WORLD WCTU:

WORLD WCTU CONVENTION 2007
Indianapolis, Indiana

[Provided by The Banner, Vol. IX, Issue 21, Sept., 12, 2007; Knightstown, IN]

Contact Sarah Ward at sfward@embarqmail.com

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August 11, 2007 9:30:07 PM PDT

Good Morning Ladies:

My name is BG (Ret) Richard Keith Pierce and I am trying to obtain some information on two ladies - one of whom I was informed by my mother (who has since passed to her reward) was an officer in the California WCTU during the 1930's. I am finally getting around to completing my family's genealogy after 35 years in the military and I am hoping I can impose upon your kind offices to check your records to see if either of the following ladies are listed as active in the WCTU during the 1920's and 30's.

The first is Mattie Robinson, (my Great Grandmother) Born about 1848 in Vermont and Living in Long Beach during the big earthquake.

The other lady is Belle Depew Pierce (my Grandmother) Born in Michigan in 1868 and living with Mattie Robinson in Long Beach in 1930 (according to the 1930 census)

Any information you might provide would be greatly appreciated.

Most Sincerely,

Richard Keith Pierce
Brigadier General, USA (Ret)
rpierce04@dslextreme.com

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2007
Oratorical Contest

From: dpdepew@earthlink.net

Sent: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 8:35 PM

Subject: God bless you all in the Oratorical Contest

"God bless you all in the Oratorical Contest!"

David and Patricia Depew

["This from the son of a recent past State President and his wife." - Paul Scott]

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"From: ewittenme2@yahoo.com
Subject: historical question for the library
Date: November 20, 2006 11:23:12 AM PST
To: wctusocal@sbcglobal.net

I am working on a research paper and was wondering if you would be able to me the names of the ladies who belonged to the WCTU in Santa Monica, CA around 1885 / 1890.

Thank you for your help!
Eve Wittenmyer

(coincidentally, the first national president of the WCTU was Annie Turner Wittenmyer, 1874-1879) :)"

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"The time teetotalers took over the town
By Sid Gally, Correspondent

"Sid Gally is a Pasadena Museum of History volunteer. Pasadena Star-News

PASADENA --In June 1898, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union held its state convention in Pasadena after one delegate "spoke of Pasadena as the place she had heard is free from sin of almost any sort."

The Pasadena Daily News editorialized, "Pasadena is honored by the presence of the state convention of the WCTU now in session. The delegates no doubt experience a satisfaction in being able to assemble in a city free from saloons."

The convention took place shortly after the death of the WCTU's longtime president, Frances E. Willard, who built it into the largest organization of women in the world dedicated to the prohibition of alcohol and support of voting rights for women.

Willard was the first woman to have a statue in her honor placed in The National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. An elementary school in Pasadena carries her name.

A "program of demonstrations" by each of the WCTU's 42 departments was held in the Tabernacle, the barn-like auditorium on Marengo Avenue belonging to the Methodist church. The Daily News described some of the demonstrations:

"Miss Allie Simmons beautifully represented music, dressed in white, covered with musical scales, bars, notes, etc. Above her banner was a bugle. She sang ‘Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight?'

"Mrs. Keyler, representing the narcotic department, wore a helmet displaying opium, morphine, cigarettes, cigars, tobacco and pipes, all of which the WCTU is warring against.

"Mrs. Hester T. Griffith quite elaborately represented the WCTU work among soldiers and sailors. Dressed in national colors and sailor cap, she carried a canteen, ship, sewing bag and banners. She said since the Maine (the U.S. warship that exploded in Havana harbor and helped start the Spanish-American War) went down, the liquor traffic has carried down enough Americans to man 50 such battleships.

"Mrs. Reid's class of colored girls sang two songs that were enthusiastically received. The cute little songs were composed by Reid. Dr. Hiram Reid wrote an early history of Pasadena and fought to keep Pasadena a dry town."

The WCTU continues today to campaign for the betterment of women and children. Its Web page concludes, "Today the WCTU is still concerned that the wide availability of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs combines with other social problems to the detriment of society."

Sid Gally is a Pasadena Museum of History volunteer." [Sent by Alice Peterson, President Pasadena WCTU]

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February 28, 2006 4:03:53 PM PST

To Whom It May Concern,
 
     I am a seventeen year old male from Ventura, California and am looking to join the WCTU, or more specifically the YTC. Information on how I may go about this would be much appreciated and also information regarding the dues, meetings, and other details of the sort would be very helpful. Thank you!

