New Mexico's chronic problems with alcohol were never more brutally clear than on Nov. 11, 2006, when a drunk driver speeding the wrong way down Interstate 25 slammed into a minivan, killing six members of a Las Vegas, N.M., family.

Dana Papst, 44, had been drinking on a US Airways flight and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.32 percent -- four times the legal limit -- when the head-on collision occurred. The crash killed Paul Gonzales, 36; his wife, Renee Collins-Gonzales, 39; their daughters Jacqueline Gonzales, 11, and Selena Gonzales, 11; and Alisha Garcia, 17, who was Paul Gonzales' stepdaughter.

The sole survivor was Arissa Gonzales, 15, another daughter of Paul and Renee Gonzales. Papst, who had five prior DUI arrests, also died.

The tragic crash shocked New Mexico, especially when investigators later learned from fellow passengers that Papst had been "hammered" during the US Airways flight and tried to depart the cabin when the plane was still in midair. In the wake of the crash, state lawmakers demanded that airlines flying into New Mexico get liquor licenses, and later denied US Airways the right to serve alcohol on flights to the state.

Within weeks of the crash, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson allocated an additional $3 million to fight drunk driving in the state, and later approved a study of whether installing tire spikes on highway entrance ramps could prevent wrong-way driving tragedies. Richardson also approved a bill that would mandate installation of ignition-interlock devices on the vehicles of out-of-state drivers who have previous drunk-driving convictions on their records.

For Gerald Collins, however, that wasn't enough. Collins, an attorney for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, is the brother of crash victim Renee Collins-Gonzales. He recalls that, on the night of the crash, Selena and Jacquelyn were returning from a soccer tournament and Alisha from a volleyball tournament. Paul was a girls' basketball coach, while Renee was a school nurse.

"They were tremendously involved in youth," said Collins. "I am a soccer coach and my club was hosting the tournament the girls were playing in. The entire family is dedicated to helping the youth in our communities."

After the tragedy, Collins began to look closely at the roots of drunk driving, including the problem of underage alcohol use and the influence of alcohol advertising. "Most laws in the books or contemplated seem to focus on punishing the offender," said Collins. "Few laws, regulations or plans for revisions of the same focus on the source of the problem -- the suppliers of this dangerous drug."

Collins came to the conclusion that the alcohol industry was intentionally targeting youths with its advertising, and began calling on lawmakers to address the issue. "I testified before the legislature to deaf ears -- ears that were connected to mouths that had been wined and dined by high-dollar lobbyists for the liquor industry," he said.

State Task Force Established

Still, Collins and allies like Glenn Wieringa of the Santa Fe Health Office, state Rep. Richard Vigil, and state Sen. Kent Cravens, pressed forward with their bid to establish a task force to study the issue of alcohol advertising and underage drinking and make policy recommendations to the legislature and the governor. Recently, the New Mexico legislature passed House Joint Memorial 64 (HJM 64), which establishes the task force.

HJM 64 calls for the director of the state alcohol and gaming division to assemble and chair a panel that will "study the relationship between youth exposure to alcohol advertising and youth access to and consumption of alcohol and to recommend methods of restricting youth exposure to alcohol advertising." Task force members will include representatives from the state's children's cabinet; the attorney general's office; the state health department; the children, youth and families department; the higher-education commission; the New Mexico PTO; Mothers Against Drunk Driving; and other groups.

The task force is charged with studying other states' laws on alcohol advertising, alcohol-industry sponsorship of community events where children are present and possible ways to restrict such activities, and study and recommend "constitutionally defensible restrictions on alcohol advertising and sponsorship in state publications and on state-owned and state-leased lands, including state universities, college campuses, state parks, public buildings and state-sponsored civic events." Regulation of billboard advertising and ads in publications with large youth readership also will be examined.

The task force recommendations are due to the legislature in November.

"We simply want a forum to educate children about the true dangers of alcohol," said Collins. "We simply want the playing field balanced so that children don't see commercials where everyone drinking has a smile on their face. HJM 64 is our effort to have someone who can make change undertake the task of educating themselves on the dangers of this drug, and take steps necessary to protect our youth from the marketing strategy that will ultimately take many more lives."

Collins continues to work to persuade lawmakers to take action to prevent further tragedies like the one that devastated his family, including calling for a special legislative session to tackle alcohol-related issues. "As I told the representatives and senators, that light at the end of the tunnel may be the next wrong-way drunk driver headed your way," he said.