00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5                                                                                           
01 Relating to continuing the ban on television and radio advertising of distilled                                         
02 liquor.                                                                                                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS alcohol abuse is one of the top health problems in the state; and                                              
05  WHEREAS research indicates that television advertising has a substantial influence                                     
06 on youth; and                                                                                                           
07  WHEREAS the median age at which children begin drinking is 13; and                                                     
08  WHEREAS more than one-half the students in grades 5 to 12 say alcohol advertising                                      
09 encourages them to drink; and                                                                                           
10  WHEREAS, in 1991, Alaska had the third highest per capita alcohol consumption rate                                     
11 in the United States; and                                                                                               
12  WHEREAS many radio stations on which hard liquor advertisements currently air                                          
13 have rock and roll formats that target teenagers; and                                                                   
14  WHEREAS, for more than 50 years, the liquor industry had voluntarily banned hard                                       
01 liquor advertising on television and radio; and                                                                         
02  WHEREAS, in early 1996, the liquor industry decided to lift the ban on hard liquor                                     
03 advertising on television and radio; and                                                                                
04  WHEREAS Governor Tony Knowles has petitioned the Federal Communications                                                
05 Commission to formally ban hard liquor advertising from television and radio if the industry                            
06 does not voluntarily agree to a ban;                                                                                    
07  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the Federal                                                     
08 Communications Commission to approve the petition filed by the State of Alaska to ban                                   
09 advertising of distilled spirits in electronic broadcast media if the liquor industry does not                          
10 voluntarily agree to a ban.                                                                                             
11  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Reed E. Hundt, Chairman                                       
12 of the Federal Communications Commission, and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                      
13 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
14 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.