San Rafael public forum{Marin Law that holds parents accountable on Drinking Teens Acts}

from http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael
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Staff Report
Article Launched: 09/01/2007 08:27:16 PM PDT

Seeking to curb underage drinking in the city, San Rafael officials will host a public forum Wednesday about a new law that holds parents accountable for teens' misdeeds.
Social host ordinances - on the books in Marin County, Novato, San Anselmo and Tiburon - apply civil or criminal penalties to parents when teens host house drinking parties. The San Rafael City Council is set to consider a similar ordinance Sept. 17.

"I think a lot of people are aware that underage drinking is a problem in Marin," said Scott Spicer, prevention coordinator for San Rafael-based Youth Leadership Institute.

"We need to find concrete solutions that can be effective," he said. "Our goal is to get this ordinance passed across the county to ensure consistency in how this policy is adopted É it can be effective in preventing teen drinking."

The social host law was inspired by the deaths on Nov. 12, 2005, of Scott Raymond Van Hootegem, 18, and Alexander Scott Hunt, 19, who were killed in a car crash after leaving a Novato party where teens were drinking.

Public health officials and police are concerned about teen drinking in Marin. Three deaths and two paralyzed children are attributed to teen drinking in the past two years in Marin, authorities


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said.
According to the Healthy Kids' Survey, Marin teens drink more than their counterparts across the state. Thirty-three percent of ninth-graders confessed to trying alcohol in the past 30 days, compared with 25 percent statewide. Fifty percent of 11th-graders said they'd indulged, compared with 39 percent statewide.

In the binge-drinking category, defined as four or more drinks in one sitting for girls and five or more drinks for boys in one sitting in the past 30 days, 16 percent of Marin's ninth-graders said yes, compared with 12 percent statewide. Thirty-three percent of Marin's ninth-graders agreed, compared with 23 statewide.

The San Rafael Police Department recently got a $88,657 state grant to combat teen drinking.

Among the programs planned are decoy operations in which youths pose as purchasers, operations to halt "shoulder-tapping" - when minors approach adults entering a store and ask them to purchase liquor - juvenile alcohol patrols that zero in on teen parties, public education, officer training and youth counseling programs.

Education and awareness are key in the battle against underage boozing. Social host laws help, authorities said.

"We see this ordinance as a part of that," San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher said.

IFYOU'RE INTERESTED

San Rafael police will host a public forum for parents and teens about the city's proposed social host ordinance from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the San Rafael Community Center at 618 B St.

Covers San Rafael - Independent paper
http://www.marinscope.com/newspointer/index.php

Other papers that cover Marin

http://www.pacificsun.com/ - Independent paper

http://sfgate.com/

http://www.bohemian.com/ - Independent paper

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