Pubdate: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 Source: The Daily Star (Oneonta, NY) Contact: 607-432-5847 Website: http://www.thedailystar.com/ GOVERNMENT IGNORES TEENAGE ALCOHOL USE Recently, Michigan State University student Bradley McCue, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, died from acute alcohol poisoning after drinking 24 shots of liquor in less than two hours. Bradley McCue may have been poisoned by alcohol, but it was ignorance that killed him. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey acknowledges that "alcohol is ,,, responsible for more damage in our society than any other drug on the street," But, the Office of National Drug Control Policy prefers to demonize adult marijuana use, while ignoring teenage boozers. Junior and senior high school students drink 35 percent of all wine coolers sold in the U.S.; they also consume 1.1 billion cans of beer. 87 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol; in comparison, 63 percent have smoked cigarettes; 32 percent have used marijuana, and only 6 percent have used cocaine. Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and disability among American teenagers. The Partnership for a Drug Free America is well aware that alcohol is the most widely tried drug among teenagers, but their numerous anti-drug advertisements are fixated on marijuana. In 1998 Congress gave the ONDCP and the Partnership for a Drug Free America $195 million to run a new national anti-drug media campaign -- a campaign that conspicuously avoids mentioning alcohol. In 1998 Bradley McCue died from an over dose of alcohol because he didn't know it was a dangerous drug. Ignorance kills. And so do political agendas. Walter F. Wouk Howes Cave - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake