TEENS USING INTERNET TO BUY BOOZE

WASHINGTON Promoters are calling their planned news conference a
demonstration of how easy it is for teenagers to buy booze illegally
through the Internet, complete with a "dramatic `sting' video" produced by
the attorney general of New York. However, the small but growing number of
companies that offer directtohome delivery of the wine and beer they
advertise in cyberspace, say today's event with Attorney General Dennis
Vacco and a group called Americans for Responsible Alcohol Access will be
just another attempt by liquor wholesalers to put them out of business.

"First it was cyberporn ... now it's cyberbooze," says Americans for
Responsible Alcohol Access. "It's growing as fast as direct shippers can
set up Internet home pages and tollfree phone numbers."

Organizers have cloaked the group in a veil of secrecy. They would reveal
little about Americans for Responsible Alcohol Access, but did acknowledge
that it is funded largely by liquor wholesalers and said it's supported by
"safetyminded organizations."

Refused Interview

The group's director, Washington lobbyist Barry McCahill, refused to be
interviewed. Chris McKenna, spokesman for Vacco, acknowledged that New
York's chief prosecutor would speak at today's news conference but said
he's been instructed not to talk about it in advance.

Liquor wholesalers have mounted an allout assault on direct shipments of
wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages, which cuts them out of the loop
and cuts into their profits.

The suggestion that the Internet makes it easier for teenagers to buy booze
"is probably the biggest lie of all," said John Hinman, a San Francisco
lawyer for many wineries and brewers of specialty beers.

"It's no harder and no easier for teens to get alcohol than it's always
been." The sellers generally require buyers to use a credit card and demand
a copy of a valid driver's licence. "We charge $27 for two six packs of
beer," said Jim Lowe, a spokesman for Hogshead Beer Cellars, a specialty
beerofthemonth club based in Greensboro, N.C.

"If an 18yearold's got $27 burning a hole in his pocket, he's going to
give it to an older brother to buy three or four cases of cheap beer ....
And, they're certainly not going to do what we require wait for it," he
said.