(The email address is being withheld due to this student's age.)

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From: ARKARBACH@cs.com
Subject: Helen M. Gerrells Stoddard
Date: December 6, 2005 10:22:09 AM PST
To: wctusocal@sbcglobal.net

I am a local historian in Fort Worth, Texas, and am preparing a paper on Fort Worth Women and Social Change from 1880-1940. Helen M. Gerrells Stoddard resided in Fort Worth for several years while teaching at Fort Worth University and then as President of the Woman's Temperance Union of Texas. She was instrumental in passing of legislation in our state for children's and women's rights and establishing a woman's college, now Texas Woman's University which has some of her papers.

She moved to California in 1907 because of ill health but continued her work with W. C. T. U. there in San Diego County and as president of the State organization (1920), according to one biographical encyclopedia housed in our local library. Sources here in Texas have her living in La Mesa and Ramona, and dying in California in January 1941, and buried in San Diego. To the contrary, I have found her death certificate here in Texas and news articles in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with a death date of December 31, 1940, in Dallas, Texas, and listing her as a resident of Brownwood, Brown County, Texas (about 35 miles from her family's home in Indian Gap, Texas) and that she had been living with her daughter in law Mrs. Stella B. Stoddard about 3 years before going into a medical facility in Dallas.

Of course, my paper is focused on her Texas years but I am interested in verifying the California information in sources here. If you have any summary or sources or photos of Mrs. Stoddard, I would appreciate knowing about them and would be glad to supply a biography from my work here.

TWU Woman's Collection does have a copy of Rhonda Jane Jones' thesis Up Rugged and Isolated Paths: Helen M. Stoddard as President of the Texas Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1891-1907 (San Jose State University).

Ruth H. Karbach, 3058 Ryan Place Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76110 817-924-9653

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From: ARKARBACH@cs.com
Subject: Re: Stoddard was well known! 1920 Socal State WCTU Pres.
Date: December 7, 2005 3:20:35 PM PST
To: wctusocal@sbcglobal.net

Thanks for all the documents and photo! They were really helpful. It is wonderful to obtain a primary sources to confirm information. Y'all (as we say in Texas) have done a wonderful job of preserving your history.

Stella B. Stoddard, who was the head of the scientific temperance instruction and narcotics department for San Diego County W. C. T. U., was Helen M. Stoddard's daughter-in-law. I am glad you shared information with the graduate student.

Here's some more sources [on HELEN M. STODDARD]:

(1) There is a master's thesis at San Jose State University, 1995, by Rhonda Jane Jones, "Up Rugged and Isolated Paths: Helen M. Stoddard as President of the Texas Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 1891-1907," that I am looking forward to reviewing at Texas Woman's University's Woman's Collection.

(2) As far as contemporary sources, Helen Stoddard's private secretary and State press woman for Texas W. C. T. U., Fanny L. Armstrong, compiled the book To the Noon Rest: The Life, Work and Addressees of Mrs. Helen M. Stoddard (Butler, Indiana: L. H. Highley, 1909). Copies are at Texas Christian University Library and the Genealogy and Local History Section, Central Library or the Fort Worth Public Library. I have the FWPL one on special loan as it is a rare book; however, I think the TCU one may be available for interlibrary loan if the graduate student has not located one.

(3) The University of Texas at Austin has a scrapbook of the Texas W.C.T.U. from the relevant time period, and the Southwest Collection, Texas Tech University at Lubbock, has the periodical of the Texas W. C. T. U. "The White Ribbon" in their collection from the Canadian, Texas W.C.T.U. which starts in 1904.

If you wish to contact the archivist for the Helen M. Stoddard Papers at Texas Woman's University, she is Ann McGuffin Barton, Library Asst., TWU Library, P.O. Box 425528, Denton, TX 76204-5528 Phone 940-898-3752, 940-898-3745 Fax. ABarton@twu.edu Ann is incrediably helpful and dedicated to preserving women's history.

Again, thank you for being so responsive and providing such good material.
Ruth H. Karbach

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USE-IS-ABUSE:

(Also see the links at the end of the Contact Section.)

