Oakland Tribune – Published Letter To The Editor

By Louis J. Goodman

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News

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Last Modified on Feb 06, 2025

Controlling drinking

NOW THAT the government has appropriately mandated graphic warning labels for cigarette packaging, can we expect similar appropriate warnings on alcohol packaging?

If a six-pack of beer or a bottle of liquor came with a photograph of a DUI death victim, side-by-side photos of healthy and alcohol-damaged livers, an accurate recitation of alcohol-related crime statistics, and/or some accounting of the enormous social and societal costs of alcohol addiction, perhaps Americans would make better choices when it comes to the frequency and volume of alcohol consumption.

As a lawyer, in practice for 30 years as both a criminal prosecutor and defense attorney, I note that 80 percent of the cases I have handled involve the drinking of alcohol.

Any attempt to get crime under control will necessarily require getting drinking under control. A bit of public education is long past overdue.

Louis J. Goodman

Hayward