ACTIVIST PROMOTES WAYS TO DETER USE OF ALCOHOL.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist

Ray Chavira, co-founder of the High Desert Alcohol Policy Coalition, does not want to be called an anti-alcohol activist.

``I am not an anti-alcohol activist,'' he said. ``I'm an alcohol control activist, like tobacco control or gun control. It's all the same thing.''

A juvenile probation officer who deals daily with the transgressions of the young, Chavira also is concerned with the different causes of alcoholism in the elderly.

In both generations, he feels, prevention is a primary factor but treatment and rehabilitation are even more necessary among seniors.

He does not advocate the abolishment of alcohol, he says, he just wants ``to lessen the flow of it in the community'' especially over this Labor Day weekend.

Labor Day traditionally marks the end of summer vacation time and a return to school and work schedules, which means people are prone to celebrate with one last fling, he said.

Responsible, thinking people of all ages will not drink and drive during the holiday or the end of the Antelope Valley Fair, he said.

``But there are always those who will not admit their good judgment and capabilities are affected by just a few beers. The social drinkers are the ones who are a danger to themselves and others when they get behind the wheel.''

He feels there are ways to deter the use of alcohol and reduce its hold on the populace without totally banning it.

He packages his proposals into four Ps: raise the price and restrict all promotion, production and places where it can be sold.

``California has the lowest tax on alcoholic beverages in the nation,'' he said. ``We need to do something about that.''

The increased tax monies, he said, should then be earmarked for alcohol-related services to educate and rehabilitate.

``We need adequate restrictions on promotion and advertising,'' he said. ``Legislation has been passed restricting tobacco ads. Something similar should be done with alcohol. We don't need to bombard television viewers with an erroneous idea of how sophisticated and beautiful it is to consume alcohol.''

Of prime importance, he said, and one he bulldogs all the time, is the restriction of places where it can be sold.

``We don't have adequate restrictions on the placement of alcohol outlets in our communities,'' said Chavira. ``Lancaster and Palmdale don't restrict supermarkets, super drugstores and restaurants of any kind. They seem to have the mistaken idea the alcohol sold there is different from that sold in liquor stores.''

Chavira, a recovering alcoholic, has been sober since 1975 and fully understands all the problems.

A native Angeleno, he started to drink while he was enrolled at East Los Angeles Junior College. By the time he got his bachelor's degree in 1956 and his master's degree in 1957, his addiction was fully entrenched.

He received a lifetime credential in secondary education with majors in Spanish and English, and began teaching at Pico Rivera.

``I taught for 16 years in various schools after that,'' he said, ``and nobody knew that I was an alcoholic teacher.''

Subsequently he was hired by the National Education Association, (NEA) headquartered in Florida, as an assistant executive director.

He was fired from that job for absenteeism due to alcoholism.

After 18 years of marriage his high school sweetheart left him, taking their three children with her.

``I had to lose my job and my family before I recognized that everything was going down the tubes for me,'' he said. ``I knew what to do. I had taught health classes long enough to be aware of the only recourse I had.''

He returned to California and checked himself into the alcohol abuse program at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

``The doctors in the detoxification unit told me I had about two months to live if I didn't stop drinking. They said my liver had already gotten fatty and in the next phase it would get hard. It's too late to do anything then. That got my attention. It was difficult. It's always difficult. I had to do the program twice but the second time it took. I've been sober ever since.''

He was sober when he met Millie Sundquist Preston at Sylmar Juvenile Hall. She was working as an intermediate typist clerk at the Key Center in Sylmar, and they found they had a lot in common: She was the widow of a man whose alcoholism had killed him.

They were married June 24, 1988.

He and Millie moved to Lancaster in 1990 when he was transferred to the Lancaster field probation office.

He saw a local need to address the availability of alcohol and for a public policy organization dedicated to controlling its flow.

Chavira became the standard bearer for such efforts and began to work with the California Council on Alcohol Problems, the National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco, and the California State Advisory Board on Alcohol-related Problems. He now serves on the Los Angeles County Commission on Alcoholism, the alcohol policy advisory body to the Board of Supervisors.

``Our main goal is to de-alcoholize the community lifestyle as much as possible by making it harder for the pushers,'' he said. ``Pushers exist, you know, only because there are pushovers - like I was.''

LANCASTER - Senior crafters are invited to join the group, which meets the first, third and fifth Saturdays at 10 a.m. in room 101 of the Antelope Valley Senior Center, 777 W. Jackman St.

Coordinator B.J. Loyola said the meetings are open to all who want to participate and it is not necessary to be experienced.

``We'll teach anyone who wants to learn how to crochet or knit and novices in other crafts are also welcome,'' she said.

A potluck luncheon is served but those who don't care to bring a dish to share may make a $1.50 donation instead.

Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and Pearblossom have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for the suggested donation of $2.

Monday: Hamburger patty, baked beans, parslied carrots, tomato, onion and lettuce salad, fruit.

Tuesday: Pinto beans with ham, cornbread, broccoli, lettuce salad, tapioca pudding.

Wednesday: Lemon chicken, sweet potatoes, peas, marinated beets, apple cobbler, pineapple juice.

Thursday: Roast pork, cornbread dressing, stewed tomatoes, coleslaw, pumpkin cake.

Friday: Hot turkey sandwich, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, garden salad, fruit cocktail.

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Photo: Ray Chavira, co-founder of the High Desert Alcohol Policy Coalition, is concerned with the different causes of alcoholism among the elderly. A recovering alcoholic, he has been sober since 1975 and understands the problems. California's alcoholic beverage tax is the lowest in the nation, he said.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News