OPINION

Tackling underage drinking

Julia Sherman
For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

They are the nightmare neighbors who parents fear; when kids show up at a high school graduation party with alcohol, they don’t confiscate the beer or call other parents. They sit down and have a drink with the kids.

Pouring a shot

They undermine your efforts to raise alcohol- and drug-free children, ignore the immediate danger of alcohol-related injuries and the stacks of medical evidence detailing the harm alcohol does to young bodies and minds. In October, the parent who allowed underage drinking in his home won his case before the Court of Appeals, and Wisconsin lost an effective tool in the fight against underage drinking.

Since 2009, at least 46 municipalities and eight counties in Wisconsin adopted ordinances making it illegal to provide a location for underage drinking as part of a successful effort to prevent and reduce underage drinking.

These “social host ordinances” had no impact on parents' rights to serve their own child alcohol, but made it illegal and very expensive for anyone else to allow underage drinking on their property.

Wisconsin’s original social host ordinance was written in 2009 by then Manitowoc District Attorney Mark Rohrer to address the situations law enforcement officers faced when confronting underage drinking. When police responded to a suspected underage drinking party, the lights went off and no one answered the door. It was almost impossible to hold parents or others responsible for the underage drinking that was taking place on their property because state law is focused on who provided the alcohol, something impossible to determine without access to the event.

In communities with a social host ordinance, officers simply had to look through the window and determine that numerous underage individuals were consuming alcohol to begin an investigation. Police officers then questioned young attendees as they left the party or returned the next day to speak to residents to determine who organized the party.

The widely adopted ordinance applied to individual residences, recreational property and even hotel rooms rented for post-prom parties and similar events. The “host” was the individual who facilitated, organized or allowed the underage drinking event to occur. As a result, the parent who uses a wink, whisper or directions to “clean up the beer cans before we get back” could be cited.

Wisconsin Statutes make it illegal for individuals age 18 or older to provide alcohol to people younger than age 21. Social host ordinances allowed an individual of any age to be cited, important because siblings and peers are frequent hosts. Penalties and court costs pushed the total cost to over $1,000 for violators, enough money to serve as a serious deterrent.

Social host ordinances were a valuable tool in Wisconsin’s successful campaign to reduce underage drinking. The percentage of Wisconsin teens who drink alcohol regularly has dropped in recent years. Along with alcohol age compliance checks and vigorous public education efforts, social host ordinances reduced youth access to alcohol which in turn reduces underage drinking.

A sensible legislative solution will capture the elements of local ordinances and resolve the issues in the court ruling without curbing municipal authority. Without legislative action, Wisconsin communities lose the ability to sanction the person who allows your child to drink in his home, rents a hotel room for an alcohol-soaked prom party or simply looks away from the underage drinking on his property. If Wisconsin wants to prevent and reduce underage drinking, a workable social host statute making it illegal to provide a location for underage drinking is the place to start during the next legislative session.

Julia Sherman is the coordinator of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School. The opinions expressed are hers and not those of the university.