ALCOHOL HAS TOO PROMINENT ROLE

In the July 31 "Weekly laurels and laments," the Journal Sentinel Editorial
Board called the developments at Woodstock '99 a sorry commentary on our times.

In reporting the problems at Woodstock, you failed to mention the role of
Budweiser. The back page of the program was an ad for Bud. Three beer
gardens on the grounds dispensed beer for roughly the same price as bottled
water.

In comparing this event with the 1969 original, there was little mention of
the prominence of alcohol. In a society inundated with ads promoting beer
consumption while neglecting education about the potential for abuse, what
other outcome could be expected?

In late June, our own Sen. Herb Kohl caved in to intense lobbying by the
beer industry and voted against an amendment that would have included
alcohol in a $1 billion, five-year advertising campaign by the Office of
National Drug Control Policy aimed at teen drug abuse.

If drug policies are to have any credibility, Congress needs to take a
balanced approach and start making decisions based on common sense and
actual potential for harm, not intense pressure from groups that benefit
from keeping the current harmful policies in place.

Gary Storck Madison