Golding Wants Signs Posted in County Businesses : Warning Linking Alcohol, Birth Defects Sought

An ordinance proposed this week by San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding would require businesses selling alcohol in unincorporated areas of the county to post signs warning pregnant and nursing women of the potential dangers of drinking alcohol.

The proposal, to be heard by the Board of Supervisors next Tuesday, has prompted opposition and the threat of a lawsuit from liquor retailers.

Gerald Breitbart, director of chapter relations for the California Restaurant Assn., said the group has sued Los Angeles, which adopted a similar measure in June, and will file another suit against San Diego County if Golding’s ordinance is passed.

“Based on constitutional law, it should be very successful,” he said. The ordinance usurps the state’s power to regulate liquor sales, and the posting of warning signs “establishes the fact there is an absolute link between (fetal alcohol syndrome) and alcohol,” which has not been proven, he said.

Fetal alcohol syndrome affects about 40,000 babies born each year in the United States and is the third-leading cause of birth defects, medical experts say. It causes brain damage, facial disfigurement and poorly formed joints.

Bob Trettin, an aide to Golding, said officials at the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department “don’t see a problem” with the proposal because it involves warnings rather than attempts to regulate. He added that the Los Angeles city attorney has issued the same opinion.

Trettin said the proposed signs would carry a health department insignia and the warning that even moderate quantities of beer, wine or liquor could affect the health of children of pregnant or nursing mothers.

Tom Wright, administrative director of the National Council on Alcoholism in San Diego, who worked with Golding to develop the measure, said warning ordinances have been adopted in at least seven other U.S. cities.