'NO DRINK OF MODERATION'
Copyright (c) 1997, The Christian Science Publishing Society

President Clinton's war on drugs is edging toward a
massive target, alcohol and ironically he's under both
friendly and unfriendly fire. It began this week after his
welcome but halfway call for the Federal Communications
Commission to explore banning hard liquor (not beer) TV
ads. The industry has resumed these after voluntarily
forgoing them for years. "Liquor ads on television would
provide a message of encouragement to drink that young
people simply don't need," the president said. Why single
out the hard stuff? This was the cry of distillers,
patriotically cherishing the freedom to advertise what they
want. Why not also target ads for beer, young Americans'
alcoholic beverage of choice? This was the plea of Mothers
Against Drunk Driving, wondering why any form of a bad
thing should be encouraged. Remember gun advocates who put
all the burden on conduct and none on controlling gun
availability: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."
Now comes a distillers' spokesman who puts the burden on
conduct and not on splitting hairs between beer and other
booze on TV: "The fact is that there is no drink of
moderation, only the practice." The unintended consequence
of such a spin is a stark reminder that no form of alcohol
should have the run of the public airwaves. But then, as
with guns, so with alcohol, controlling a dangerous product
does not relieve us from controlling ourselves.