Drinking age to 18

[KBCraig]

Chief JavertCowing sounds like a righteous ass.


http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Drinking-party+mom+speaks+up&articleId=2878498a-ea59-4493-8b46-3737fc776fa0


Drinking-party mom speaks up

By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
Union Leader Staff
Saturday, Mar. 18, 2006

Gilford ? Susan Hanlon doesn?t even remember her mother.

She was killed by a drunken driver, leaving behind a grieving husband to raise their six children, including then-3-year-old Susan.

Now that her own children are teenagers, Hanlon is determined to do what she can to protect them from her mother?s fate.

?I?m terrified for my children when they leave my house and they aren?t under my supervision,? she said. ?And I?m terrified for people who don?t think their kids are doing things. Their kids are doing things, and they?re the ones who are going to end up wrapped around a pole.?

Last weekend, Hanlon was arrested for hosting an underage drinking party for her 18-year-old daughter and more than a dozen of her classmates at her Gilford home.

Hanlon doesn?t see her behavior as contradictory. ?There?s law and then there?s what you believe is the right thing.?

?Keeping people alive is the most important thing, and I was providing a safe environment to keep them all here and alive so they weren?t out on the street getting somebody killed ? or themselves killed.?

She did not provide alcohol for the teens, and not all the kids at the party were drinking, Hanlon said. And she says she ?had no idea? that New Hampshire passed a law in 2004 that makes it a crime to host a party with alcohol for five or more non-relatives under 21.

?I thought in your home, in a controlled environment, it was fine.?

Hanlon said she never would have allowed the party, a sleepover to celebrate her daughter?s 18th birthday, had she known about the party host statute. ?I feel that I disappointed people in not being aware of the laws.?

But she fears the law, however well-intentioned, will drive kids out of the relative safety of their homes, to the woods and parking lots ? and into their cars. That was something some opponents of the measure, which was crafted and promoted by a group of Dover teenagers, raised during the contentious battle over its passage.

?I think kids are still going to do it, but they?re going to drive around and do it,? Hanlon said. ?And they?re definitely going to go off to college and do it at college.?

And that?s what really worries her, as the parent of a Gilford High School senior. ?Do we want them bingeing and throwing up and dying? We need to teach them responsible drinking, and because it?s against the law we can?t.?

Gilford Police Lt. Edison Cowing called such an attitude ?a cop-out.?

?I would say you can?t take the defeatist attitude, ?They?re going to do it anyway, so you might as well do it at my house,? ? he said.

Cowing said it?s possible some kids may take their parties to the woods if they can?t drink at home. But he said, ?I don?t believe in making it easy for your kids to break the law. If somebody is hell-bent on doing something, they?re probably going to find a way to do it. But don?t give them the tools.?

Hanlon told the Sunday News the teens were dancing and some were having ?mixed alcohol? drinks. She had taken all their keys, and was checking on them regularly, she said.

She hosted the party to protect the kids, she said, to keep them safe. And she said she?s not the only parent who regularly, quietly, makes such a choice.

It was the same in her house growing up, Hanlon said. ?My dad was the one who survived his wife being killed, and he made sure we were safe with alcohol as well when we were growing up, because he didn?t want to see us plastered on the side of the road.?

Hanlon said she has not gotten any angry phone calls from parents of the teens who were at her daughter?s birthday party ? although she has heard some of her younger son?s friends have been barred from her house. ?I?ve had parents ask me what they can do to help.?

But according to Lt. Cowing, at least one parent called the Hanlon home before the party and was assured an adult would be home and no alcohol would be served.

?We?ve got a sworn affidavit to that effect,? he said. ?These parents are livid. These parents did everything we tell parents to do. They called and checked. If you can?t trust the 40-year-old, who can you trust??

Hanlon says some parents are upset with how police handled the incident, taking her off to the police station and leaving the teenagers in the house with the officers, to arrange rides home. Two of the teens were charged with unlawful possession of alcohol.

?Storming somebody?s house, sending kids in 12 different directions, terrifying them and scaring them half to death, is it going to stop them from drinking?? she asked.

Cowing said Gilford police always call parents to the home when they bust an underage party, so they can see for themselves the evidence of alcohol or drugs. And while Hanlon is the first person in town charged under the party host law, he sees no problem with removing her from the house before parents arrived. ?There were police with the kids, who I would have to say are a whole lot more responsible than her.?

Since her arrest last weekend, Hanlon has spent hours on-line, researching the issue of underage drinking. ?It starts with people understanding it?s a problem and not just saying it?s against the law,? she said. ?Yes, it?s illegal, but it?s happening, so let?s take it from there.?

?Parents, community leaders, the government, everybody needs to figure it out. We need to stop making drinks and drinking such a great and wonderful-looking thing,? she said. ?Go to any of the TV shows, watch how they glorify how cool it is, sitting at a bar and drinking.?

Hanlon would like to see stricter penalties for drunken driving. ?That?s what?s important, keeping them off the street.?

But prevention experts say that?s not the only important thing. They point to the dangers of binge drinking, such as alcohol poisoning, and the increased risk of sexual assaults and fights. And they point to scientific evidence of the negative effects of alcohol on the still-developing brain.

Hanlon said she shares those concerns, but contends they can also serve as arguments for teaching young people about the adverse effects of alcohol in a controlled environment.

