Underage drinking
The Sunday News & Record will contain a package of stories focusing on underage drinking, including a look at a new state law that stiffens penalties against those who purchase or provide alcohol to minors. The law is tough: If you are found guilty of breaking it, you could lose your driver's license for a year. The editorial board will write an editorial to run that day on the topic.
While the law is tough, we support it. In our car-dependent culture, it certainly would be a strong deterrent to buying a six-pack for some older kids. And the law does grant limited driving privileges for those found guilty, such as driving to and from work.
But we would like your input on the law. Do you think it will decrease underage drinking? Or do you think other measures also need to be taken? If so, what are they?
Do you think adults in our area view drinking by older teens too lightly? That because kids aren't using illegal drugs, they aren't that concerned?
Do you think adults in our area are complacent about drinking by high school and college students?
Tell us what you think.
Comments (2)
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You gotta love it - you can go to Iraq and get shot at but you can't go to the 7-11 & buy a six-pack of Budwiser - is this a great country or what ? -
Posted on January 12, 2008 8:30 PM
Ever since last summer's horrendous beach house fire that killed those underage college students I've been asking if/when/whether anyone in authority was looking into the matter of who provided the liquor that led to their deaths. The silence, as they say, is deafening.
Of course, there's the local prosecutor who claimed that blood alcohol levels of over .2 had nothing to do with the students' inability to escape the fire. His drunk-denial level is nothing short of astonishing.
Or is it? Haven't any of the parents asked who got the booze for their kids? Haven't the survivors thought about it? Haven't N.C. ALE agents?
This tragedy could have been a very effective teaching tool in many ways, but it seems that all anyone wanted was to look through the narrow lens of eulogizing the dead. The falling-down-drunk rite of passage that led to the inferno that killed them is given a mere wink and a nod.
Will the new law have any effect? I doubt it. As long as drinkers--kids and adults alike--view getting drunk as a fun pastime, as long as we avoid talking about the full consequences of alcohol abuse, we're going to have drinking-related tragedies.
Posted on January 14, 2008 11:25 AM