Alcohol

FOR PARENTS otherwise eager to shovel their children out of the house and back into the classroom, here are some numbers worth a moment's pause:More than half of all 12th-graders report having used alcohol within the past month. More than one-third of 12th-graders have smoked cigarettes within the past month. For people 15 to 24, the second leading cause of death (after accidents) is murder -- fully 85 percent committed with a gun.Ever since the high school massacre in Littleton, Colo., last April, politicians everywhere have insisted that government must do more to help parents raise children.

The owners of a popular Columbia nightspot were fined $500 for serving alcohol to minors after a fight in the parking lot led police to two underage men who had been drinking inside before the altercation. The incident at 2 a.m. May 10 brought several officers to Nottingham's, in the 8800 block of Stanford Blvd., where they found a semiconscious man in the parking lot and three people in a silver Honda trying to drive away. The Honda driver sped in reverse at high speed after seeing the patrol car, hitting a curb, Officer Timothy Kane testified.

With surveys showing that doctors often miss signs of substance abuse in their patients, the state medical society announced plans yesterday to educate doctors across Maryland in the care of people who abuse alcohol and drugs.Officials with the Medical and Chirurgical Society unveiled plans to take a substance abuse course to hospitals, clinics and other health care centers, where they hope to reach as many of the state's 7,000 primary care doctors as possible."Unfortunately, the medical school education doesn't address this issue in the depth that it should," Dr. Kevin Ferentz, a family practitioner at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said yesterday during a news briefing in Baltimore.

With poise and humility, Nicole Wise describes her descent into a life governed by alcohol, replaced now by sobriety and a new sense of purpose. It is the familiar yet always stunning story of addiction and recovery.Nicole's is particularly jarring because she is just 17.She began by sneaking beers from the refrigerator of her mother's home in Wheaton. By 15, Nicole was a red-eyed, ratty-haired child of the streets with an obsession for vodka -- straight -- and a small cocaine business to support her own habit.

The state Medical Examiner's Office has ruled out alcohol as a factor in the drowning of a 18-year-old South Carroll High School graduateduring an illegal late-night swim June 23 with friends in Liberty Reservoir.Paul Sumpter Marcum of Mount Airy had "a very, very smallamount, . . . a trace" of alcohol in his body, said Dr. Margarita Korell, an assistant medical examiner. She said there were no other apparent injuries.Divers recovered the youth's body about an hour after he disappeared while swimming near the Morgan Run Bridge on Route 32.Although state police at the Westminster barracks said the group of teen-agers had been drinking alcohol, Mr. Marcum's family and friends said the football player was very health conscious about alcohol and drugs.

Del. Donald H. Dwyer Jr. is facing five charges in connection with an August boat crash that sent him and six other people — including four children — to the hospital. Investigators said Dwyer's blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal threshold for being under the influence when his powerboat, The Legislator, collided with another vessel on a Pasadena waterway Aug. 22. Dwyer, 54, was charged Thursday by Maryland Natural Resources Police with operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol, reckless operation of a vessel, negligent operation of a vessel, failing to register his boat and a rules-of-the-road violation.

ST. MARGARETS -- Vickie Lynee Hippler, whose body was found outside the defunct Dick Gessner's Broadway Corner dinner theater on June 8, died of an overdose of heroin, cocaine and alcohol, according to toxicology tests released yesterday by the state medical examiner.An autopsy of Ms. Hippler's body conducted the day after she was found did not determine a cause of death, said Officer Randy Bell, spokesman for the Anne Arundel County police.County homicide detectives have ruled the death accidental and have closed the investigation, Officer Bell said.

Crest, a leading brand in oral health products, is marketing a new alcohol-free mouthwash that promises to reduce plaque by 42 percent over simply brushing your teeth. Crest Pro-Health Rinse has been in development for a decade, company executives say. It is significant because it protects against problems such as plaque and gingivitis without containing alcohol. Leading mouthwashes contain as much as 21 percent alcohol. Pro-Health Rinse relies on cetylpyridinium chloride, a compound that fights bacteria.

On April 15, Midshipman Mark Harper died with enough alcohol in his blood to be well over the legal limit. He smashed his car into a guardrail on Bay Ridge Avenue, illustrating what Naval Academy officials say is their biggest problem: alcohol abuse.Now, Adm. Charles R. Larson, who took over as academy superintendent in August to repair the image of a school racked over the past six years by several sexual harassment cases and the largest cheating scandal in Navy history, is attacking the alcohol problem.

A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that Good Guys Bar & Grill, a nude dance club in North Laurel, no longer can let patrons drink alcohol if it continues to feature nude dancing.But the owner of the nearly 3-year-old club already plans an appeal and says he will deny patrons the privilege of bringing alcohol into the club rather than halt nude dancing."It's obviously a sad day for me," said Behnam Zanganeh, 48, who sued to block a state law prohibiting alcohol and nude dancing in a public place.