Pubdate: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 Source: Oakland Tribune (CA) Copyright: 1999 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers Contact: 66 Jack London Sq., Oakland, CA 94607 Website: http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/alameda/tribune/ FEDS FIGHT DISCLOSURE OF ALCOHOL SALES REPORT SAN FRANCISCO -- A critical report saying alcohol use increases and state revenue drops after state-run liquor stores close has sat, unreleased, in the federal government's drug abuse prevention office for more than two years. An anti-alcohol abuse group has sued to get the document released, but file federal agency is fighting it, saying the report was never officially approved. Private health organizations supporting the lawsuit say the real reason the agency is resisting is because of pressure from the alcohol lobby, which has worked with some success to exclude liquor from the government's "war on drugs." The federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, which ordered the report, and a parent agency "have been under intense political pressure from the alcohol industry since at least 1992 to cease any activities that would link the issues of alcohol marketlng and alcohol availability to the prevention of alcohol-related problems," a coalition of health groups said in court papers. Federal officials deny any cover-up or pressure from the alcohol industry. A spokesman for the parent agency of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention also challenged the notion that the government didn't address alcohol abuse, noting that they had issued studies on such topics as teen-age drinking, drunken driving, drinking during pregnancy and alcoholism. But because the report was not approved, its release "Would create confusion as to what the agency's official policy is" said Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Kenney in court papers. A federal judge in San Francisco upheld the government's decision last year. The Marin Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, which has sought the report since April 1997, has appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The contents are no secret, however. The Marin Institute said it obtained a copy of the 35-page draft report from an anonymous source. The report, by a University of Minnesota epidemiologist and two economists, looked at shifts from public to private sales in several states and foreign countries and found socially harmful results. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry