With only one no vote, the Morgan Hill Unified School District
Board of Education voted to support a resolution in support of
state Assembly Bill 346.
Morgan Hill – With only one no vote, the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education voted to support a resolution in support of state Assembly Bill 346.
The bill, proposed by Assemblymembers Jim Beall and Lori Saldaña, would lessen the availability of the so-called “alcopops,” which are allegedly targeted toward “entry-level” drinkers.
The board’s action came after state tax regulators decided Tuesday to tentatively classify the beverages as liquor instead of beer with taxes jumping from 20 cents a gallon to $3.30 a gallon. The increase means consumers will have to pay between 25 and 50 cents more per bottle, which normally sell for $1.50 to $2.50 each.
Product placement and labeling are two of the issues addressed in the bill.
For example, the alcoholic drinks could not be placed in iced tubs in convenience stores or in refrigerated coolers alongside non-alcoholic drinks.
The labels of these kinds of drinks would have to clearly state the alcohol content by volume and the statement, “Warning: Contains Alcohol.”
MHUSD Board President Peter Mandel abstained from the vote, expressing his concerns about the board taking a stand on this issue.
“I’m not comfortable with the board getting into this domain,” he said. “I think we need to stay in the domain of education …. You can’t be against this (assembly bill), but I’m concerned about the residual side of this.”
Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot said she was voting against the resolution because she believes the board’s resolution in support of the bill is basically unnecessary.
“It’s already illegal for teens to drink alcohol,” she said. “I don’t think they’re fooled (by the labeling), I think they know exactly what they’re doing … I think it would be more beneficial our working as a community to figure out why students in our high schools do this, what we can do to make their lives better and more interesting so they aren’t attracted (to the alcopops) … In some ways, this seems like window dressing.”
Dina Campeau, a parent, proponent of the bill and member of the Community Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership of Morgan Hill and San Martin, said she is pleased with the board vote.
“We’ve spoken to the author of the bill Jim Beall, and one of the things he would really like to see is school districts getting on board with it,” she said. “The alcohol industry has created a product that appeals to kids in packaging and in taste. These are people that likely would not drink because they don’t like the taste of beer and wine … This is a public health issue, it does have an impact on schools even if students aren’t actually drinking on campus … It’s really good that school districts and other groups like the city council acknowledge this.”
AB346 has been passed by the Assembly and now is in the Senate awaiting a vote. Campeau and her group and others like it across the state are soliciting support from school districts and other organizations to bolster the bill’s appeal to legislators.
