According to WGME13, Portland Police handed out citations to two bars this week--both involving visibly intoxicated persons.
Mathews Pub was cited for serving a visibly intoxicated patron, and Downtown Lounge was cited for letting visibly intoxicated people into the bar.
We would like to commend Portland PD for continuing to enforce liquor laws, especially those regarding intoxicated people and, of course, underage drinking (see our recent blog post).
It’s good to see publicity about this kind of enforcement, especially since teens are four times more likely to drink if they don’t think they will be caught by police (2008 MYDAUS).
And we hope that bars are learning more about not serving to already intoxicated people – especially since, under the Maine Liquor Liability Act, bartenders can be sued if a visibly intoxicated person (or minor) hurts someone else. A bartender or owner can be held liable for $350,000 in damages and UNLIMITED medical expenses.
It’s pretty clear to us that it’s not worth the risk to provide alcohol for a minor, or serve someone who’s already drunk.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Parents Connecting for Alcohol-Free Youth
This fall, the Maine Office of Substance Abuse (OSA) is launching a new resource co-developed with 21 Reasons and Maine’s Environmental Substance Abuse Prevention Center (MESAP).
“Connecting for Alcohol-Free Youth: A Parent Discussion – Facilitator’s Guide” is an innovative tool to help empower parents to prevent underage drinking. Check it out here!
The guide provides step-by-step instruction for hosting and facilitating small parent discussions, using a format inspired by the “Tupperware” model. Each discussion is meant to be friendly and relaxed, held in a home or a similarly comfortable community setting—for example, a local coffee shop or a meeting room in the public library. While designed primarily for parents of 5th- 8th graders, these discussions are appropriate for parents with younger children as well as older teenagers.
Geoffrey Miller, Associate Director of OSA, says:
In fact, SAMHSA was so impressed with the discussion guide and this concept that they requested to offer the guide as a national resource!
We are so excited to assist SAMHSA and OSA in their efforts to prevent underage drinking; we hope that the upcoming parent meetings will inspire our communities here in Maine and across the country.
“Connecting for Alcohol-Free Youth: A Parent Discussion – Facilitator’s Guide” is an innovative tool to help empower parents to prevent underage drinking. Check it out here!
The guide provides step-by-step instruction for hosting and facilitating small parent discussions, using a format inspired by the “Tupperware” model. Each discussion is meant to be friendly and relaxed, held in a home or a similarly comfortable community setting—for example, a local coffee shop or a meeting room in the public library. While designed primarily for parents of 5th- 8th graders, these discussions are appropriate for parents with younger children as well as older teenagers.
Geoffrey Miller, Associate Director of OSA, says:
“These discussions are designed to help you provide local parents with an opportunity to connect with other parents in a way that establishes shared monitoring strategies to prevent underage drinking.The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has approved a change in format for Maine’s 2010 Preventing Underage Drinking Meetings. Rather than using the traditional town hall meeting format, Maine community-based organizations that participate in this initiative will be using “Connecting For Alcohol-Free Youth” in a small-meeting format with parents.
“We are very excited about this new model, and look forward to seeing it carried out across the state. Success stories from the piloted communities are truly inspiring: One of the parent groups found the meeting so valuable that they formed a parenting group; many signed on to do more meetings; some were trained as facilitators; and others continued working on this initiative by becoming involved in their local community coalition. This is what we would like to see happen in communities across Maine.”
In fact, SAMHSA was so impressed with the discussion guide and this concept that they requested to offer the guide as a national resource!
We are so excited to assist SAMHSA and OSA in their efforts to prevent underage drinking; we hope that the upcoming parent meetings will inspire our communities here in Maine and across the country.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Parent reports underage drinking party
Over the weekend, Portland police broke up an underage drinking party, thanks to the report of a parent whose teen was involved:
Reporting a party can be difficult choice for a parent, and we appreciate this parent’s decision to prioritize the health and safety of the young people involved. It’s up to each one of us to help make sure youth are safe, and we all are responsible for reporting dangerous situations—like underage drinking parties.PORTLAND – Police broke up a party during the weekend involving 35 to 40 teenagers, mostly from Deering and Portland high schools. Police were called to 16 Hope Ave. at 11:50 p.m. Saturday, after the parent of a teenager who had been drinking at the party reported it, police said …Police issued a court summons to a 16-year-old for furnishing the alcohol. [A father and son] were ordered to appear in court on charges of furnishing a place for minors to drink.