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"Adults Provided Free Alcohol to 40 Percent of Underage Drinkers, SAMHSA Report Finds

"Prescription Drug Abuse Proving Difficult to Contain

"August 4, 2008
News Summary

Prescription drug abuse affected nearly 7 million Americans in 2007, and problems ranging from poorly trained prescribers to easy access to medications among young people are making it difficult to stem the tide, Reuters reported July 30.

Non-medical use of prescription drugs is up 80 percent since 2000, and overdose deaths from prescription medication are now the leading cause of accidental death among adults ages 45 to 54. But among physicians, parents and other segments of society, there often seems to be a laissez-faire attitude about the dangers associated with pain medications and other prescription drugs.

"There's very low social disapproval," said Stephen Pasierb, president and chief executive of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "In fact, there are parents who [are] almost relieved that their kid is using Vicodin and not smoking marijuana."

Authorities are attempting to institute several measures to block access to prescription medications, which many youths report are readily available via the family medicine cabinet. A program run by the University of Maine is allowing elderly consumers to mail unused prescription drugs to the state in postage-paid envelopes so that the unneeded medications don't end up getting misused by someone else.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving substance use treatment related to pain medication jumped by 321 percent from 1995 to 2005. Some authorities believe the most productive outreach efforts should target physicians. Len Paulozzi, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, recently told members of Congress that physicians have not received sufficient training in the pharmacology of potentially dangerous opioid painkillers."

[from jointogether.com]

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"Two Questions Can ID Youth At Risk of Smoking "July 15, 2008 Research Summary "Researchers say youth at risk of becoming smokers can be identified by asking two simple questions: "Would it be easy for you to get a cigarette?" and "Do you have friends who smoke?" "Saying yes to either should raise a red flag and prompt doctors and others to talk with parents and kids about how to avoid smoking," said Chyke Doubeni, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, who led a study of smoking risk among 1,195 sixth-graders over a four-year period. Researchers found that all of the 109 study participants who become regular smokers either said they had easy access to cigarettes, had friends who smoked, or both. "The take-home message is clear: knowing that it is easy to get cigarettes is like adding fuel to the fire when it comes to youth smoking," Doubeni said. "And having a friend who smokes naturally makes cigarettes seem readily available. Ultimately, the kids who reported both peer smokers and easy access were the ones most likely to become regular smokers, compared to those who were exposed to none of those factors." The study was published in the July/August 2008 issue of the Annals of Family Medicine." [from jointogether.com]

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Researchers Call for New Classification of Alcohol Misuse

"June 20, 2008

Research Summary

"Alcohol abuse" and "alcohol dependence" should be joined by "hazardous drinking" in diagnostic criteria, some researchers say.

Medical News Today reported June 19 that a new study from Finland finds that 5.8 percent of the population meets the criteria for hazardous drinking -- defined as drinking too much and being at risk but not alcohol dependent.

The Finnish researchers considered men who consumed 24 or more drinks weekly or women who consumed 16 or more drinks weekly to be hazardous drinkers.

Hazardous drinking is not included as a recognized disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, however. "This is an issue that needs to be debated," said Mauri Aalto, chief physician at Finland's National Public Health Institute and corresponding author of the study.

"A hazardous drinker may see many other people around him or her drinking as much as him or herself," said Aalto. "This, together with not yet experiencing any alcohol-related harm, may lead the individual to wrongly think that there is no need to reduce drinking. However, hazardous drinkers do not include alcohol dependents, who usually drink a lot more. Alcohol-dependent drinkers already have significant alcohol-related harms and it is more difficult for them to change their drinking habits."

The study was published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and will appear in the September 2008 issue of the publication."

[from jointogether.com]

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"California Will Tax, Regulate Alcopops as Liquor

"June 16, 2008
By Bob Curley

"The decision by the California Board of Equalization (BOE) to regulate alcopop drinks as distilled spirits rather than beer has received final approval by the state Office of Administrative Law, meaning higher state taxes on drinks like Bacardi Breezers, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and Smirnoff Ice.

Previously, the drinks known in alcohol industry parlance as flavored malt beverages (FMBs) were taxed at the beer rate of 20 cents per gallon in California; they will now be taxed at the liquor rate of $3.30 per gallon. The change, originally proposed last August, will take place in October.

