Legislation, lawsuit aim to curb teen consumption of 'alcopop' drinks

February 15, 2006

By DAN JOHNSON
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Critics claim they are mixed drinks in a bottle, readily available to the underage drinkers they are targeting -- mainly teenage girls -- and taxed at an illegally low level to enhance sales.

But their opponents say they are no more subject to underage drinking than any other licensed beverage category, are appropriately classified as beer products, that the business community is being unfairly targeted and that legitimate consumers could be victimized.

The ongoing controversy picked up over "alcopops" -- sweet, fruity alcoholic beverages -- on Jan. 17, when a group led by State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, introduced a bill "that would prohibit any person, firm, corporation, partnership or other organization from advertising or marketing alcoholic beverages in a manner that targets minors and encourages the illegal consumption or purchase of alcoholic beverages to minors."

Also on Jan. 17, a coalition of youth advocates filed a lawsuit against the state of California in an attempt to force the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to limit the sales of alcopops, also termed Flavored Malt Beverage products, on grounds that they target underage consumers. The suit also requires that FMB products be taxed as liquor products. Currently, FMBs are taxed 20 cents per gallon as beer products, but they would be taxed at $3.30 per gallon as liquor products if the suit is successful.

"We are concerned about underage drinking, and support these efforts to help prevent it," said Laurie Leiber, the director of media advocacy for the Marin Institute, an alcohol-industry watchdog and a resource for solutions to community alcohol problems.

Alcopops are created by deriving a liquid from a malt and then filtering it to remove most or all of the taste, odor and alcohol. Flavoring, which includes distilled alcohol, then is added to the liquid.

Flavored malt beverages have 4 percent to 6 percent alcohol content, the same as beer, but part of their alcohol comes from flavoring of distilled spirits. The alcohol industry distributes the products as beer, though. Federal regulators allow flavored malt beverages to be taxed as beer if more than 50 percent of their alcohol comes from brewing.

Many alcopops products are labeled with a distilled spirits' brand name, such as Bacardi Silver, Seagram's Peach Fuzzy Navel, Skyy Blue and Smirnoff Ice.

Leiber says that liquor producers hope to entice young drinkers with an alcopop using their brand name, and then maintain consumers' allegiance as they move on to harder drinks.

"Producing an alcopop is like putting training wheels on a cocktail," she said. "When girls get older, their interest in them wanes, and they consume other drinks."

Alcopops producers often target teenage girls in the style and placement of their advertising, Leiber said.

A study by the American Medical Association in 2004 indicated that 51 percent of all teens have seen alcopops advertisements, one-third of teenage girls have tried alcopops and that girls drink them more often than boys.

Alcopops' state classification as beer products allows them to be sold in some 15,000 additional retail outlets, mainly convenience stores in residential neighborhoods, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving of California. Although purchasers must be at least 21 years old, Leiber said that teenage girls often have no trouble finding other people to buy these drinks for them.

And the price of alcopops is more affordable to teenagers because alcopops are taxed as beer rather than liquor products, thereby making them less expensive to consumers, Leiber says.

Assemblyman Greg Aghaz-arian, R-Stockton, says that if plaintiffs win the new lawsuit, adult consumers won't be able to purchase FMBs from the state's 35,000 retailers and restaurants unless they are licensed to sell liquor.

Richard Samp, chief counsel for the Washington Legal Foundation, claims there is no evidence to show that FMB producers target underage teens. The WLF is asking California officials to concentrate its efforts on increased law enforcement, youth alcohol-education programs and other measures that can help reduce underage consumption.

Dennis Clear of the ABC says that California law is unclear as to whether alcopops are beer or distilled spirits, and that more research should be done to determine their identity.

But Leiber and other supporters of the recent legislation and lawsuit aren't buying it.

"The tax on liquor products such as alcopops needs to be enforced. By not doing so, efforts to stop underage drinking are being undermined. This make my and other parents' jobs all the tougher," she said.

(Contact Dan Johnson at djohnson@arguscourier.com)