4, 2001, NBC announced a multimillion dollar advertising contract with Guinness-UDV (whose brands include Tanqueray gin, Johnnie Walker scotch, Smirnoff vodka, and Smirnoff Ice.)
In an Action Alert, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) blasted the decision. “Despite NBC’s claims of responsible advertising standards for liquor products, millions of underage persons will be exposed to hard liquor advertising as they have been exposed for decades to appealing, funny, and seductive spots for beer,” said CSPI. “Research shows that liquor ads teach young people about various brands and how to use alcohol; and they learn from the ads that drinking is fun, cool, and romantic.”
In a national poll conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, Inc., 68% of respondents opposed NBC’s action.
To date, the other major television networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, UPN, and WB) have maintained that they have no plans to follow NBC’s lead. However, as advertising budgets shrink in the current economic climate, they will be feeling increased pressure to also accept ads for hard liquor.
You can help! You can contact NBC at:
Robert C. Wright
Chairman and CEO
NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Fax: 212-664-7288
Go to www.cspinet.org/booze for more information and talking points.
SAFE Homes Parents Network
PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. is proud of the success our Safe Homes Parents Network program is having in empowering parents, schools and communities to work together for drug-free, violence-free youth.
Safe Homes provides a way for parents to talk to each other and to unite in a clear NO USE message to youth that “there will be NO USE of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, other drugs or violence” in their homes or on their property.
If your school or circle of friends does not have a Safe Homes Parents Network Program, please call our office at 397-3309 for more information .
Project Prom/Graduation Set To Begin
The Prom and Graduation season is fast approaching. For the 18th year, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. is working to coordinate efforts to make this time a safe, drug-free and enjoyable experience for the young people in our community. In the past, too many lives have been lost or negatively impacted by the combination of teens and alcohol and other drugs.
Project Prom/Graduation is a drug prevention program aimed at encouraging students, parents, schools, businesses, and communities to actively participate in fun activities that are free from alcohol and other drugs during the prom and graduation season. The primary goal of this project is to save the lives of our young people.
Each year, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. contacts all high schools throughout the metropolitan Omaha area for dates and locations of prom and graduation activities. This information is then compiled and sent to all school principals, hotel/motel owners, media, limousine services and law enforcement agencies so that all can take extra care to assure safe, healthy, memorable activities for teens.
The public is also encouraged to support drug-free prom and graduation festivities. You can report anyone who is planning a party where alcohol or other drugs will be available to children before it happens by calling the M.I.P. Hotline at 393-4444.
Project Prom/Graduation Chairman, Rick Lenarduzzi states, “We commend all the efforts of teens, parents, schools and community people to promote a drug-free environment. We all want the participants during prom and graduation season to have positive memories, to have fun, and to be safe.”
Physicians Call For End To Canadian Marijuana Policy
A Canadian physicians’ group, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, has called upon the Canadian government to end its new policy allowing smoked marijuana to be used as “medicine”.
In a press release on January 24, 2002, the group stated, “Just as we applaud the strong new warnings on cigarette packages, we are deeply disturbed by the absence of any requirement to inform patients or participants in clinical trials of the harmful consequences of smoking marijuana. In our opinion, this is not only inconsistent, it reflects dubious scientific and medical ethics.”
Mark Your Calendars!
October is Red Ribbon Drug Prevention Campaign month. The entire month is set aside in our community to remind the public that there is much we can do to reduce the terrible toll drugs take, especially on youth.
The Kick-Off Walk and Rally will be held at Heartland of America Park from 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Sunday, September 29, 2002. There will be games, booths, music, food and lots of fun for the whole family. Youth groups across the community are working with adults and organizations to plan this celebration.
Co-Chairpersons for the Walk and Rally are Curtis Rainge and Ross Rassmussen.
Mark your calendars now! Plan to attend. Volunteer to help by calling 397-3309.
April Is Alcohol Awareness Month
Each April, the National Council on Alcoholism sponsors a campaign to raise public awareness about alcohol-related problems. This year’s theme is “Recovery: It’s a Family Affair – and Everyone’s Invited!”
This year’s campaign will start with Alcohol-Free Weekend, from Friday, April 5 through Sunday, April 7. Parents and other adults are asked to abstain from using alcohol for that 72-hour period to demonstrate that alcohol isn’t necessary to have a good time. Young people are encouraged to sponsor youth-planned and youth-run alcohol-free events. In addition, all families are urged to take this opportunity to talk about alcohol and the problems it causes in young people’s lives.
The public is encouraged to get more involved in solving alcohol-related problems during the month of April. Best practices for long-term solutions include community commitments to alcohol-free kids. This commitment would include strong law enforcement efforts aimed at those who provide alcohol to minors, restricting alcohol marketing aimed at youth, increasing the excise tax on alcohol significantly and reducing the pro-alcohol environment children are exposed to every day.
Alcohol remains the number one cause of preventable death among young people. Youth who consume alcohol are more likely to die in a traffic crash; be a victim of murder, rape, or assault; commit suicide or drown; have a baby; drop out of school; or face other physical or social problems.
For more information on how you or your organization can get involved in Alcohol Awareness Month, call PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. at 402-397-3309.
