Oregon Law Promotes Underage Drinking

Oregon law permits parents or guardians to serve alcohol in their home to their children (birth through 17). However, when their children turn adults at 18, they can't allow their children to drink until 21. However, many of them send their kids off to college. And, they think that their children won't participate in binge drinking Harvard School of Public Health studies show that 44% of all college students binge drink, defined as five drinks at a sitting for men and four for women. And most of them probably aren't from states like Oregon that support underage drinking. Is that wishful thinking or do they care?

The law is called ------------. It states ---------------------------------. (Get law and consequences like what happens when they allow their children to get intoxicated?)

What can we do?

With alcoholic advertising directed to youth and laws that support underage drinking, and the wine and beer lobby fighting a wine and beer tax, what chance do we have of actually reducing the abuse of alcohol by our youth? And the needed funding to provide treatment for those who abuse alcohol. (As of yesterday, there was no space for additional underage abusers. The alternative - county lockup.)

Encourage our state legislators to introduce legislation to reverse ___________ and adopt stiff penalties to end underage drinking in Oregon.

Develop Neighborhood Watch Programs. Make it known that your neighborhood will not tolerate underage drinking.

With graduation parties not that far off, encourage neighbors to report loud parties and encourage the police to take immediate action to visit the scene and file a report.

Include all reports of underage drinking along with the regular Police Reports in all local newspapers.

Encourage local newspapers to do regular features on drug and alcohol abuse in our county.

Radical approach: Sue the state legislature to more than adequately fund drug and alcohol abuse programs to handle the cases created by the laws that are in place that encourage underage drinking.

(Get more information on the medical impact on the underage brain development when alcohol is introduced before 21. Gather similar information for early drug use. Question recent story in The Pilot that there is adequate treatment and success to treat meth abuse. Question if that is true of Crystal Meth users. Where are the facts about crystal meth treatment success.)

Additional Article

Don't End Medical Marijuana - End the Right to Medical Marijuana for Those Who Illegally Provide it to Others. (get the actual law and punishments)