STREET DRINKERS FIND HARD STUFF GONE

It didn't seem to matter to the customers in the little downtown market
crammed with cigarettes, soft drinks and chips that their usual brand of
malt liquor wasn't there.

They scoured the refrigerated shelves, running their fingers along the rows
of cans, bottles and six-packs of beer and malt liquor, reading the names
out loud until they found a suitable substitute.

They each paid for a can of beer. Then they walked over to Occidental Park
where they settled into their benches and sprawled out.

Yesterday was the first day of a 15-month experiment by King County
officials to address downtown Seattle's problem with chronic street
alcoholics.

Stores and taverns from the International District to lower Queen Anne were
asked to sign a voluntary agreement to stop selling the
high-alcoholic-content beverages favored by some street drunks.

But several people in Pioneer Square said just because they can't find Olde
English 800 malt liquor or St. Ides Special Brew and others doesn't mean
they'll stop drinking.

"It's not going to make nobody stop nothing. If I have to drink two beers
with a lower alcohol content instead of one, then I will," said a man who
didn't want to give his name.

"People are still going to get high. It's all alcohol, and it's still going
to add up to the same thing," said another man who called himself Larry.

Even some merchants who have agreed to clear the targeted malt liquors and
cheap fortified wines off their shelves have doubts.

"We're doing it to support the community," said Susan Park of Saveway
Market. "But my personal opinion is it's not going to minimize alcoholics."

Nonetheless, the Chronic Public Inebriate Systems Solution Committee
expects to have a few converts by the end of the 15-month experiment.

Comprising neighborhood leaders, politicians, the state Liquor Control
Board and merchants, the 200-member group is charged with organizing an
assault on the problems associated with the estimated 1,500 street
alcoholics in King County.

Donald A. Lachman, a consultant to the group, said expecting immediate
results is unrealistic.

Restricting certain kinds of alcohol is just one step in a comprehensive
plan that includes a new drug and alcohol recovery center, increased social
and medical care and improved employment opportunities, he said.

"This is the first day. You don't judge a cancer patient's progress on the
first day of chemotherapy," Lachman said.

"The restrictions can cause a change in buying habits and in how fast
someone can consume alcohol. I think that by the end of the demonstration,
you're going to see obvious improvements in the number of police pickups,
admissions to Harborview (Medical Center) from the area and in street
litter," he said.

Peter Chung, the manager of Peter's Market on Yesler Way, rolled his eyes,
laughed and shook his head while explaining why his store has chosen not to
participate in the voluntary restrictions.

"Politicians. They want to look good, but no matter what they do, it's not
going to work," Chung said.

Chung said that when the initiative was introduced, his store signed up. At
that time, the committee was asking merchants to ban large bottles and cans
of beer and fortified wine.

"We got rid of everything, but other stores didn't and we lost a lot of our
customers. All they had to do was cross the street, and we lost $20,000 in
one month," he said.

Chung estimates that if one store in the Pioneer Square area were to
continue selling the high-alcohol products, while competitors respected the
ban, that one store would gross an additional $30,000 to $40,000 a month.

Later, he said, the committee changed tactics and asked merchants to ban
all drinks with alcohol content beyond 5.6 percent.

"They just don't know what they're doing. They tell us to do it this way
one week, then they say do it that way. If we don't all do the same thing
together at the same time, it will never work," he said.

At best, all the plan can do is force chronic alcoholics to another part of
the city, he said.

"People who want to drink will drink. It's a free country."

Christine Clarridge's phone message number is 206-464-8983. Her e-mail
address is: ccla-new@seatimes.com