The Case for a Social Host Policy

Helpline Youth Counseling

Substance abuse prevention program

ADULT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SOCIAL HOST

Underage Drinking

The problem of underage drinking is one that has received national attention. Although rates of adolescent alcohol use have fallen since the 1980’s, the prevalence of underage drinking remains unacceptably high, and reducing underage drinking and its consequences is a public health priority (U.S DHHS, 2007). We have all heard horror stories relating to underage drinking. The stories are endless, the girl who was raped while she was drunk, the high school seniors who crashed on prom night, the heated arguments, fights and violence worsened by the effects of alcohol. Everyone I’m sure has either experienced or knows of a unique horror story associated to underage drinking. What may not be common knowledge is the severity alcohol consumption has on a young persons’ brain and character development. This paper hopes to inform the community of Norwalk about the current underage alcohol use in the community, the threats associated with underage drinking, the cost of underage drinking and the need to stop adults from providing underage youth alcohol.

RESEARCH ON THE THREAT OF ALCOHOL FOR UNDERAGE YOUTH

Alcohol has been the drug of choice for youth and the leading cause of death among teenagers (National Center on Addiction and substance abuse, 2002). Our Youth Field Survey data states that 33% or 7 out of 23 respondents ages 12-17 report that they began drinking alcohol regularly, at least once or twice a month before the age of 18 for the city of Norwalk (source: YFS-D17). The California Healthy Kids 2008-2010 CHKS data states that 71% of Norwalk high school 11th graders reported having at least one full drink in the past 30 days.

Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused drug among youth in the United States, more than tobacco and illicit drugs, and is responsible for more than 4,700 annual deaths among underage youth (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2007). A common misconception among many is that all youth “will drink regardless” or that it is an inevitable “rite of passage” that does not affect young adults because of their body’s resiliency. This misconception couldn’t be further from the truth. Alcohol consumption during this developmental period may have profound effects on brain structure and function (Tapert, 2005). Recent research suggests that heavy drinking may affect brain functioning in early adolescence, even in physically healthy youths. This is important for two reasons, first the brain continues to develop throughout adolescence and into young adulthood, and insults to the brain during this period therefore could have an impact on long term brain function. Second, young adulthood is a period when most people make critical educational, occupational, and social decisions, and impaired cognitive functioning at this time could substantially affect their futures (Tapert, 2005).

Youth who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse later in life than those who begin drinking at or after age 21 years (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2007).  In addition to increasing the risk for future alcohol dependence; adolescents who begin drinking before the age of 13 are twice as likely to have unplanned sex during college, and more than twice as likely to have unprotected sex during college, as those who do not start drinking until after age 19 (Hingson, 2003). 

Youth access to alcohol must be proactively addressed through all sources. Many people mistakenly believe that allowing youth to drink will help reduce some of the negative consequences of alcohol. However the truth is that the risks associated with underage drinking does not differentiate between location and settings.

In 2011, 57.0 percent of current underage drinkers reported that their last use of alcohol occurred in someone else's home, and 28.2 percent reported that it had occurred in their own home. About one third (30.3 percent) paid for the alcohol the last time they drank, including 7.7 percent who purchased the alcohol themselves and 22.4 percent who gave money to someone else to purchase it. Among those who did not pay for the alcohol they last drank, 38.2 percent got it from an unrelated person aged 21 or older, 19.1 percent from another person younger than 21 years old, and 21.4 percent from a parent, guardian, or other adult family member (Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2012).

In our youth field survey we found that 74% or 17 out of 23 respondents ages 12-17 report access to alcohol at other’s homes in the city of Norwalk (source: YFS B9)*. Survey data states that 72% or 5 out of 7 respondents ages 18-24 report parents allowing use is one of the top reasons for alcohol misuse in city of Norwalk (source: YAFS-E1)*.

Norwalk, Data

·         Alcohol is so commonly consumed, survey data states that 35% or 8 out of 23 respondents ages 12-17 report that they had used alcohol at least once in the past 30 days for Norwalk (source: YFS-D8).

·         Survey data states that 33% or 7 out of 23 respondents ages 12-17 report that they began drinking alcohol regularly, at least once or twice a month before the age of 18 for the city of Norwalk (source: YFS-D17).

·         88% or 15 out of 17 survey respondents in 2012 for Norwalk ages 18-24 stated that they had began drinking alcohol regularly by the age of 21 or younger.  (YAFS-D17)

·         2008-2010 CHKS data 35% of Norwalk 7th graders reported having at one full drink in the past 30 days (http://chks.wested.org/).

·         2008-2010 CHKS data states that 53% of Norwalk high school 9th graders reported having at least one full drink in the past 30 days (http://chks.wested.org/).

·         2008-2010 CHKS data states that 71% of Norwalk high school 11th graders reported having at least one full drink in the past 30 days (http://chks.wested.org/).

·         71% of Norwalk 11th graders reported using alcohol at least once in their lifetime according to CHKS data 2008-2010].

THE COST OF UNDERAGE DRINKING

A study conducted by the Pacific institute for Research and Evaluation titled “Underage Drinking in California, The Facts” found that 6.8 billion dollars went towards problems related to underage drinking in the state of California. The economic costs include medical care, work loss, and pain and suffering associated with multiple problems resulting from the use of alcohol by youth (PIRE, 2011).

