ALCOHOL POSES MAJOR THREAT TO SOCIETY

The alcohol industry has been very successful in lobbying to restrict
America's anti-drug efforts to include only illegal drugs, even
though alcohol is illegal for everyone under 21.

Half of the eighth-graders and 80 percent of the 12th-graders are
breaking this law. More than 90 percent of them start drinking
alcohol before going to marijuana.

About 25 percent of eighth-graders and 62 percent of the 12th-graders
admitted being drunk.

Drinking is incompatible with the obligations of work and marriage.
Half of the marriages fail. One of three American babies are born to
single women.

Of attacks by current or former intimate partners of the victims,
two-thirds had been drinking prior to the attack.

Women who are the heaviest long-term drinkers tend to show the least
amount of change in their drinking once they become pregnant.

Birth control pills, morning-after pills, and the "miscarriage" pill
RU 486 will not protect women from HIV infection.

There are currently 16,000 deaths and more than a million injuries in
alcoholic-related traffic accidents each year. Alcohol is neurotoxic
with direct effects on nerve cells. Alcoholics' dementia is only
exceeded by Alzheimer's disease.

About half of the patients in large urban hospitals may be there
because of their alcohol use.

What appears as the biggest challenge for the new George W. Bush
administration will be the inclusion of alcohol in any renewed war on
drugs.

If President Bush wishes to protect Barbara, Jenna and the young
people of our nation and world from drugs and HIV infections, he
could begin by toasting all VIP guests with water or grape juice and
encourage the VIPs to do the same.

Learn from the mistakes of Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford. Always just
say no to that first alcoholic drink and encourage family members and
friends to do the same.

ROBERT W. COOPER

Upland