By Dee Giles
dee@newsroom.byu.edu
The American Council on Alcohol Problems opposed Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson's statements about making alcohol more available for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The opposition took place at a news conference in the West Coast Salt Lake Hotel on Tuesday.
The council is asking Mayor Anderson to end his flagrant efforts to liberalize Utah alcohol laws and make alcohol more available, said Dr. George J. Van Komen, the president-elect of the American Council on Alcohol Problems.
This position was made in response to Mayor Anderson's recent remarks that he would like to make alcohol more available.
There should be 'as few restrictions as possible to allow the people to have as good a time as people are having here,' Anderson told the Salt Lake Tribune.
'The fact that people have a beer now and then doesn't mean they are going to get out of hand,' Anderson told the Tribune.
According to statistics given by Van Komen, only about 20 percent of alcohol is consumed in moderation, and the rest is in hazardly amounts.
The conference was held by the American Council on Alcohol Problems to promote the organization's issues regarding efforts to prevent underage drinking and to reduce advertising for alcohol.
The council presented this position along with three other issues that the council would like to see changed among alcoholic beverage companies.
The council opposes sponsorship of sporting events by alcoholic beverage companies, especially the Olympics.
Dr. Van Komen knows that these companies are well positioned to fight this, especially Anheuser-Busch.
'Anheuser-Busch has positioned themselves very well in that the Olympic success depends on their sponsorship,' Van Komen said.
Additionally, the council said they are asking the alcohol industry to stop any advertising that blatantly appeals to youth, especially advertising that involves the use of animated animals.
Van Komen said alcohol is the most abused drug throughout the world, and poses a larger world threat than either tobacco or illegal drugs.
Alcohol is responsible for 3.5 percent of all global death, six times as much as that of illegal drugs, Van Komen said.
The American Council on Alcohol Problems is a national organization of religious and community alcohol prevention groups.