"This regulation clarifies that, effective October 1, 2008, distilled spirits include any alcoholic beverage, except wine ... which contains 0.5 percent or more alcohol by volume from flavors or ingredients containing alcohol obtained from the distillation of fermented agricultural products," according to a notice published by the BOE. "The purpose of this regulation is to establish a bright line to determine when an alcoholic beverage is a "distilled spirit" under the Alcoholic Beverage Tax Law."

"I believe that the ultimate effect of this regulatory change will be positive," said BOE chair Judy Chu, Ph.D. "It will send a signal to youth that alcopops are hard liquor -- because these drinks will now have costs that are similar to hard liquor. It will make it harder for young people to access alcopops, and that can only be helpful in reducing underage drinking."

"For years, Big Alcohol has fraudulently evaded proper taxation on these products. Now, both the state and our youth will benefit," said Bruce Livingston, executive director of Marin Institute, which lobbied for the regulatory change as part of the California Coalition on Alcopops and Youth. The coalition also is seeking action from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to place stricter limits on where alcopops can be sold.

The new California regulations oblige manufacturers to prove that their products do not meet the definition of a distilled spirit; one bone of contention in the debate over alcopops has been the source of the alcohol in the drinks -- whether it comes from distillation such as with liquor products or brewing as with beer.

The board estimated that the regulatory change will result in an additional $41.4 million in state tax revenues annually.

However, the Flavored Malt Beverage Coalition, an industry group, and alcohol company Diageo announced that they would challenge the California decision in court, saying that it "flies in the face of the state constitution and public opinion."

"Not only does [the decision] hurt adult consumers and more than 35,000 small businesses across California, but it also misleads the public to think raising taxes on a consumer product will combat the very serious problem of underage drinking," said Amy Elliott, director of state government affairs for Diageo North America, which referred to alcopops as "flavored beer."

"The anti-alcohol advocates have foisted a tax increase on law-abiding Californians at a time when our economy is struggling and sleight-of-hand tax increases are not helpful to everyday consumers," added Guy L. Smith, executive vice president of Diageo North America. "Tax increases are the sole purview of the members of the legislature, not obscure politicians."

Diageo and other alcohol companies have waged a national campaign to get states to declare that alcopops are beer, with industry-friendly legislation passed in Maryland even as states like Maine, Utah, and now California have moved to classify these products as distilled spirits.

"Diageo is still trying to protect their old, fraudulent tax rate on Smirnoff Ice, at a rate that allows kids to buy their product," said Livingston. "Any court delays by Diageo will keep Smirnoff Ice prices low, and harm and sometimes kill the youth of California."

[from jointogether.com]

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WHO to Launch Campaign Against Harmful Drinking

May 27, 2008

"News Summary

Saying that the "harmful use of alcohol causes serious public-health problems," the World Health Organization (WHO) says it will devise an international plan to address issues like binge drinking and alcohol marketing, Reuters reported May 22.

The plan would be veiled in two years and include advice on alcohol marketing, pricing, distribution, and public awareness, WHO officials said. A similar strategy on tobacco use resulted in a global treaty calling for stronger warning labels for cigarettes and limits on tobacco advertising.

WHO said that alcohol problems cause 3.7 percent of all mortality worldwide and a host of social problems. "Drinking to intoxication and heavy episodic drinking are frequent among adolescents and young adults, and the negative impact of alcohol use is greater in younger age groups of both sexes," the agency noted.

The Global Alcohol Policy Alliance praised the WHO announcement but said that the alcohol industry should not be allowed to influence the report. The Global Alcohol Producers Group said it planned to work with WHO to reduce "irresponsible and inappropriate consumption."

[from jointogether.com]

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"Tiny Hearts Hurt

by Secondhand Smoke

"March 17, 2008
Research Summary

Children ages 2 to 14 who are exposed to secondhand smoke show signs of cardiovascular injury, meaning they may be at increased risk of heart disease, HealthDay News reported March 13.

Researchers took hair samples from 125 children and checked them for nicotine exposure, then took blood samples to look for a cellular marker for cardiovascular health called EPC. They found that toddlers tended to have the greatest levels of nicotine exposure -- six times that of older children -- as well as greater indicators of cardiovascular risk.

"Toddlers are smokers by default," said study co-author John Bauer, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio. "Forty percent of toddlers in our study had nicotine content that in adults would suggest that they were active smokers. But, an active smoker has a filter on cigarettes. The toxicity from smoke that is inhaled in the atmosphere is worse because there's no filter."

