Drug Free Marion County Joins with Bar and Restaurant Association, United Package Liquors on Public Awareness Campaign

Party Safe in Broad Ripple Encourages Safe Behavior

During Memorial Day weekend, Drug Free Marion County joined with the Broad Ripple Bar and Restaurant Association and United Package Liquors to launch a public awareness campaign that will continue throughout the summer. The Party Safe in Broad Ripple campaign encourages young adults ages 21 and over to be safe and respectful while enjoying the Broad Ripple night life.

The effort humorously reminds patrons to drink responsibly. Fourteen Broad Ripple bars and restaurants are participating in the campaign by displaying coasters and posters with messages such as "If you drink like a fish, you'll end up in the tank" or "End the night looking as good as when you started."

Brenda Rising-Moore, owner of Broad Ripple's Union Jack Pub, says that area restaurateurs have been concerned about the free-for-all reputation that the Broad Ripple area has acquired. "We want to send a message to the community that Broad Ripple is a fun place to party, but safety is of upmost importance," she said. "Inappropriate drunken behavior is not acceptable in our neighborhoods or anywhere else in Indianapolis."

Drug Free Marion County -- a not-for-profit organization -- plans, promotes, implements and coordinates community efforts to prevent and reduce the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs among youth and adults.

Drug Free Marion County can help you learn more. Contact the office at 317-254-2815 or visit www.drugfreemc.org.

The Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free Foundation launches new initiative 

Last week, the Leadership to Keep Children Alcohol Free Foundation (Leadership) launched a new initiative called Reality Education for Adolescent Development and Success, or Leadership READS. This initiative is an effort to educate adults in the realities of a teen's life, including early alcohol use by children. The goal is to help parents and community members work towards improving the chances of having children reach adulthood in a safe and healthy environment. It provides parents, care givers and other community members the opportunity to read and discuss a single book and apply what they can learn from its insights.

 Leadership READS is launching using the book Messengers in Denim: The Amazing Things Parents Can Learn From Teens by Dr. Parnell Donahue. A pediatrician with more than 40 years of experience, Dr. Donahue uses his conversations with teens to underline the importance of parents in teaching values to their children. Dr. Bonnie Hedrick, working with a Leadership committee and Dr. Donahue, produced the Messengers in Denim READS study guide, which is freely available from the Foundation's website: www.AlcoholFreeChildren.org.

 A book club or a discussion about a good book is a more inviting setting to talk with adults about tough issues facing kids. "People don't want to go to a 'parenting class,'" said Hope Taft, president and CEO for the Leadership. "But they will come to a book club."  

 For more on how to kick off a Leadership READS event in your community, ordering the Messengers in Denim book or study guide, go to www.AlcoholFreeChildren.org. Locally, you can also contact Nancy Beals at Drug Free Marion County at nbeals@drugfreemc.org or 317-254-2815.

Will revised Indiana alcohol ID law cause Hoosier run on botox?

Mark Bennett

TERRE HAUTE - The most high-pressure job in America used to be the "I-Can-Guess-Your-Age" guy at the county fair.

On July 1, law eases ID rule for liquor sales

But some retailers will still card all who buy booze.

By Megan Doyle

Despite the less stringent carding law to take effect July 1, liquor store owner Daniel Rousseve said he will continue to ask every customer at his registers to present an ID.

A 2010 law required all Indiana residents to provide photo identification when purchasing carry-out alcohol, but customer complaints prompted lawmakers to reconsider the policy. After July 1, a revised bill will require retailers to ask for ID only when a customer appears younger than 40 years old.

Rousseve, who owns four City-Wide Liquors stores in South Bend and Mishawaka, said he feels more comfortable with his current policy.

"(With the new law), you are putting the judgment call back in the clerk's hands," Rousseve said. "They have to decide if somebody looks 40 or not. If you card everybody, that's not a problem. ... It takes out the guesswork for the clerk."

 When the store first began to ask for ID, older customers did complain.

 "Some customers were actually irate about it," Rousseve said. "Now I don't get any complaints. Customers just walk in and are prepared to show their ID. They are used to it."

View the full story here: http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-05-28/news/29595963_1_id-rule-customers-underage-drinking

Source: South Bend Tribune

Graduates Need Your Guidance, Not Your Alcohol

By Donnell Ewert, MPH, director of Shasta County Public Health

 Some parents rationalize that by allowing teens to drink in their homes, they can keep teens safe. Or they may remember sharing a few beers with their friends on the weekend before they were of legal drinking age and consider it "normal" teen behavior.

The reality is that underage drinking is never safe. Teenagers who drink are at higher risk for alcohol abuse, can permanently damage brain development and have higher rates of accidental death. While taking the car keys may keep them safe from motor vehicle accidents, it does not address many other dangers, including accidental death from alcohol poisoning, injury or drowning; unplanned or unprotected sexual activity; violence; and criminal activity. Also, studies show that youth who begin drinking alcohol early in life are at four times greater risk of alcoholism later in life.

It may be tempting to think of your new grad as an adult, but your teen still depends on you to keep him or her safe and healthy.