Study Confirms Marijuana Deaths
New research appears to again debunk the myth that marijuana never kills. In an abstract titled “Acute cardiovascular fatalities following cannabis use”, authors L. Bachs and H. Morland reported six cases of young adult deaths that could only be attributed to marijuana use.
All six young people had very recent marijuana ingestion as verified through postmortem blood samples. Broad toxicological blood analysis found no other drugs present and no other possible cause of death. Similar cases have been reported in the literature, but most tests were based on urine samples, which do not adequately narrow the time period of ingestion as do blood studies.
-Forensic Science Int, Vol: 124, Issue: 2-3 Pp: 200-3,
Accession Number: 11792512
Editor’s note: Today’s drug culture continues to promote marijuana as “harmless,” often stating that pot has never killed anyone. Parents, teachers and others who work with young people need to arm our children with the truth about marijuana’s dangers.
Preventing Teen Sex Begins With Preventing Teen Drug Use
A new study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse finds a strong link between teen sex and the use of alcohol and other drugs. The study, released February 7, 2002, found that young people who use alcohol or other drugs are seven times more likely to have sex than those who don’t. They are also twice as likely to have sex with four or more partners than non-drinking youth.
The national study of 1,200 young people between the ages of 13 and 24 also indicates that nearly one out of four sexually active youths have unprotected sex because they’ve been drinking or using other drugs. The study found that not all programs aimed at preventing teen sex or promoting safer sex among teens include components that address drug prevention. Copies of the survey, which was sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, can be found on the Web at www.kff.org.
Drug Legalizers Defeated In New Mexico
Several bills that were meant to legalize drugs in New Mexico were roundly defeated in that state’s legislature this year.
Led by Governor Gary Johnson, and funded by billionaire George Soros, the pro-drug organizers had introduced four bills aimed at relaxing New Mexico’s drug laws. The Lindesmith Center (which has since changed its name to the Drug Policy Alliance) is an international pro-legalization lobby group that even set up a local office in New Mexico to promote passage of the bills.
Protect New Mexico, a group made up of bi-partisan New Mexicans dedicated to promoting sound policies to combat the destruction caused by illegal drugs, was key in defending New Mexico against the pro-legalization legislation. With only $30,000 and support from prevention groups across the country (including PRIDE-Omaha, Inc.), the group was able to assure that the education of lawmakers was not left up only to the pro-pot lobby and the media. Representative Ron Godbey helped lead the legislative fight against the bills.
Their efforts paid off. SB-331, which reduced possession of large amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines to a misdemeanor, with mandatory probation for the first two arrests, died in committee. SB-8, which would have medicalized the smoking of marijuana, died in committee. When its supporters tried to “blast it out”, it was soundly defeated in the Senate, 27-15.
HB-25, which would have decriminalized possession of less than an ounce of marijuana was tabled 9-0 in committee. HB-350, which would have legalized the growing of marijuana hemp, died in its first committee also.
SB-5, a bill concerning Civil Forfeiture, which both sides agreed to, was the only bill passed by the legislature.
Governor Johnson had been an outspoken supporter of the bills. He had appeared on several national media outlets, openly pushing for drug legalization.
Drug Watch International media release, 2/14/02
National Inhalants And Poisons Awareness Week
The 10th Annual National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week (NIPAW) is set for March 17-23, 2002.
This national awareness campaign is designed “to increase understanding about the use and risks of inhalant involvement.” The program is meant to involve youth, parents, schools, media, law enforcement, health organizations, civic groups and businesses.
More than 800 organizations from 46 states participated in the 2001 campaign. The National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Coalition sponsors this campaign, which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
A national news conference will be held in Washington, DC, and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy will sponsor a major media campaign in conjunction with the NIPAW campaign.
Nationally, one out of five students has tried inhalants before he or she reaches the eighth grade. Parents don’t always know about inhalant use among middle school-aged children. Even fewer parents know the deadly effects these poisons can have on a child’s brain and body when they are inhaled or “huffed”.
A Local Coordinator’s Kit is available in English or Spanish for use by local organizations. The kit contains posters, brochures, camera-ready art work, suggested activities, statistics and instructions for media campaigns. PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. has an English-version kit. The kits can also be ordered for $40 (includes shipping charges) from:
National Inhalant and Poisons Awareness Coalition
2904 Kerbey Lane
Austin, Texas 78703
1-800-269-4237
Film Not Loyal To The Truth
In the film, “A Beautiful Mind”, John Nash is portrayed smoking cigarettes during his recovery from his first attack of schizophrenia.
In actuality, Mr. Nash never smoked. In her biography of Mr. Nash, author Sylvia Nasar notes that he had a life-long disdain for tobacco. In a life that was rich with changes, Nasar’s book makes it clear that her subject’s hatred of cigarettes has remained constant.
In a letter to the editor of the Santa Clarita Signal, Chris Sharp wrote, “Why then has Hollywood made this Nobel laureate a cigarette champion by example in a movie? Or, why is there so much smoking by so many role models in today’s movies? Is it because the tobacco industry has enormous money to enable movie production to be paid for more quickly in exchange for a few key smoking scenes? Truly the Marlboro Man is dead of lung cancer, but there are plenty of other heroes to stick out there with cigarettes in their lips for a whole new generation of smokers.”
For more information, go to www.smokefree.org/movies.
© 2002 PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. All rights reserved.