Towns
try to curb teenage drinking
Sunday, May 15, 2005 • By LINDA
LISANTI • The Express-Times
It's a Saturday night and a group of
teens is drinking at a friend's house.
As the night progresses, the music
intensifies and drunken conversations move
outdoors.
A neighbor calls the police.
In most Warren County towns now, the
responding officers are powerless to charge the minors with
underage drinking.
The party is broken up and the youths are
sent home with their parent or guardian.
But that could soon change given a recent
push for Warren County municipalities to adopt a law making
underage drinking on private property illegal.
Alpha did so last spring. Washington
Township passed an ordinance this March.
And Phillipsburg officials this week
discussed being the next town to follow suit.
"The police department every day is
hamstrung with laws and things of this nature limiting their
ability to enforce the law," Phillipsburg Mayor Harry Wyant
said. "Anything we can do to help them should be
done."
Under state law, the underage drinking
charge extends only to possession or consumption of alcohol
on public property or in a motor vehicle, according to
Assistant Warren County Prosecutor Tara Kirkendall. There
are provisions that allow adults to be charged for
furnishing minors with alcohol, she said.
The law passed by Alpha and Washington
Township and being considered in Phillipsburg makes it
unlawful for minors to drink alcohol on private property
except for religious reasons or in the presence of a parent
or guardian. It also provides for fines of up to $250 for a
first offense, $350 for subsequent ones and a six-month
delay or suspension of driving privileges.
Underage drinking, Kirkendall said, is a
topic that frequently comes up at roundtable meetings
between local law enforcement, state police, school
administrators and substance abuse providers in Warren
County.
The county prosecutor's office has in the
past and continues to recommend that municipalities adopt
such a law, Kirkendall said.
"Alcohol use by juveniles is pervasive,"
she explained. "We are looking for every possible tool to
identify the kids who are using alcohol and get them the
kind of treatment and counseling that they need."
Warren Hills Regional School District
Superintendent Peter Merluzzi, a supporter of the law, has
said the object is not to punish the kids, but to deter
them.
"It's an argument for parents to use when
students say 'everybody's doing it' or 'why not?'" he said.
" It gives the student a reason to say 'I can't do that
because there's a risk.'"
While Phillipsburg officials agreed with
the intent of the law, they decided to delay action until
they could research its legality.
Council members authorized administrator
Michele Broubalow to investigate other towns in the state
that have adopted similar laws and underwent legal
challenges.
Town attorney Howard Vex said he
personally had some constitutional concerns.
" You're telling people what they can do
in their own homes," Vex said.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
© 2005 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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