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Overcast City enacts tougher social host fines
Officials say $1,000 penalty will help deter underage drinking
The City Council passed a measure on Tuesday that increases the fine for anyone who violates the city’s social host law, a day after a Town Hall meeting was held to address the dangers of underage drinking.
Following a public hearing on a resolution to amend the city’s code of ordinances to increase the fine from up to $250 to $1,000 for adults who violate the city’s social host law — which prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors on private property — the council voted unanimously to approve the measure.
In 2006, Long Beach became the first city in New York State to pass the social host law. Passage of the ordinance had been a goal of the Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking, a local community-based nonprofit organization focused on changing the culture around drugs and alcohol and protecting young people.
Judi Vining, the coalition’s executive director, said that the coalition worked with its subcommittee that sets policy, which includes Police Commissioner Michael Tangney, City Council President Scott Mandel and Corporation Counsel Corey Klein, among others, to give the social host law some “teeth.” Vining and others said that teens view the current penalties as a “slap on the wrist.”
“These fines … have not been increased since 2006,” City Council Vice President Fran Adelson said at the coalition’s meeting on May 19. “We’re hoping that it brings attention to parents.”
According to Vining, most teens drink at parties held at someone’s home; 35.5 percent of Long Beach High School seniors drink at a house with parental permission, compared to 42.6 percent who drink at a home without parental permission.
“This is where kids drink — this is what they tell us, this is the reality, they’re either at a house with parents or without parents,” Vining said, adding that the amount of binge drinking among minors remains a concern.
A number of high school students attended Tuesday’s hearing to show their support for the tougher penalties. According to the coalition, kids who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop problems with alcohol and other drugs compared to those who wait until they are 21.
