Flavored alcoholic malt beverages -- a.k.a. 'alcopops' -- appeal to children and often are packaged to closely resemble soda, witnesses told a California Senate panel.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported March 11 that the Senate Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families recently held a hearing on alcopops in San Diego. The hearings were prompted by two alcopop bills: one to change the classification of the drinks from beer to distilled spirits, thus raising the tax on the beverages; the other seeking to ban alcopop ads and marketing that appeal to children.

Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego), the sponsor of the tax bill, said that the fruity drinks are so popular with young people, notably girls, that they sometimes are called "cheerleader beer." Testifying at the hearing, she noted the similarities between a bottle of Seagrams Pineapple Coconut Calypso Colada, filled with blue liquid, and a bottle of Jones Soda.

"You see, it can be difficult for many adults to tell what their kids are drinking," she told the committee. "These are the drinks of choice for young women. These are serious issues, and we are taking serious measures."

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne noted that the city's biggest "drug" problem was alcohol. "The two bills we're going to represent here today are great steps forward," he said.

Meanwhile, the Marin Institute reported Feb. 9 that liquor giant Diageo, which markets products like Smirnoff Ice, is challenging a lawsuit filed by underage-drinking advocates that, like Saldaña's bill, seeks to reclassify alcopops as hard liquor.