MADD - Social Host

I just picked up a flyer from Yucca Valley's admin office here is California. It intrigued me because it was titled , "Social Host ordinance." This is yet another law to deter drinking in underage youth. Basically, this ordinance makes it illegal and you libel if you serve alcohol to minors.  According to the pamphlet  over 90% of teens say home is the place where they get and drink alcohol.

I have trouble with this on many levels but the first is that you cannot legislate family morals and values. Once again government is stepping into our homes to take over, because they know better than us.

For all the parents I work with, they already KNOW that it is illegal to serve and host illegal drugs and alcohol to minors. They know this. so the the new "ordinance" does exactly what?

I am for parental responsibly, yet adding another layer of laws to control families (for laws that already exist  is not the answer). OK, it makes the city council members feel good--like they have "helped" their community, but what they have actually done is added another layer of nanny government and accomplishing nothing.

Education is a much better solution. I like the little pamphlet but abhor the creation of bigger government to "save" us from ourselves.

Consider this In the 1960s, 7 percent of new female drinkers were ages 10 to 14. Today the figure is at 31 percent.

And our "War on Drugs" (ie more enforcement, more laws, bigger government) is questionable "Despite a high incarceration level for drug offenses at both the federal and state level, the effectiveness of the anti-drug strategy is questionable. On the supply side, drugs continue to be widely available at lower prices on the street. At the user level, the dramatic reversal of American drug use which occurred in the 1990's has changed and the percentage of Americans regularly using drugs remains high. Lifetime drug use by high school seniors has fluctuated between 40% and 55% over the last 20 years"

Here is MADDs take--I support social responsibly and their guidelines, just not making government bigger.

MADD - Social Host: "What is Social Host?
Social host refers to adults who host parties where alcohol is served on property they control. Through social host liability laws, adults can be held responsible for these parties if underage people are served, regardless of who furnishes the alcohol. Teen parties are a primary setting for underage drinking for high school and college students and high consumption of alcohol and binge drinking."

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