CHEYENNE - Wyoming first lady Nancy Freudenthal said she received a "wake-up call" when she learned that children are starting to drink as early as the sixth grade.

Although she had signed on to a national initiative to reduce underage drinking a few years ago, it wasn't until she attended a meeting in Denver that she became aware of the scope of the problem and the health and social risks drinking causes in children.

"I came away from that meeting understanding it's a public health issue," Freudenthal said. "It's not prohibitionist."

She said she also realized she wasn't in tune with the lives of her children.

Like many other parents, Freudenthal said, she thought that underage drinking didn't start until the high school level. Also like other parents, the reaction was always, "at least it wasn't drugs we're dealing with,'" she said.

She and Gov. Dave Freudenthal have raised four children, now aged 19 to 30.

"Once you put the spotlight on the problem, you wind up in our own backyards," she said. "We're no exception. I feel our story is the same that exists in households across Wyoming."

The national initiative focuses on children aged 9 to 15.

Today, kids are more mobile, and they begin drinking younger and more aggressively. Alcohol is their No. 1 health risk, causing traffic accidents, violence, suicide, academic failure and other behavior problems, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine, National Academies of Sciences.

Nancy Freudenthal released a report last week that contains a number of recommendations for state action in response to the national proposals. The first lady said the top issue in the report is a public awareness media campaign.

It also recommends guidelines on alcohol advertising and sponsorships and limiting access to alcohol by minors.

Still another recommendation is a review of the state's laws on alcohol and of the state's taxes on beer, wine and spirits. Those taxes have not been raised since they were put into effect in 1935 and are the lowest in the nation. The taxes are not only revenue producing but can be a prevention strategy, the report said.

Those alcohol state laws are scattered through the statutes and don't give local governments enough flexibility to impose taxes on beer, for example, on certain occasions such as festivals, Freudenthal said.

"It's time to look at the laws, even if no changes are made, to see if they reflect the current culture," she said.

Mike Moser, director of the Wyoming State Liquor Association, said Friday he and his members applaud the first lady's work in making communities aware of the problem which he said is real.

He said he supports public education and getting parents involved but does not believe that higher taxes on alcohol would be effective in discouraging underage drinking.

"We're talking about social change here, and social change is a lot more than raising liquor taxes," Moser said. "I don't see underage drinking being price driven."

"I don't see raising the cost of a case of price of beer a quarter stopping a kid from buying a case of beer," he said. "I do see parental and community involvement stopping it."

The need is to focus on the enforcing the laws already on the books, he said.

Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.