"Toddlers are like fish in a fish bowl," added Bauer. "They're strapped pretty closely to their parental units, which exposes them to more smoke than adolescents who live in the same set of circumstances." Researchers also noted that toddlers breath more rapidly, thus inhaling more smoke than older children.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's recent Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo."

[from jointogether.com]

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"Report on Drinking Among Medicare Recipients

March 6, 2008
Research Summary

Nine percent of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 or older drink excessively, whereas 65 percent don't drink at all and 26 percent drink moderately, according to a new report.

Reuters reported March 4 that researcher Elizabeth Merrick of Brandeis University and colleagues studied 12,413 Medicare recipients and found that about one in 10 consumed more than 30 alcoholic drinks per month; the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the American Geriatrics Society recommend that people over age 65 consume no more than 7 alcoholic drinks weekly and no more than 3 drinks daily.

"Risks of excessive alcohol use may include exacerbation of some medical problems, detrimental impact on functioning, risk of falls, and medication interactions," said Merrick, who added that "at-risk or unhealthy drinking is often missed by health care and other providers."

[The study was reported in the February 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.] [from jointogether.com]

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"Many Teens Don't Taste Alcohol in Sweet Drinks

February 28, 2008

"Research Summary

Australian researchers report that one of four teens say they cannot detect the taste of alcohol in sweet "alcopop" drinks, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported Feb. 27.

Researchers at the consumer group Choice had 18- and 19-year-old volunteers taste 10 drinks, including soft drinks, alcopops, beer and wine, and concluded that sugar and flavorings served to mask the 4.5-percent alcohol content in the alcopops.

VicHealth CEO Todd Harper charged that the sweet drinks were designed specifically to appeal to young drinkers who would otherwise be turned off by the taste of alcohol. "A lot of these drinks have a high sugar content to make them palatable for young drinkers," he said. "They are inexpensive, but have a high alcohol content. They give young people as much low-cost booze as possible."

"We know that premixed spirits are the preferred drink of young and underage drinkers, who put their safety and their health at risk by binge-drinking," added Geoff Munro of the Australian Drug Foundation.

A spokesperson for the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia acknowledged that many young drinkers prefer sweet drinks but put the blame for underage drinking on those who supply alcohol to youth. "Inevitably, some of these products will appeal to those aged 15 and 16 who want to do the things that adults do," said spokesperson Stephen Riden, adding, "Around 90 per cent of alcohol consumed by teenagers is bought for them by parents or older siblings."

[from jointogether.com]

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Nearly 8,000 Youths Drink Alcohol for the First Time Each Day

"November 8, 2007

Research Summary

Thousands of youths use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for the first time each day in the United States, according to a recent analysis of data from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

On an average day in the past year, 7,970 youths ages 12 to 17 drank alcohol for the first time and 4,082 smoked cigarettes.

More than 4,300 youths per day used at least one kind of illicit drug for the first time, primarily marijuana and pain relievers used nonmedically. The substances with the lowest number of initiates on an average day were methamphetamine and heroin.

A copy of the report, which also describes average daily substance use prevalence and treatment admissions by youth, is available online at www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/youthFacts/youth.cfm.

Reprinted from CESAR Fax, a weekly, one-page overview of timely substance abuse trends or issues, from The Center on Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the University of Maryland. "

[from jointogether.com]

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Daily Drinkers Raise Risk of Breast Cancer

September 28, 2007

Women who consume alcoholic drinks daily face an increased risk of breast cancer, Reuters reported Sept. 27.

Researchers found that women who had one or two alcoholic drinks daily had a 10-percent increased risk of breast cancer, while risk of the disease rose 30 percent among those who had three or more drinks daily.

Researcher Arthur Klatsky of Kaiser Permanente and colleagues said at this week's European Cancer Conference that their large-scale study found that the link between drinking and breast cancer held true regardless of whether women drink beer, wine or liquor.

"Studies have consistently linked drinking alcohol to an increased risk of female breast cancer, but until now there has been little data, most of it conflicting, about an independent role played by the choice of beverage type," said Klatsky.

The researchers examined the drinking habits of more than 70,000 women, 3,000 of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer during the 26-year study period.

