Meeting to Take Aim at Alcoholic Beverages

Agencies working to prevent alcohol abuse will sponsor a seminar next week on malt liquor and fortified wine, products that they say are marketed to youth, the poor and minorities through low prices, high alcohol content and sweet flavors.

The meeting, sponsored by Communities in Prevention and the Orange County Health Care Agency, aims to differentiate the beverages from beer and table wine and seek support for legislation that would regulate them as hard liquor, organizers said.

Malt liquor, sold under name brands like Old English 800 and King Cobra in 40 oz. bottles, can contain three times the alcohol of beer. Fortified wine, sold as Thunderbird, Cisco and Night Train Express, contains as much as 20% alcohol--twice the kick of table wine.

Both products are less expensive than their mainstream counterparts and feature the popular culture backing of some rap artists.

The products make alcohol “less expensive because they have a higher potency and are sold at lower prices than wine or beer,” said Jacque Picone, a spokeswoman for Communities in Prevention. She said the products should not be sold at markets with licenses for beer and wine only.

Mike Filasco, a spokesman from the Wine Institute in Sacramento, said a code of ethics among winemakers keeps them from marketing beverages to minors or people near the age of 21.

The price difference between a $2 bottle of fortified wine and $3.50 bottle of table wine is negligible, he said, so the real selling point is taste.

“Frankly, they’re marketed at a segment of the public that likes very sweet flavors,” he said.

Bills that would have regulated the products as liquor died in the state Legislature in 1993.

The meeting, which will include testimony from young people who have experience with the beverages, will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 5 at Carr Intermediate School, 2120 W. Edinger Ave., Santa Ana.

Information: (714) 525-6033 or (714) 542-1191.