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

DATE: TUESDAY, June 27, 1995                   TAG: 9506270072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

ALCOHOL ADVERTISING IN DECLINE

Advertising for alcoholic beverages dropped by almost half between 1986 and 1993, and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related highway deaths also declined, a consumer group reported Monday.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest believes the declines are related, although it conceded that many factors, including a national minimum legal drinking age of 21, make such a link difficult to prove.

But alcohol industry representatives disputed that assumption.

``All alcohol abuse indicators have declined significantly during the past 10 years,'' said Kirsten Fedewa, spokeswoman for The Beer Institute, a trade group representing about 90 percent of the U.S. beer industry.

``We really, really take issue with any kind of assumption that there's a link between advertising and alcohol abuse.''

Fedewa said that some of the industry's larger members spent $200 million on anti-abuse programs in the past 10 years, which is independent of similar initiatives by the institute.

Based on industry and government data, the report found that:

Overall advertising of alcoholic beverages decreased 46 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars, falling from a high of $1.5 billion in 1986 to $808 million in 1993, the most recent year for which data were available.

By category, advertising for beer was down 40 percent; for liquor, 41 percent; and for wine, 54 percent.

Per capita alcohol consumption dropped 10 percent in the period, from 2.58 gallons in 1986 to 2.31 gallons in 1992, a 26-year low. Americans drank 3.7 percent less beer, 23 percent less wine and 15 percent less spirits.

Alcohol-related highway deaths also declined. Vehicle deaths involving alcohol fell from 24,045 in 1986 to less than 17,500 in 1993. Alcohol had a role in 43 percent of fatal crashes, down from 52 percent.

The proportion of drunken drivers in fatal accidents dropped from 34 percent to 27 percent overall during the report period, and from 36 percent to 24 percent among drivers ages 16-20. Binge drinking among 12th-graders dropped by about 25 percent.

by CNB