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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 18, 1992                   TAG: 9202180221
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

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ELDERLY GETTING FREE BOOZE

The state is giving away liquor for use by senior citizens while it is funding an educational program about the dangers of alcohol and drug use for older people.

The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Department last year sold 7,387,053 gallons of distilled spirits. It also gave away about 215 gallons of spirits and 75 cases of beer to health care facilities, almost all to nursing homes.

The agency distributed the booze to the elderly under a state law allowing confiscated and unsaleable alcoholic beverages to go to hospitals, nursing homes and sanatoriums for medicinal purposes.

"It's a very dangerous practice to give liquor or alcohol in any form to older adults. Maybe that law's antiquated," said Nancy Osgood, associate professor of gerontology and sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University.

She noted that the state has just provided money for a major Virginia Department for the Aging education program about the effects of alcohol and drugs on older adults.

"There are some dangers in it, particularly if the physician isn't a part of the process of deciding if the individual can handle the alcohol," said Dr. Robert Scott, a Medical College of Virginia professor and a specialist in geriatrics.

The ABC Department is just following the law, spokesman William Gee said.

"If they say, `Do not give it away anymore,' then, boom, we'll not give it away," he said.

The free alcohol comes from two sources: Some is merchandise that may have a defective label and has been returned to the department's main warehouse, and some is confiscated from liquor law violators.

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