Illegal to serve your youth, yep ESPECIALLY your own child!

This message was received by Julia Sherman, WI Clearinghouse


Colleagues: I have been receiving numerous inquiries abut SB 30 and the changes that would occur if enacted.

In brief, SB 30 would allow make it illegal to serve alcohol to anyone younger than age 18 even if with a parent. Practically speaking, it establishes age 18 as the age at which parents could start purchasing alcohol for children on bars and taverns.

I realize many underage drinking prevention advocates are conflicted by this proposal. For some, this proposal eliminates the insanity of a parent legally purchasing alcohol for very young children. While for others it raises concerns about creating a toehold in Wisconsin for those who wish to roll back the 21 minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) such as the Amethyst Initiative.

I spoke to Justin Sargent, Senator Robson’s aide working on this bill, last week. He was unaware of the Amethyst Initiative, a national effort to reopen the minimum legal drinking age debate, and said that it was Senator Robson’s hope this bill would help change the drinking culture of Wisconsin.

State sanctioning of alcohol use at age 18 alcohol will impact the attitudes of older teens. Legal access for 18 year old teens has the potential to provide more opportunities for younger teens to obtain alcohol, both troubling possibilities.

The evidence in support of an age 21 MLDA is overwhelming:

States that lowered the minimum legal drinking age [between 1970 and 1976] experienced a 15% to 20% increase in alcohol related teen car crashes.[i]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the 21 minimum legal drinking age saves 1,000 lives each year on the highways. [ii]

When the MLDA is 21 underage youth drink less and continue to drink less into their early 20’s.[iii]

Medical research completed after the enactment of the age 21 MLDA support its importance. Medical research shows that brain development continues into the early 20’s. In addition, there is some question whether damage resulting from early alcohol use is reversible, testing of detoxified and comparable abstaining teens showed a significant reduction in the cognitive and analytical ability.[iv]

This bill is currently awaiting action in the Senate Committee on Children and Families and Workforce Development, chair
[i] 21 Turns 21, Driven, MADD 2004.
[ii] 21 Turns 21, Driven, MADD 2004.
[iii] O’Malley, PM , Wagenaar, A, Effects of minimum drinking age laws on alcohol use, related behaviors and traffic crash involvement among American youth: 1976-1987. Journal Studies of Alcohol, 1991.
4. National Academies of Science, Institute of Medicine, Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility. Richard J. Bonnie and Ellen O’Connell, editors. Washington, D.C.