[from jointogether.com]

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Study Says Smoking Marijuana Worse for Lungs than Cigarettes

July 31, 2007

"Research Summary

Smoking a single marijuana joint is equivalent to smoking 2.5 to 5 cigarettes in terms of damage to the lungs, largely due to differences in how pot and cigarette users smoke.

The Guardian reported July 31 that researchers at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand found that the deep drags taken by marijuana users, along with their penchant for holding smoke in before exhaling, can cause problems like obstructed airways and hyperinflation of the lungs. The lack of filters on marijuana joints also contributes to lung problems, researchers said.

The study involved 339 adult volunteers divided into four groups: marijuana-only smokers, tobacco-only smokers, marijuana and tobacco smokers, and nonsmokers.

All of the smokers reported coughing and wheezing, but only tobacco smokers exhibited signs of emphysema.

The study was published online in the journal Thorax.

Reference:
Aldington, S., et al. (2007) The Effects of Cannabis on Pulmonary Structure, Function and Symptoms. Thorax, published online July 31, 2007; doi: 10.1136/thx.2006.077081" [from jointogether.com]

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Cancer Risk Falls 70 Percent When Smokers Quit

March 27, 2007
Research Summary

A study of half a million adults concludes that quitting smoking lowers your risk of dying from lung cancer by 70 percent, researchers say.

The George Institute for International Health reported that the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration also found that the risk of dying from lung cancer was about 20 times higher among female smokers than among men.

"If interventions only focus on prevention, then 160 million current smokers will die before 2050, with the vast majority of deaths occurring in China," warned lead researcher Rachel Huxley, director of The George Institute's nutrition and lifestyle program. "There are huge numbers of lives to be saved through campaigns to alert current smokers to the dangers of their habit. Effective action in Asia would help to head off a significant part of the projected one billion deaths from smoking that will otherwise occur around the world this century."

The study was published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Reference:
Huxley, R., et al. (2007) Impact of Smoking and Smoking Cessation on Lung Cancer Mortality in the Asia-Pacific Region. American Journal of Epidemiology, doi: 10.1093/aje/kwm002. [from jointogether.com]

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"What Alcohol Does to a Child
By CHRISTINE GORMAN
Posted Sunday, May 28, 2006

"Alcohol and pregnancy don't mix. Fortunately, most women who drink cut their consumption dramatically once they realize they are carrying, and the number of children who develop the severest alcohol-related effects is relatively small: from 0.5 to 2.0 per 1,000 live births in the U.S. But doctors still don't know what harm--if any--comes from light to moderate drinking during pregnancy, which is why they caution expectant mothers not to drink at all.

The wisdom of that advice grows with each new study on the topic, as a paper released last week reminds us. Just one drink a day (12 oz. of beer or 4 oz. of wine) during the first three months of pregnancy is associated with a 2-point drop in overall IQ by the time the child is 10, according to a report in the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The effect shows up most clearly in certain visual tasks--like fitting pieces of a puzzle into an empty space--and was strongest among African-American children.

The apparent racial gap is puzzling--and ultimately inconclusive. Although other studies had shown similar effects of moderate drinking among pregnant Caucasian women, this one did not, says Jennifer Willford, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-author of the report. The gap does not appear to reflect differences in income or drinking patterns, Willford says, since the two groups were comparable in this particular population. And in her previous research, Willford says, she has found problems in learning and memory among 14-year-olds--both black and white--whose mothers drank during pregnancy.

As you might expect, the effects on IQ and cognitive abilities became more pronounced if moms continued to drink throughout their pregnancy or consumed more alcohol. Conversely, the children of women who stopped drinking during pregnancy fared better than those of women who did not.

Of course, to stop drinking during pregnancy, you have to know that you're pregnant in the first place. But as another study in the same issue of Alcoholism points out, younger women are more likely to drink heavily than older women and are more fertile--and therefore more likely to become pregnant.

About 45% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, says Dr. Raul Caetano of the Dallas campus of the University of Texas School of Public Health, a co-author of the second paper. A month may pass before a woman even realizes she is pregnant. "If you want to drink and you are sexually active, the best thing to do is to use contraception," Caetano says. "That's what I say to my daughter." And the best time to quit drinking is from the moment you--and your partner--decide you would like to conceive a child.

From the Jun. 5, 2006 issue of TIME magazine"
[link sent by Alice Peterson]