Preventing Underage Drinking: A National Priority  

In response to the wide ranging and devastating consequences of underage drinking such as traffic crashes and fatalities, sexual assault and other forms of violence, alcohol toxicity, and suicide, with an estimated annual social cost of at least $53 billion, the National Academies Institute of Medicine urged state and local governments to enact a comprehensive set of strategies to reduce underage consumption. These strategies include strengthening social host liability laws to deter underage drinking parties and other gatherings.[1]

What Is Social Host Liability?

Laws prohibiting furnishing alcoholic beverages to underage persons target the provision of alcoholic beverages to underage persons.  In contrast, social host liability laws (also known as teen party ordinances, loud or unruly gathering ordinances, or response costs ordinances) target the location in which underage drinking takes place.  Social host liability laws hold non-commercial individuals responsible for underage drinking events on property they own, lease, or otherwise control.

Why Target Underage Drinking Parties?

Today, the most frequent sources of alcohol for college students and adolescents include family members, friends, adult purchasers, and parties.[2] Family members are the most frequent source of alcohol for younger adolescents.[3] For college students, parties--house parties, outdoor parties, or fraternity parties--are among the most common setting for underage drinking.[4] For both high school and college students, parties are associated with heavy drinking and binge drinking.[5]

A 2005 survey of teenagers aged 13 to 18 conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA) found that nearly half of teenagers surveyed reported having obtained alcohol; two out of three teenagers said it was easy to get alcohol from their homes without their parents knowing about it; one-third of teens reported it was easy to obtain alcohol from their own consenting parents; two out of five teenagers said it was easy to obtain alcohol from a friend's parents; one in four teenagers responded they had attended a party where minors were drinking in front of parents; and for teens who obtained alcohol in the past six months, parents have been the supplier an average of three times in a six-month period.[5a]

Often, parents and other adults have a high tolerance for underage drinking parties, allowing them to occur on their property and without any supervision.  This community tolerance for underage drinking may stem from several misconceptions about youth alcohol consumption.[6]

Myth: “Alcohol is a relatively harmless drug compared to illegal drugs.”

Fact: Compared to youth who wait until they are 21, youth who drink before age 15 are 12 times more likely to be unintentionally injured while under the influence of alcohol, 7 times more likely to be in a motor vehicle crash after drinking, and 10 times more likely to get in a physical fight after drinking.[7] Drinking drivers under age 21 are involved in fatal crashes at two times the rate of adult drivers.[8] In addition, there is a strong correlation between youth alcohol use and violence, risky sexual behavior, poor school performance, and suicide.[9] Recent evidence suggests adolescent drinking can inflict permanent damage on the developing brain.[10] Early onset drinking is associated with greater levels of alcohol problems in adulthood.[11]

Myth: “Alcohol use is rite of passage to adulthood.”

Fact: Not all adolescents drink, and many who do drink in high school or college choose to drink less as they enter young adulthood, suggesting that both developmental and contextual factors contribute to alcohol consumption during adolescence.[12]

Myth: “Underage drinking is inevitable, and it is safer if it occurs in a controlled, residential setting.”

Fact:  Underage drinking parties represent an unusually high risk setting for youth alcohol problems, including alcohol-related traffic crashes, other forms of injury, sexual assaults, and other forms of violence.[13] Further, providing alcohol to adolescents explicitly indicates approval of underage alcohol use, while disregarding underage drinking may lead to future substance use or abuse.[14] Despite increasing peer influences as children age, parents continue to play an important role in shaping alcohol use behavior among adolescents.[15] Protective parental attitudes generally deter alcohol use among youth.[16] On the other hand, when parents provide alcohol to teenagers at parties, there is a significantly greater likelihood of regular and binge drinking by youth.  These behaviors are also strong predictors of alcohol use and misuse in later life.[17]

Why Does My City or County Need a Social Host Law?  Aren't There Enough Laws Against Underage Drinking?

An example from California illustrates the need for specific social host laws in addition to other common laws prohibiting underage drinking. Current California state law prohibits furnishing of alcoholic beverages to underage persons, yet the powerful legal and normative message underlying this law is clouded because state law also allows youth possession on private property or with the consent of a parent, relative, or legal age spouse.  Social host liability laws send a clear message that parents and other adults have a responsibility in the way they manage their homes, rentals, and other private property to prevent underage drinking parties and their devasting consequences.

Maintaining Social Host

Once Social Host laws are in place, a lot of work needs to be done. Education, enforcement and adjudication need to be monitored closely to be sure that social host laws are used.