To those who are wondering, “What’s the big deal as long as they’re not driving?” we would point out that every year, alcohol contributes to more youth deaths than all other illegal drugs combined, and only 1/3 of those deaths are from car crashes.
The reality is that 2/3 of underage drinking deaths are the result of suicides, homicides, and injuries like alcohol poisoning, drowning, burns, falls, and suffocation. And there is collateral damage as well: underage drinking also increases youth risk of depression, addiction, sexual assault, teen pregnancy, school failure, and delinquency.
There is nothing to celebrate about that.
If you hear of an underage drinking party, report it to your local police department. A list of numbers for Southern Maine police departments is available here.
More tips for parental monitoring are available on our Parent Resources page.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Alcohol: Lose the caffeine, add the... protein?
Recently, two different pre-mixed alcoholic beverages have been causing quite a stir.
The first is the alcoholic energy drink. According to the New York Times, companies who make products such as Joose and Four Loko now have 30 days to prove that their products are “safe”, otherwise the FDA will impose a ban on all caffeinated alcohol drinks.
We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s obvious these drinks are anything but safe. As both the New York Times article and an article from 2008 in Time magazine have reported, combining a stimulant (caffeine) with a depressant (alcohol) will most likely cause you to underestimate how drunk you really are. You might feel like you are not impaired, but your BAC will tell a different story.
And while many news stories comment on the high alcohol content, they don’t mention what that higher alcohol content means. Let’s compare a traditional serving of beer with a can of Four Loko (which has one of the highest alcohol contents of the caffeinated drinks currently on the market). A beer is 12 oz, and a can of Four Loko is almost 24 oz. A serving of beer typically has around 5.0% alcohol by volume. A Four Loko can have as much as 12% alcohol by volume. So the serving size is twice as large, AND the alcohol content is more than doubled. If you do the math, you’ll find that drinking a can of Four Loko is like drinking FOUR beers.
Wait a minute, isn’t four beers (in a short amount of time, say, two hours) the definition of binge drinking? (at least for women, since that’ll get your BAC up to about 0.08 – it’s around five drinks in the same time frame for men). Hopefully, the risks are becoming clear. People don’t know how much they’re drinking, will drink it quickly, and won’t notice how drunk they are due to the caffeine.
And that’s not all. Researchers at Wake Forest University found that students who drank alcohol with energy drinks, when compared to those who drank alcohol that wasn’t mixed with energy drinks, were more likely to be injured, to ride with a drunk driver, or to be the victim or perpetrator of sexual assault. There’s even a risk for heart problems, since you’re sending two opposing messages to your central nervous system. With evidence like this, we sincerely hope the FDA (and the beverage companies) will do the right thing and take these products off the shelves.
The other beverage is relatively new, but it’s no less mind-boggling than the first. The founder of a company that runs several nightclubs and bars has created Devotion Spirits, which boasts the world’s first vodka infused with – wait for it – protein.
The brains behind the operation, Drew Adelman, came up with the idea as a product for people who are serious about their fitness – and apparently about their partying. The product claims include that the protein lessens the harsh taste of vodka, creates a smoother feel, and minimizes your hangover.
Again, we hope it’s glaringly obvious that this product is neither a miraculous non-hangover-inducing alcohol, nor a good idea for true fitness buffs. Just one night of heavy drinking can have the equivalent of 14 days of lost training (American Athletic Institute, 2004). Adding protein can’t and won’t change that. And we won’t even begin to describe our horror when we learned that the graphics on the product’s “sexy bottle” (the company’s words, not ours) were inspired by Mr. Adelman’s daughter. While the site doesn’t mention her age, it definitely sounds like she’s very young.
Let’s be clear: moderate drinking by adults over 21 is not a bad thing. But the very existence of these products encourage underage or irresponsible consumption. Let’s think about what we’re telling youth—and ourselves—about the consequences of drinking.
 |  |
The first is the alcoholic energy drink. According to the New York Times, companies who make products such as Joose and Four Loko now have 30 days to prove that their products are “safe”, otherwise the FDA will impose a ban on all caffeinated alcohol drinks.
