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Dear
Dr. Bill,
Several times last summer, our next door neighbor has
allowed their teenage son to hold obviously unchaperoned
parties at their house. These parties seem to attract
kids from everywhere. Although quiet enough early on,
we were soon subjected to horrendous noise from within
the house and outside...raucous laughter, shouting laced
with filthy language, running back and forth in our
yards...the kids were obviously smashed. When the police
were called, the kids would quiet a bit until they left
in their cars, with horns blowing, tires screeching
and more shouting. Isn't there some kind of law to stop
these parties?
Angry
in Ridgewood
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Dear Angry,
The most popular drug and number one drug problem
among school-age adolescents is alcohol . A 2001 national
survey reported that, 79.7 % of 12th-graders said they
had used alcohol, slightly down from the year before.
However, the number of those who admitted to having
been drunk at some time rose from 62.3 % to 63.9 % with
37% of these reporting binge drinking...five or more
drinks in a row...on at least one occasion in the previous
2 weeks. Where do they get their alcohol? In suburbia,
they get the stuff mostly in private homes, carefully
selected by the kids to make sure that parents are either
away or simply allow teenage drinking.
You
have a right to be angry, and you should be troubled.
There has been a New Jersey Teenage Drinking Law on
the books since 1985 but, I suspect that the penalties
were considered too severe by some local officials (The
law made it a disorderly person offense for any person
age 21 or over to serve or make available alcoholic
beverages to any underage person with a penalty of up
to a $1,000 fine and/or 6 months imprisonment) and there
was also an uncertainty about whether they could legally
enact or enforce a similar local ordinance.
To
satisfy some of these concerns, in the year 2000, the
New Jersey legislature enacted a new law (P.L. 2000,
Chapter 33) which revised and amended the previous legislation
concerning possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages:
Under the provisions of this law, "municipalities
MAY enact ordinances prohibiting underage persons from
possessing or consuming an alcoholic beverage on private
property, unless that possession or consumption is in
connection with a religious observance, ceremony or
rite, or if the underage person possesses or consumes
the beverage in the presence of a parent, a legal age
guardian (pursuant to testamentary or court appointment),
or a legal age relative (grandparent, aunt or uncle,
sibling , or person related by blood or affinity)."
Under
this law, violators would be subject to a $250 fine
for a first offense and a $350 fine or any subsequent
offense. AND, what underage party goers might well pay
close attention to:
"The court would also have the discretion to suspend
or postpone the violators driving privileges (including
that of a motorized bicycle) for six months. The suspension
would be imposed in those cases where the violator has
a New Jersey driver's license; the postponement would
apply to violator's under the age of 17, increasing
the age at which they are eligible for a New Jersey
driver's license from 17 to 17 years and six months."
Out-of-staters are not off the hook:... "Upon receipt
of a report by the court, the New Jersey Division of
Motor Vehicles "shall notify the appropriate officials
in the licensing jurisdiction of the violator of the
suspension or postponement."
Bottom
lines: #1. Question: Has Ridgewood enacted the above
ordinance? #2. If so, for the law to be at all effective,
the town's magistrates should also require that the
PARENTS, as well as the involved teens, take a course
that will teach them the basic facts about alcohol and
other drug usage with the resultant negative effects
on the family and their communities. #3 Give a copy
of this column to your neighbor.
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