The Prevention of Underage Drinking and Access to Alcohol Act that has been introduced for the upcoming legislative session tackles our state’s underage drinking problem from many different fronts. 

The problem of underage alcohol use has become an epidemic in drinking, leads to too many tragedies and causes horrific problems for communities around our state and across the country. Too many teenagers have died needlessly in DUI-related automobile crashes. Too many of our youth have had their lives negatively impacted by the poor decisions they make while impaired by alcohol.  South Carolina has some of the weakest laws in the nation when it comes to underage drinking. If the new legislation passes, we will have some of the strongest.

In conjunction with alcohol treatment and prevention agencies across our state, as well as different advocacy groups and organizations, here is what we are proposing in this new legislation:

We have added new provisions to make it illegal (for anyone under the age of 21) to “attempt to purchase” and to “consume” alcohol. Currently, our laws only prohibit “possession” and “purchasing” of alcohol. These additions will make our laws consistent with 36 other states.

Also, the monetary and criminal penalties for purchasing beer and wine will be the same as liquor. In addition, we have extended the amount of time that one’s driver’s license would be suspended from three months to six months, and a full year for a second offense. Law enforcement will be required to notify parents when any young person under 19 is charged with an alcohol-related offense. And perhaps the most important provision we are adding is the requirement that any youth convicted under this law attend an alcohol intervention/education program to hopefully put them on the right track.

Limiting access to alcohol is a key factor, so it is important that our laws are strong when it comes to the retail community. Monetary penalties for selling alcohol to youth will be significantly increased. Also, there will be a requirement for any employee convicted under this law to attend a merchant education program to better acquaint them with the proper procedures on how to screen customers to ensure they are of the legal age.

Unfortunately, to get to the root of the problem, we must also address the penalties for those over the age of 21 who provide alcohol to our youth. Older siblings, older friends and a small group of parents across our state too often are the ones who make underage drinking possible by allowing teenagers to party at their homes. Any adult who knowingly allows possession or consumption of alcohol on their property by youth other than their own children will be charged with a new “social hosting” offense. There is similar language in the laws of 32 other states, and it is intended for those who dangerously and recklessly put young people’s lives at risk.

Another new mechanism in our bill to limit youth access to alcohol is a beer keg registration policy. Any keg of beer sold will be registered with the retailer and have identification that will allow law enforcement to determine who is responsible for giving alcohol to teenagers at keg parties. Ultimately, the one who buys the keg could get charged so the burden of who gets the beer falls directly on their shoulders.

Too many teenagers are dying and too many are experimenting with and becoming addicted to alcohol. In recent studies and surveys, it was estimated that 16 percent of all alcohol sold was consumed by a person under the age of 21; 43 percent of students in grades 9-12 had at least one drink of alcohol in the past 30 days; and 26 percent had their first drink before age 13. This is startling, terribly dangerous and unacceptable. Underage drinking is a factor in many problems including homicide, suicide, traumatic injury, drowning, high-risk sex and fetal alcohol syndrome.

Identical bills have been introduced in the House and Senate, and we hope to make this a priority for this year’s legislative session. The time for action is now.

Sen. Lourie represents Richland and Kershaw counties in the S.C. Senate. Rep. Pitts represents Lexington County in the House of Representatives.