Indiana: Lifeline Law is valuable

Volume 138: June 3, 2013

Indiana: Lifeline Law is valuable

May 24, 2013

This May a student at Arizona State University was reportedly left at the doors of an emergency room with nothing but a post-it note saying "I've been drinking and I need some help" and with a blood alcohol content level of .47.

An act like that could have been easily prevented with similar legislation to Indiana's Lifeline law.

According to the Indiana Lifeline law coalition's website, the law provides "immunity for the crimes of public intoxication, minor possession, minor consumption and minor transportation alcohol to persons who reveal themselves to law enforcement while seeking medical assistance for a person suffering from an alcohol-related health emergency." The bill was signed into law by former governor and current Purdue President Mitch Daniels, just over a year ago.

Indiana is not alone with legislation that provides amnesty to minors that call 911 for assistance. Other states that has passed this law include Washington, California, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota,

Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York.

Without legislation like the Lifeline Law in place there is a fear that if you try to help one of your friends that may have consumed too many drinks, you too will be punished as well if you are underage. Something is inherently wrong with thinking that if you are underage it becomes a better choice to leave your friend helpless than to make sure they are safe.

Without this law in place a student who may have been drinking could witness another on the verge of alcohol poisoning and would be hesitant to do anything because they feared the consequences that could be imposed on them. Fear does not help a situation when someone may be in serious trouble. But now it is time for other states to follow Indiana's example and begin the process of passing this piece of legislation forward.

Source: The Purdue Exponent

Indiana: Reject heated argument over cold beer

May 30, 2013

The convenience store industry, having been thwarted repeatedly in its lobbying efforts, is asking the courts to change state law restricting the sales of cold beer to package liquor stores. This is a restriction that should remain in place.

The Indiana General Assembly has been whittling away at the alcohol laws that favor package liquor stores over supermarkets, convenience stores and other retail establishments that sell alcoholic beverages for carry-out.

One remaining restriction, though, is on sales of cold beer.

Indiana is the only state that gives liquor stores a monopoly on retail cold beer sales. And with liquor stores closed on Sundays, people who want cold beer need to plan ahead or slip across the state line.

In its lawsuit filed earlier this month, the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association claims the restriction on cold beer sales violates the equal protection guarantees of both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions.

If that's the case, why should Indiana have any alcohol sales restrictions at all? There's a very good reason, one that risks being forgotten in the march of time since the end of Prohibition.

Homer Simpson's line, "To alcohol! The cause of ... and solution to ... all of life's problems," is worth remembering because it rings so true. People who drink to drown their sorrows often learn too late that their drinking causes even more sorrows.

Alcohol fuels all sorts of bad behavior, and the ready availability of cold beer could fan those flames.

Indiana, like other states, put laws in place to restrict the sales of alcohol because consumption can be dangerous under certain circumstances. In the case of cold beer, that includes ready availability for motorists to consume as soon as they leave the store.

Making cold beer readily available at convenience stores and supermarkets would greatly increase its availability, and thus the likelihood of the beer getting in to the wrong hands.

This is a restriction that should remain in place. Existing Indiana law should be upheld.

Link: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-reject-heated-argument-over-cold-beer/article_ff4457cd-a655-524c-ba95-cd71caa0e962.html

Source: Northwest Indiana Times

Fewer tobacco products, but not alcohol, in movies

May 28, 2013

Movie characters smoke less since 1998 regulations that stopped tobacco companies from buying on-screen brand placements, according to a new study.

But at the same time, researchers found the number of alcohol brand appearances has increased in popular movies rated PG-13 and below, and the amount of time characters spend drinking hasn't changed.

"These results are of great concern," said David Jernigan, head of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

"In movie reality, it seems like every occasion is right for a drink," said Jernigan, who wasn't involved in the new study. And that suggests to young viewers that alcohol is much more common than is actually the case, he said.

"This whole conversation is about normalization of alcohol use," Jernigan told Reuters Health. "Young people are particularly vulnerable to the message that drinking is everywhere."

For the new study, researchers watched the top 100 box office releases of each year between 1996 and 2009 and recorded when a movie character was shown using or handling tobacco or alcohol, and when a particular brand was pictured.

In all, Elaina Bergamini from the Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and her colleagues recorded 500 tobacco and 2,433 alcohol brand placements in all films combined.

The number of tobacco brand appearances ranged from 54 to 98 per year before 2000, then declined to 22 per year after 2006. The amount of time characters were shown using tobacco also dropped over time in both youth and adult movies.

That suggests the 1998 regulation, part of the Master Settlement Agreement between tobacco companies and U.S. states, successfully stopped the tobacco industry from paying for its products to be shown on screen, the study team wrote in JAMA Pediatrics.

