According to the 2010 Student Drug Use Survey, alcohol is the drug of choice for 7th to 12th grade youth in greater Cincinnati. The CDFGC utilizes multiple strategies in multiple community sectors to reduce underage access to alcohol and change conditions locally that place our youth at risk.

Ohio has a Social Host Law which basically states that an adult may not provide alcohol to minors, nor “knowingly allow” minors to possess or consume alcohol on their property; parents are only permitted to provide alcohol to their child.  One strategy the Coalition is calling for is a tougher standard of culpability so that adults would be in violation of the statute if, for example, they “knew or should have known” that underage persons were consuming alcohol on their premises and allowed the drinking to occur. Too many “social hosts” are claiming to be conveniently unaware of underage drinking on their premises, and if they don’t knowingly permit the drinking, they have not violated the statute.

The Coalition’s student drug use survey indicates the main source of alcohol for underage drinkers is adults 21 or older. Statistics on alcohol related injuries and deaths among teens underscore the fact that underage drinking is not a rite of passage, but an unhealthy, illegal activity that often leads to grave consequences. In 2010, in the Greater Cincinnati community, no fewer than three teens were lost to the complications of underage drinking. According to the national Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), approximately one-half of automobile crashes are alcohol related. And teens that drink in their early teen years are four times more likely to become addicted to alcohol than those who wait to consume at age 21.

On May 25, 2011, the Coalition will host an enforcement of underage drinking laws (EUDL) forum at the Cincinnati Police Academy. This second EUDL forum is being sponsored by the law firm of Keating, Muething & Klekamp. At the forum, law enforcement professionals, prosecutors, judges and elected officials will discuss what can be done in the community to address underage drinking.

They will address quetions like:

• Is there a need for a local social host ordinance that places more teeth in Ohio’s current state law and increases culpability for those adults who provide alcohol to minors illegally?
• Should court deterrence programs be uniform and mandatory?
• Should responsible beverage service become mandatory in our community, in Ohio?

As a matter of public safety, the forum seeks a consensus for committing to increasing safety for youth of the community by examination and strengthening local alcohol consumption law.