• A lethal hold on Maine
• Alcohol-impaired susceptible to rages of fire
• Coffee brandy ranks as state's drug of choice
• A history of alcohol
• Alcohol's effects on the body
• Alcohol-related deaths in 1991

Six months ago the Maine Sunday Telegram and Portland Press Herald began this series with the question: How does alcohol affect Maine?

Finding the answer was not a simple task.

Reporters wanted to get a national perspective on how Maine compared to other states in consumption of liquor, substance abuse treatment, drinking habits, drunken-driving statistics. They called dozens of national authorities on alcohol abuse, such as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

To understand how Maine's courts, hospitals, prisons and schools were affected by alcohol reporters talked to hundreds of Maine doctors, lawyers, police officers, judges, inmates, teachers and alcoholics.

Reporters and researchers created their own databases, looking at three months worth of jail bookings in Cumberland and Penobscot counties to see how often inmates were drinking or intoxicated when they were placed under arrest.

They reviewed more than 200 domestic violence cases to review how often alcohol was a factor in family assaults.

They researched five years worth of fatal fires to determine how often people were drinking when they dropped a lit cigarette into their chair or couch or accidentally kicked over an electrical heater.

To tally how often alcohol played a role in the deaths of people who died accidentally, committed suicide or were the victims of homicides, a reporter reviewed seven years worth of blood-alcohol tests done by the Maine Medical Examiner's Office.

Reporters reviewed hospital discharge records to see how often patients needed medical care for their alcohol ills. They scrutinized treatment statistics to see what kind of people were seeking help to control their alcohol addiction.

They pulled a year's worth of drunken-driving fatalities to look at the personal tragedies behind these cases and to see how often the drivers involved in these crashes had prior convictions for operating under the influence.

Reporters reviewed more than 6,000 pages of reports and studies to understand the effects alcohol has on the body and on human behavior.

They also reviewed studies of the drinking habits of Maine adults and teen-agers compiled by the state Office of Substance Abuse.

The Public Health Resource Group in Portland helped collect and analyze data from the federal Alcohol Related Death Index and information on drinking habits in Maine.

Some data was not easy to come by. It took months to cajole, fight and persuade some sources to turn over what was ultimately released as public records.

Some sources, such as the Medical Examiner's Office, believed releasing blood-alcohol levels of the victims of homicides, suicides and accidents was too sensitive and would be too painful for family members to read about in the newspaper.

Other state agencies such as the Fire Marshal's Office readily opened their files, believing the public needs to know that 50 percent of Maine's fatal fire deaths are fueled by alcohol.

''Maybe if this was reported more, people would think twice about drinking and being careless in their homes,'' says Sgt. Jennifer Mills, an investigator with the state Fire Marshal's Office. ''It's like sexual abuse; people are embarrassed to talk about the topic. But what's worse, embarrassment or losing people needlessly in a fire?''

Police throughout the state eagerly talked about the alcohol plague that permeates 80 percent to 90 percent of their cases.

''We don't have anything to hide,'' said Westbrook Deputy Chief Paul McCarthy. ''Trying to sweep these alcohol cases under the rug doesn't do anybody any good. People need to know what's going on.''