We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that it’s obvious these drinks are anything but safe. As both the New York Times article and an article from 2008 in Time magazine have reported, combining a stimulant (caffeine) with a depressant (alcohol) will most likely cause you to underestimate how drunk you really are. You might feel like you are not impaired, but your BAC will tell a different story.
And while many news stories comment on the high alcohol content, they don’t mention what that higher alcohol content means. Let’s compare a traditional serving of beer with a can of Four Loko (which has one of the highest alcohol contents of the caffeinated drinks currently on the market). A beer is 12 oz, and a can of Four Loko is almost 24 oz. A serving of beer typically has around 5.0% alcohol by volume. A Four Loko can have as much as 12% alcohol by volume. So the serving size is twice as large, AND the alcohol content is more than doubled. If you do the math, you’ll find that drinking a can of Four Loko is like drinking FOUR beers.
Wait a minute, isn’t four beers (in a short amount of time, say, two hours) the definition of binge drinking? (at least for women, since that’ll get your BAC up to about 0.08 – it’s around five drinks in the same time frame for men). Hopefully, the risks are becoming clear. People don’t know how much they’re drinking, will drink it quickly, and won’t notice how drunk they are due to the caffeine.
And that’s not all. Researchers at Wake Forest University found that students who drank alcohol with energy drinks, when compared to those who drank alcohol that wasn’t mixed with energy drinks, were more likely to be injured, to ride with a drunk driver, or to be the victim or perpetrator of sexual assault. There’s even a risk for heart problems, since you’re sending two opposing messages to your central nervous system. With evidence like this, we sincerely hope the FDA (and the beverage companies) will do the right thing and take these products off the shelves.
The other beverage is relatively new, but it’s no less mind-boggling than the first. The founder of a company that runs several nightclubs and bars has created Devotion Spirits, which boasts the world’s first vodka infused with – wait for it – protein.
The brains behind the operation, Drew Adelman, came up with the idea as a product for people who are serious about their fitness – and apparently about their partying. The product claims include that the protein lessens the harsh taste of vodka, creates a smoother feel, and minimizes your hangover.
Again, we hope it’s glaringly obvious that this product is neither a miraculous non-hangover-inducing alcohol, nor a good idea for true fitness buffs. Just one night of heavy drinking can have the equivalent of 14 days of lost training (American Athletic Institute, 2004). Adding protein can’t and won’t change that. And we won’t even begin to describe our horror when we learned that the graphics on the product’s “sexy bottle” (the company’s words, not ours) were inspired by Mr. Adelman’s daughter. While the site doesn’t mention her age, it definitely sounds like she’s very young.
Let’s be clear: moderate drinking by adults over 21 is not a bad thing. But the very existence of these products encourage underage or irresponsible consumption. Let’s think about what we’re telling youth—and ourselves—about the consequences of drinking.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Football season? Time to free the bowl!
That's the Super Bowl, you know. The Marin Institute has once again launched a campaign encouraging kids to submit anti-alcohol ads in opposition to the tsunami of beer and alcohol advertising that happen during the Super Bowl. The contest is called "Free the Bowl."
In this year's contest Big Alcohol is personified as "Big Al:"
Marin Institute has launched its second annual, nationwide anti-alcohol-advertising contest, FREE the BOWL™. This year's theme is to "Free the Bowl from Big Al," (a.k.a Big Alcohol), as youth contestants will identify where they see the negative influences of Big Al in their lives.
The contest for youth and young adults from ages 10 to 25 seeks original anti-alcohol-ads 30 to 60 seconds long to counter excessive alcohol advertising and marketing. The alcohol industry watchdog launched the contest at www.FreeTheBowl.com today and will use the site as well as YouTube to showcase video entries. The contest deadline is January 25, 2010, two weeks before the Super Bowl, the biggest alcohol advertising and inebriation day of the year. This year groups may compete, such as high school or college classes.
Are you thinking of making a Free the Bowl ad? Check out last year's winners.
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