?My kids are my kids, and I feel it?s my responsibility for them to see what the effects are of it,? she said. ?I tell them when they go to college they?re going to be put in this position where there?s going to be a keg and you can drink 500 beers if you want to. I?m not going to be there. Nobody?s going to care if you?re in the bushes dead.?

Against the advice of friends, she?s thinking about pleading guilty to the charge against her, ?just because it?s the right thing to do.?

Hanlon hopes her own mistake will teach her children and their friends it?s important to face the consequences of your behavior. ?Each time something like this happens, it teaches everybody a lesson, what to do and what not to do.?

But she still worries about the choices these young people will make when there is no safe haven, no caring parent to watch over them when they experiment with alcohol.

?I?m trying to figure it out. You try to be a cool parent yet a responsible parent, yet a law-abiding citizen, yet knowing there are certain gray areas. And doing something that?s right and that makes a difference is what I would like to see done here.?

?Wouldn?t it be nice if we could teach our kids it?s not even worth doing because it?s not worth the money, it?s not worth the effect it gives you and it?s not as cool as everyone says it is? That?s the world we need to get to.?

[Pat K]

Well all the kids in my nieborhood started drinking in "the woods" of course we didn't drive, we were not old enough. 

[FTL_Ian]

Ignorance is no excuse:  ALL CITIZENS MUST SPEND 10 YEARS OF THEIR LIFE READING THE LAW!   

[maxxoccupancy]

Setting the drinking age to 18, or even 19, would offer a huge boost to NH's economy.  There are college age students all over the Northeast who already make the drive up to Montreal as it is.  If students could drink legally in NH, our bars and stores would receive a huge economic boost, at the expense of nearby socialist states, of course...

We also need to make a point of pushing back the drinking times.  Bars now stop serving at 12:40 am, and this kills the night life here in Manchester.

--Max

[Recumbent ReCycler]

I just sent an invitation to Miss Lynch to join this discussion.  I included a direct link so that she wouldn't have to look for it. 

[citizen_142002]

Can anybody give me the contacts of 2 representatives who might be willing to introduce legislation on reducing the drinking age.
I would like to propose an all out defiance of the federal funding incentive and also have someone propose a bill which would allow people to allow all that can be done while still qualifying for federal highway funding, that is if we still get very much anyway.
If I can get two NH legislators to commit to introducing such legislation, I would also contact Ron Paul of Texas to see if he would be willing to try to get the federal crap undone, which is much more of a long shot.

[Dreepa]

Ignorance is no excuse:  ALL CITIZENS MUST SPEND 10 YEARS OF THEIR LIFE READING THE LAW!   

Exactly.

If we had to read ever freakin' law that was passed... AHHH

[Dave Ridley]

couldn't find a gilford PD number.  The town hall number is 603-527-4700

didn't work at night, wasn't able to leave a message at night

[Dave Ridley]

Here it is:

Gilford Town - Police Department, Business
47 Cherry Valley Road, Gilford, NH 03249
(603) 527-4737

[Dave Ridley]

arright got thru to Lt. Cowing's voice mail and left a polite complaint.  He has a spot on the town website where he quotes the 2nd amendment so I thanked him for that then got on to the complaining part LOL.

[citizen_142002]

OK,
nobody responded when I asked for the contacts of legislators in NH who might be willing to tackle this issue. I guess nobody really knows of any state representatives who have voiced an opinion on this matter. So, I am writing 3 state reps from my district, Cheshire 2, and asking them to introduce legislation about it at the next possible time. If anyone else is in Cheshire 2 and feels like writing to Reps:Eaton, Pratt, or Sawyer, please feel free.
If anyone knows legislators who are generally pro liberty, I would appreciate it if you would PM me their contact information. Does anyone know if Don Gorman would introduce something like this?

[PowerPenguin]

Ignorance is no excuse:  ALL CITIZENS MUST SPEND 10 YEARS OF THEIR LIFE READING THE LAW!   

Do you have a copy of this fat bastard? If so, send it to me and I'll piss on it with pics of course (I'm serious you know I'd do it ! 8-)

[FTL_Ian]

I don't understand the question.  ???

[Dave Ridley]

citizen just click on the link in my sig, open up the Legislator Index and pick one of the reps with a b or better to contact.   all of them know us, or at least they know of the FSP and are probably supportive.  Some might balk but others will probably show interest in bringing something forward.  Or you can contact Democrat Jim Splaine, who's previously submitted a somewhat similar bill.  He's only 20% pro liberty in rankings but who knows.

Actually you'll probably have to contact 4 or 5 reps to get good response you need, but you only need one sponsor.

I'm glad you want to do this  !   sorry you didn't get a quicker response.

Also I think you're bill will do better if it simply reduces the penalties for all these "drinking crimes" rather than actually legalizing them.   That way you are only removing from the status quo that most unpopular part of the evil system, the punishment part.

[cliftonyte]

It is kind of ironic. they tried to pass a bill making individuals who serve in the military and who are 18 years of age, legal drinkers. Screw the  18 year old who works and lives life! It all boils down to what causes  a problem?       Is it a gun?  is it liquor/beer?  Is it a car?  No, it is the will or energy of a  person. A stupid a'hole  causes the problem/accident and a heart warming liberal  thrives off of it. One dumbass kills or hurts some one and we are all to suffer. granted people make mistakes and I feel a true and very deep sympathy for those who have lost friends or loved ones.The individual should be punished who hurts another!. Not all of society!!!!