Teen Drinking Problems Illicit New Laws in Orange County

Today in the Orange County Register a new law is under consideration to discourage the rampant teen drinking problem. If Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills adopt this ordinance they will be the first cities in Orange County to implement this new law.

More cities cracking down on parents allowing teen boozing
City councils in Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills might be county's first to impose new law to fight underage drinking.

"With the prom season under way and neighborhoods under siege with drunken teens, public urination and violence, city officials in two South County cities hope a new law could crash these out-of-control parties.

In Mission Viejo, the City Council voted last week to draft a new ordinance and will consider it at Monday night's meeting. Proposed by Mayor Trish Kelley, the social host underage drinking ordinance would hold adults accountable for teen drinking and could result in $1,000 fines. It could also require adults to pay for law enforcement response costs as well as costs associated with repeated calls to the same address."

The "Social Host Ordinance" is aimed at reducing the venues teens have for consuming alcohol by creating steep fees in hope of increasing adult supervision and accountability for teen drinking on personal property.

Local communities have witnessed increase in alcohol related property damage, driving related arrests, injuries and public disturbances.

"Since May 2007, Mission Viejo deputies have responded to reports of 1,325 loud parties. A good percentage of these have involved teens, said sheriff's Lt. Steve Bernardi, chief of police services for the city. In 2007 there were 18 crashes in which underage drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Ten people were injured, and in 11 cases, juveniles told deputies they had been drinking at a party, at a friend's house or at home."

ALCOHOL USE IN TEENS

ALCOHOL USE IN TEENS

Did you know that there has been an increase in the number of teens ages 11 – 15 who drink alcohol on a regular basis? The scarier thought is the fact that the amount of alcohol they drink in one setting is increasing as well. This phenomenon attributes to more teen drinking and driving incidents, suicides, sexual assaults, and high risk sex. Teens already have a hard time evaluating situations maturely and the introduction of alcohol only makes their decision making that much worse. They find themselves in situations they might not otherwise get themselves into. The more alcohol they consume overtime, the more the teen stands to impair their ability to properly react in situations, remember basic things, and their overall cognitive abilities are impaired, possibly for life. By exposing the brain to alcohol during the growing years of adolescence, teens are interrupting their brains’ development and opening themselves up to long term risks of liver damage, pancreatitis, cancers and possibly shrinkage of their brain.

Intervention at an early age is a must. It is reported that teens who start drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence at some time in their lives as opposed to those who have their first drink at age 20 or older.1


Here are a few other statistics:

The rate of fatal crashes involving alcohol in drivers 16-20 is more than twice that of drivers 21 and over.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among people ages 14-25. Alcohol increased the chances of those attempts.

About 10% of high school female students reported being raped and research suggests that alcohol use in the attacker and/or victim increases the chances of this occurring.

In 1995, 318 people between the ages of 15-24 died from alcohol poisoning alone. I’m sure the amount has increased since then.


Take a stand now to make these statistics decrease and with hope be eradicated…be present, intervene, and educate yourself…Never think your child or one that you know would never drink or use drugs. It’s a scary reality we cannot ignore.

Amy Lawhorn
Blog

1The Health effects of Teen alcohol use, http://teendrugabuse.us