SACRAMENTO – Assembly Member Lori Saldaña (D- San Diego) praised Anheuser-Busch’s decision to remove its alcoholic energy drink “Spykes” from retail and internet availability.

The decision comes after Anheuser-Busch received a letter written by the attorneys general of 29 states, including California, citing serious health and public safety concerns about the marketing and sale of “Spykes” to underage youth.

“I think the industry is beginning to see the writing on the wall,” Saldaña said. “Law enforcement and legislators are serious about holding these companies accountable for producing alcoholic products geared to attract underage consumers.”

 The six-page letter from the states’ chief legal officers expresses serious concern about the sale of Anheuser-Busch’s alcoholic energy drinks, including the malt beverage “Spykes”. They cite the product’s fruit and chocolate flavors, colorful youth-culture oriented packaging and advertising and online access as clear indication of the company’s intent to market to underage consumers. The letter also notes that the “Spykes” website features bright colors, club music, and a variety of computer ad mobile phone downloads, such as wallpapers, screensavers, instant messaging icons and ringtones, all of which are highly attractive to teenagers.

Saldaña herself has been outspoken about the effects of sweetened alcoholic beverages (alcopops) on teenagers and young adults particularly girls and young women. She is the author of a number of measures to address the problem at the state level.

One of Saldaña’s measures would use the new tax revenue to fund programs that counter underage drinking. Because alcopops have deceptive packaging that look like ordinary non-alcoholic sports or energy drinks, she has also co-authored a bill to require labeling that makes the alcoholic content more obvious to consumer and adults.

Flavored malt beverages, also known as “Alcopops,” “Girlie Drinks,” “Cheerleader Beer” or “Gateway Drinks,” are concoctions of distilled liquor and fruity flavoring which come in vibrant colors and deceptive packaging that make it nearly indistinguishable from sodas and sports drinks.

A survey conducted by the American Medical Association reported that a third of girls over 12 have tried alcopops, and 25 percent drove a car after drinking or rode with a driver who had been, and one in six report being sexually active after drinking.

Although containing hard liquor, alcopops have been regulated and assessed by California’s Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) as if they were beer and wine. This regulatory end-run is due to the industry’s creative formula of starting with a malt base and reducing it to nearly water before adding distilled flavoring.

 The California Board of Equalization (BOE) is currently involved in the rule-making process to consider the option of taxing alcopops at a rate more appropriate for distilled liquor.  The BOE expects this item to come before their five-member Board by late July, 2007.