On the other hand, alcohol brand appearances in youth-rated movies, in particular, increased from 80 to 145 per year during the study period.
To read more, click this link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/us-tobacco-movies-idUSBRE94R0UZ2013052

Source: Reuters

Indiana: Finding the Best Drunk Driving Policy for Hoosiers

May 31, 2013

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently recommended that states lower their BAC levels for drunk driving from .08 to .05.

As a former law enforcement officer, I have seen firsthand the effects of drunk driving. I encourage our legislators to consult with local police, prosecutors and judges to get a better understanding of the impact that lowering BAC thresholds to .05 would have on our communities. Terms such as impairment, enforceability and effectiveness are more than just words when you're on the job.

As a local businessman and member of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers (IABR), our association has supported laws and initiatives by the State of Indiana and local communities to stop drunk driving. This has included measures to target high-BAC and repeat offenders with tougher laws. We have also fought for states' rights and Indiana's ability to determine how best to keep Hoosiers safe.

As a Vice President of American Beverage Licensees (ABL), which represents Indiana bars, taverns and package stores in Washington, DC, I have seen seemingly well-intentioned federal incentives, like those that NTSB has recommended, turn into burdensome and wrong-headed unfunded mandates.

As a husband and a father, the last thing I want is to hamper the ability of our law enforcement professionals to keep drunk drivers off the road. Neighborhood bars and package liquor stores are committed to being the first line of defense in fighting drunk driving.

Lowering the BAC from .08 to .05 would redirect the already limited resources of Indiana law enforcement away from high-BAC and chronic drunk drivers - those who are most dangerous. Instead, it would make a criminal out of anyone going out to dinner, coming home from a wedding, or stopping at the local bar on their way home from work.

No one supports drunk driving - especially small business owners with strong ties to their communities. Rather than lowering the BAC to .05, let's focus on addressing drunk driving by strengthening proven, data-driven programs that have made our roads the safest they've been in three decades.

By: Warren Scheidt, Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers Board of Directors

Young Drivers and Alcohol: A Deadly Mix

May 27, 2013

It is well known that young drivers are more likely than older ones to have accidents. But a visual analysis of national data on drunken driving puts the disparity into stark relief - and suggests whose lives might be saved by a proposal to lower the legal blood-alcohol limit.

The recommendation, by the National Transportation Safety Board, urges the 50 states and the District of Columbia to lower the limit of 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent, the standard in most industrialized countries.

Drivers younger than 26 cause the most auto fatalities in the United States, regardless of alcohol consumption. But 21 percent of young drivers involved in a fatal accident have some alcohol in their system - higher than in other age groups. Researchers have shown that even a small amount of alcohol can disrupt a person's ability to concentrate or do two things at once. For less experienced drivers, one or two drinks can cause the loss of reasoning and reaction time that might result in a fatal crash.

"Young drivers have a far greater risk differential in the 0.08 to 0.05 range," said Deborah A. P. Hersman, the board's chairwoman. "Lowering the legal limit can make people more thoughtful about having the second, third or fourth drink - because every drink raises a driver's crash risk level exponentially."

More than 6,600 impaired drivers are involved in fatal accidents every year, causing about 10,000 deaths. About half of those accidents are caused by drivers with blood alcohol levels at or below 0.16 percent.

The chart shows that the red "hot spots" start with young drivers at even the lowest blood-alcohol levels, and decline as drivers get older. If the proposed legislation is adopted by the states, young drivers and their passengers may be the biggest winners.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/science/young-drivers-and-alcohol-a-deadly-mix.html?_r=0

Source: The New York Times

Wisconsin: Wis. Police offices back underage drinking bill

May 28, 2013

Law enforcement officers urged state lawmakers on Tuesday to support a bill that would prohibit adults from knowingly permitting or failing to prevent underage drinking in Wisconsin.

In a letter sent to the Assembly Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, Appleton police Lt. Michael Frisch said the city has had several cases in the past years where adults would host underage drinking parties at their homes, but the police couldn't give them citations due to limitations under current law.

"These circumstances pose a public safety hazard," Frisch said, leading to "increased vehicle and foot traffic, excessive noise, garbage left outside, and damage to property."

Adults 21 and older are currently only responsible for underage drinking or alcohol purchases at bars or liquor stores that they own. The proposal from Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, would expand that responsibility to all properties adults own, including their homes.

Jacque said his proposal would set a universal standard for all state municipalities to follow. Under current law, counties and cities can set up their own underage drinking ordinances that have same effects as Jacque's proposal, but only Winnebago and Manitowoc counties have such rules.

Source: Sheboygan Press

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