The cost of underage drinking

In California 2010

Figure 1 (PIRE, 2011)

Figure 2 (PIRE, 2011)

The harm associated with underage drinking leads to substantial harm due to traffic crashes, violent crime, property crime, unintentional injury, and risky sex. These harms have long term effects that may take years to repair.

CASE STUDY

San Diego County and Ventura County for example have addressed the problem of social hosting through dialogue and local policymaking. Both counties have worked collectively with every City in their county to enact a social host ordinance.

Social host liability laws have gained national attention with many States adopting various ordinances that either imposes fines or criminal actions for social hosting. This new focus on holding the social host liable for underage drinking lead the government of California to adopt a new bill; assembly bill No. 2486 in late 2010. Prior to the adoption of this bill the laws on hosting in California were weak leading many cities and counties to compensate for the weakness in the State law by passing local social host ordinances.

To date there are seven counties and over 50 cities throughout California that have used local authority to reduce underage drinking parties and have passed some version of a social host law.

EFFECTIVENESS OF A SOCIAL HOST LAW

After years of research dedicated to finding effective tools to prevent underage drinking social host laws stand out as an effective and efficient tool. We also have the benefit of analyzing the effectiveness of implementing a social host policy from our neighboring county, specifically San Diego and Ventura County.

San Diego was a pioneer in implementing Social Host laws in California. San Diego houses one of the nation’s top party schools, and in an attempt to curtail various underage drinking problems like youth violence, traffic crashes, injury, property crimes etc, San Diego adopted a social host law in May of 2003. After ten years of implementation data was collected by a study done by The Arch Institute for San Diego County, the study measured the effectiveness of the ordinance, by measuring reductions in disturbance related police calls. The data demonstrated that in the year following the implementation of the ordinance there was an eight percent reduction in these types of calls. When San Diego County adopted social host laws in its cities it intended to achieve a reduction in underage drinking and a shift in entrenched community norms where parents knowingly provide alcohol to youth in private settings (Claypool, 2007). San Diego’s biggest success has been in changing community norms regarding underage drinking, they have had successful media campaigns that have made the community more aware of the new law and the dangers associated with underage drinking.

Ventura County followed in the steps of San Diego and implemented a county wide social host ordinance SHO within each of the 10 municipalities in the county. The process began in 2004 and in 2009 the Ventura County behavioral health department conducted an evaluation to measure the results of implementing a social host law. The study was published in 2009 and titled “Ventura County Social Host Ordinance impact Evaluation: Phase I findings”. The purpose of phase I was to begin collecting evidence about the impact that the SHOs have made in three economically different jurisdictions within Ventura County. The data collected for the evaluation consisted of assessing the following: Impact data indicators (law enforcement party disturbance calls, California Healthy Kids Survey data on alcohol use, drinking and driving and perceived difficulty obtaining alcohol, Ventura County Medical Center alcohol related ER visits, CHP-Statewide integrated traffic records system data on collisions, injuries, and deaths involving underage persons driving under the influence), patrol survey (administered to 91 law enforcement officers with authority to issue Social Host Ordinance citations in the three target cities), and Key informant interviews conducted with city officials regarding the Social host ordinance fine and appeal process in each jurisdiction.

What the data concluded

Overall the ordinances have received a positive reception and the following are highlights are taken directly from the “Ventura County Social Host Ordinance Impact Evaluation: Phase 1 findings” publication.

·         3 out of 4 law enforcement officers surveyed agree that the social host ordinance SHO is an effective tool for reducing underage drinking parties, reported no problems/obstacles when trying to enforce the ordinance, and said that they would not change anything about the ordinance.

·         About one quarter of all law enforcement officers’ surveyed report fewer calls for service for underage drinking parties since the ordinance passed-71% said there were no change in calls, 27% said there were fewer calls, and 2% said there were more calls for service for these types of parties.

·         The size of underage drinking parties appears to have decreased since the passage of the ordinance. Some enforcement data indicated decreases in the percentage of hosts who received citations for parties with 51-100 attendees and several law enforcement officers noted decreased size of underage drinking parties.

·         CHKS data demonstrated decreases in the ease of obtaining alcohol since the implementation of the ordinance for 9th and 11th grades for instances that data were available.

SOCIAL HOST LAWS

Social Access

For the past thirty years prevention groups like Mothers against Drunk Drivers MADD have been successful in getting our attention and reversing established norms on drinking and driving. Policy change has focused on deterring drunk drivers from driving with fines, media advocacy, and compliance checks.  In addition to the policy efforts given to preventing drunk driving there has been a lot of focus on reducing retail availability. Some of the strategies used for reducing retail availability include restricting age of sellers and servers, responsible beverage service training for alcohol merchants, restricting hours of sale etc.

What has not received as much attention and effort is reducing the social availability of alcohol to minors. Social host laws hold hosts accountable by imposing fines and allowing police departments to cite the host of the party for allowing underage drinking on their property. Currently problems associated with underage drinking in homes are difficult for law enforcement agencies to resolve without greater authority. Social host ordinances provide our law enforcement with an effective tool to address underage drinking at private parties. It is proven that social host ordinances help deter adults from providing alcohol to minors and help change community norms.

This material was made possible by funds from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control.