In the case of San Diego, the San Diego County Alcohol Policy Panel has partnered with San Diego County Alcohol and Drug Services (ADS) to create the Social Access Workgroup as part of a larger Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative that encompasses other issues such as outlet density of alcohol licenses, responsible sales and service of alcohol, as well as alcohol marketing and advertising. Regional prevention coalitions from all over San Diego County participate in the Social Access Workgroup to monitor the progress of social host law in San Diego County. Proper training of law enforcement on the new law, as well as work with city attorney’s and judges needs to become a focus once a law has been passed. Community support for the law needs to be addressed, including the use of media advocacy to help make a strong case for support of social host law. As in the creation of social host law, it is imperative that collaborative prevention work, solid relations with law enforcement, community organizing, and media advocacy be used as tools to gain widespread acceptance and use of the law—thus changing community norms concerning parties where alcohol is served to underage youth.

The Social Access Workgroup also monitors other social access issues such as stadium tailgating, beaches and parks, and other places and situations where general access to alcohol is of major concern.

[1]National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2004). Reducing Underage Drinking:  A Collective Responsibility.  Washington, DC:  National Academies Press, 2004. Available online at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309089352/html

[2]Harrison, P.A., Fulkerson, J.A., and Park, E. (2000). Relative importance of social versus commercial sources in youth access to tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs. Preventive Medicine. 31, 39-48; Preusser, D.F., Ferguson, S.A., Williams, A.F., and Farmer, C.M. (1995). Underage access to alcohol: Sources of alcohol and use of false identification. Arlington, VA: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; Schwartz, R.H., Farrow, J.A., Banks, B., and Giesel, A.E. (1998). Use of false ID cards and other deceptive methods to purchase alcoholic beverages during high school. Journal of Addictive Diseases. 17, 25-34, Wagenaar, A.C., Toomey, T.L., Murray, D.M., Short, B.J., Wolfson, M., and Jones-Webb, R. (1996). Sources of alcohol for underage drinkers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 57, 325-333.

[3]Harrison et al., 2000; Wagenaar et al., 1996.

[4]Jones-Webb R, Toomey T, Miner K, Wagenaar AC, Wolfson M, Poon R. (1997). Why and in what context adolescents obtain alcohol from adults: A pilot study. Substance Use & Misuse. 2, 219-28.

[5] Mayer, R.R., Forster, J.L., Murray, D.M., and Wagenaar, A.C. (1998). Social settings and situations of underage drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 59(2), 207, 214; Jones-Webb et al., 1997.

[5a] American Medical Association.  Teenage drinking: Key findings of Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) survey of teenagers and Harris Interactive survey of parents.  Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, Chicago, IL, 2006.

[6]Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (July, 1999).  Regulatory Strategies for Preventing Youth Access to Alcohol: Best Practices: 27.  Report prepared for Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Available at http://www.udetc.org/documents/accesslaws.pdf  

[7]Hingson, R.W., and Kenkel, D. (2004). Social, health, and economic consequences of underage drinking. In National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2004). Reducing Underage Drinking:  A Collective Responsibility.  Washington, DC:  National Academies Press, 2004. Available online at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309089352/html

[8]National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2002). Traffic safety facts 2001—Alcohol. (DOT HS 809 470). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.

[9]Hingson and Kenkel, 2004.

[10]Brown, S.A., and Tapert, S.F. (2004). Health consequences of adolescent alcohol involvement. In National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. (2004). Reducing Underage Drinking:  A Collective Responsibility.  Washington, DC:  National Academies Press, 2004. Available online at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309089352/html

[11] Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility, pp. 40, 58.

[12] Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility, p. 40, citing Schulenberg, J., O’Malley, P., Bachman, J., Wadsworth, K., and Johnston, L. (1996). Getting drunk and growing up: Trajectories of frequent binge drinking during the transition to young adulthood. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 57, 289-304.

[13] Mayer et al., 1998, pp. 207-215; Schwartz, R.H., and Little, D.L. (1997). Let’s party tonight: Drinking patterns and breath alcohol values at high school parties. Family Medicine, 29(5). 325-331; Wagenaar, A.C., Finnegan, J.R., Wolfson, M., Anstine, P.S., Williams, C.L., and Perry, C.L. (1993). Where and how adolescents obtain alcoholic beverages. Public Health Reports. 108(4), 459-464.

[14]Foley, K.L., Altman, D., Durant, R.H., and Wolfson, M. (2004).  Adults’ Approval and Adolescents’ Alcohol Use.  Journal of Adolescent Health, 34 (5). 345.e17.

[15]Foley, K.L. et al., 2004, p. 345.e24.

[16]Foley, K.L. et al., 2004, p. 345.e24.

[17]Foley, K.L. et al., 2004, p. 345.e24.