• Talk to your teen. Don't assume he or she knows how destructive alcohol can be. Establish clear expectations and consequences.
• Plan ahead. Know their plans - where they plan to be and when. Verify with other parents that alcohol will not be allowed. Ensure your teen has a safe ride home.
• Stay up til your teens return home or have them wake you upon their return. A staggering 70% of teens say they would be less likely to drink alcohol if they knew their parents would be waiting up for them.
• Set a good example. If you drink, use alcohol moderately and model good behavior. If you keep alcohol in your home, keep track of the supply or keep it locked.
• Provide fun, alcohol-free opportunities and activities for teens.

Not only is it unsafe and unhealthy for teens to drink alcohol, it's against the law. Adults who knowingly provide alcohol to minors not only risk arrest, but also civil litigation. California's new Teen Alcohol Safety Act now holds adults liable if they knowingly provide alcohol to a minor and it results in injury or death.

Teen drinking affects all of us - teens, families and our community at large. We want to hear your ideas about how to prevent underage drinking in Shasta County. What works? What doesn't? Have you heard about the Teen Alcohol Safety Act? Do you think holding adults accountable for teen drinking accidents will prevent underage drinking in our community?

To learn more about underage drinking prevention efforts in Shasta County, visit www.thinkagainshasta.info.

Source: A News Cafe, founded in Shasta County

New York: Klein Subpoenas Four Loko

By Joseph Spector

Sen. Jeff Klein, chairman of the Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, said he's issuing a subpoena to the makers of Four Loko, the Chicago-based Phusion Projects, as part of his investigation into flavored malt liquor and their availability to minors.

The subpoenas will seek information regarding the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of Four Loko.

Phusion representatives failed to comply with Klein's requests for the information during a hearing in Albany last month. He issued a report today on the findings from the hearing.

Klein said the goal is to enact laws that would curb access of "alcopops" to minors.

"This company makes a product for sale in New York that's cheap, tastes sweet and packs a six-pack punch in a 22-ounce can," Klein said in a statement. "We believe that their information can greatly inform our efforts to keep Four Loko and similar 'alcopops' out of the hands of minors. Given Phusion's lack of cooperation, this committee has no choice, but to use the tools at its disposal to obtain the facts that we need."

Source: Politics on the Hudson

By Dr. Aric Sigman 

Drinking is something we enjoy and inevitably see as an integral part of adult life.

Culturally, alcohol is in our blood - and, for many, literally so.

Now, it's increasingly making its way into our children's blood, too, and at alarmingly younger ages.

A major government study found that 70 per cent of parents 'think it's safer to introduce their child to alcohol gradually, like they do in Europe'

In England, 11 to 15-year-old children who drink alcohol consume an average of 14.5 units a week, according to a major survey for the NHS.

View the full story here:http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/health/article-1392541/Leading-psychologist-says-odd-glass-wine-doesnt-help-teenagers-drink-sensibly.html#

Source: The Mail Online (England)

By David Ryan Palmer, Assistant Editor

Hosting a party? Police say you'd better keep a sharp eye out: If any underage drinking occurs, the fine lands on your shoulders.

Even if you didn't provide the alcohol yourself.

The rule is part of a city ordinance that says if any underage drinking occurs at a party, the host receives a citation. That citation starts at $1,000, said Patti Baron, coordinator of the Benicia Youth Action Coalition program in the Benicia Police Department.

Baron said Benicia is one of seven Solano County "city teams" that meet monthly and are working together in a new push to curb underage drinking.

View the full story here: https://beniciaherald.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/police-hosts-responsible-for-underage-party-drinking/

Source: The Benicia Herald (Calif.)

By David Whitford, editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- Kim Marotta runs corporate social responsibility at giant brewer MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP). She worries about carbon impact, product packaging, water use, and corporate ethics, as would any similarly titled VP at any large manufacturer. But her job has an added dimension, unique to the beverage industry, and of particular interest to any parent of teenagers during high-school-prom season: "alcohol responsibility."

That's where you tell your customers to enjoy your product, but not too much and not until they're old enough?

It's encouraging people to drink responsibly. Our primary focus is on the prevention of drunk driving, and on helping to prevent youth access to alcohol. A third area is addressing college campus issues. A fourth is self-regulation: making sure that our ads are only targeting adults. We make sure that the ads are reaching 70% legal-drinking-age adults. We actually get Nielsen numbers before we do a marketing buy or placement, and we'll go back and audit it afterwards, too.

Do you have kids?

I do. I have four kids, including a teenager who is going to be a junior in high school and another one who's going to be a freshman in high school. So it's very real to me.

What are the rules about drinking in your house?

Absolutely no beer. No alcohol. Not until you're the legal drinking age. Absolutely not. No exceptions. And my kids understand it. A lot of people that have teenagers think that other teenagers have the most influence on their kids' decisions about whether they're going to drink or engage in irresponsible behavior. But what research has shown year after year is that it's the parents that are the number-one influence. If the parents set the rules and set the standards and make it clear to the kids about what's acceptable, generally speaking, the kids will make good decisions. You've got to understand that and take responsibility for it.

On the other side, I'll just tell you one of the things a friend of mine did when his kids were younger. He had a rock in his yard, and he'd keep, like, 50 bucks under the rock at all times. So that his kids never felt as though they couldn't get home safely. They could pay for a cab and there were no questions asked.

View the full blog post here: http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/07/how-to-drink-beer-and-save-the-environment/ 

Source: Fortune blog