In The NewsWesterly May Be First In RI With Social Host Law
Originally printed in The Westerly Sun
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Author: Emily Dupuis- Substance Abuse Task Force urges council to consider enacting a law to curb underage drinking at private parties.
WESTERLY - Adults who allow or turn a blind eye to underage drinking parties at their homes would be held responsible under an ordinance being considered by the town.
The so-called social host ordinance, as proposed, would back up the state law by making it illegal for minors to obtain, possess or consume alcohol at parties or gatherings held on private property in Westerly and would hold non-commercial individuals responsible for those parties and gatherings. The ordinance would also recover costs incurred by law enforcement.
"We are committed strongly to making this pass," Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force Coordinator Marylou Serra told Town Councilors on Monday.
"Why wait until something happens?" she asked. "This community has seen its share of underage drinking parties and the negative aftermath."
But, she added, so far Westerly has been spared from what dozens of communities in Rhode Island and hundreds nationwide have suffered: arrests, injuries and deaths.
While 171 communities in 21 states have enacted similar social host ordinances, Westerly would be the first community in Rhode Island to take that step.
"The Westerly Substance Abuse Task Force does not want to see the town respond after an incident," Serra said. "It's time to be proactive. Blaze the trail for the state. Let the community know that the town believes that underage drinking is a problem and we'll do whatever we can to deter people from allowing drinking parties in their homes and on their properties."
Serra said underage drinking - which can lead to risky behavior like fighting, casual sex and sexual assaults - is a part of the local culture and accepted by many parents.
More than 25 percent of eighthgraders, 40 percent of 10thgraders and 61 percent of high school seniors in Westerly reported regular drinking in the 2007-08 School Accountability for Learning and Teaching (SALT) survey.
Councilors expressed support for the proposal, but said it needed tweaking and should be further discussed at a second workshop. As proposed, the ordinance would hold individuals who "knowingly or unknowingly conduct, aid, allow [or] permit" a party where alcohol is served to minors liable at the municipal level.
The ordinance would also hold property owners or renters responsible for the costs of providing police service if officers receive a complaint about a party or gathering on private property. Costs cover the salary and benefits paid to police officers and other emergency responders during the time actually spent responding to a party, as well as attorney fees.
Proposed penalties include a $250 first-offense fine, $500 second-offense (within a one-year period) fine and a $1,000 fine for third and subsequent violations within a one-year period.
And the police costs could equal one month's salary for many parents, Councilor Christopher Duhamel said. Serra said the costs have been proposed so "people might think twice before allowing teens to drink in their homes if they know they will face stiff fines plus law enforcement recovery costs."
The fines will be earmarked for the task force's underage drinking prevention and education initiatives, according to the ordinance.
But Serra said the task force will be happiest if they collect no money: "It's not about making the money. That's not the issue."
Duhamel commended the task force, but said he did not want to see property owners who rent homes held responsible for the actions of renters' children. His wife rents properties in town.
Town Solicitor John Turano said the ordinance intends for the responsible party as the individual with control of the property, in that case the renter.
And councilor Jack Felber, a restaurateur, said he did not want to see restaurant owners held liable if wait staff serve alcohol to adults who slip drinks to their children. Turano said the ordinance is not directed at businesses.
The local ordinance was proposed to back up the state's social host law, under which prosecutions have largely been unsuccessful. Strengthened in 2008, the state law not only prohibits procuring or providing alcohol to minors, it holds individuals criminally liable if they permit the consumption of alcohol by minors "in his or her residence or on his or her property."