HOUSE PANEL SUPPORTS ANTI-ALCOHOL MESSAGES

A House Appropriations subcommittee voted Friday to require that the
federal government's five-year, $1 billion youth anti-drug advertising
campaign include anti-alcohol messages as well.

By a voice vote, lawmakers approved an amendment by Rep. Lucille
Roybal- Allard, D-Calif., requiring the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy to include the ads against underage drinking.

The Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, launched last year, has aired
numerous messages, mostly on television. Officials say 95 percent of
teens see the ads seven times a week.

None of the paid advertisements is about the potentially detrimental
effects of alcohol, even though alcohol abuse afflicts four times as
many people in the United States as drug abuse. About 15 percent of
the pro bono public service announcements aired in conjunction with
the media campaign deal with alcohol or drunken driving issues.

Roybal-Allard previously had expressed concerns about high rates of
heavy problem drinking among Mexican-American men.