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You Must Be Over 21 to Drink in This Living Room
Time Magazine ^ | 11 Apr 05 | MIchele Oreckin

Posted on 04/13/2005 3:48:53 PM PDT by Drew68

You Must Be Over 21 to Drink in This Living Room

A crackdown on house parties stirs up a debate about privacy

Officials in Stratford, Conn., convened a group of middle and high school students last year to quiz them on their attitudes toward alcohol. The officials were dismayed, if not surprised, when the teens reported that they thought alcohol, unlike tobacco and other drugs, was largely harmless, that binge drinking among their peers was habitual, and that drinking enough to pass out was funny. But the officials were perhaps most displeased to hear that the place kids most often got drunk was their own or their friends' homes and that some parents either provided alcohol or looked the other way if teens brought it to drink in the backyard or basement.

Spurred in part by that information, the Stratford town council is considering an ordinance that would allow police to enter a private residence if they suspect someone under 21 is consuming liquor, even if adults are present. Dubbed the house-party ordinance, it has been adopted in 43 of the state's 169 municipalities, but in Stratford it has split neighbors between those who see the measure as a way to curb underage drinking and those who argue that it undermines parental authority and violates privacy rights.

Most teens still do their drinking when adults aren't around. But many parents have concluded that teen drinking is inevitable, and given the options, they prefer to have their kids drink at home under adult supervision rather than in a park or parking lot. Some parents even play host to "tent" parties, at which they confiscate car keys and provide a place for kids to spend the night. Public opinion, however, seems to be against that approach... (excerpted)

(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Connecticut
KEYWORDS: alcohol; drinking; policestate; privacy; privacylist; underagedrinking
Please read the whole story. This is lovely! If the cops see an open can of beer in your home and you have a minor living under your roof, technically this gives them probable cause to enter your home!

But remember, it is for the chiiillldddrrreeennn!!!

1 posted on 04/13/2005 3:48:54 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.


2 posted on 04/13/2005 3:51:09 PM PDT by blackeagle
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To: Drew68

We have a similar law in my state but supposedly a cop has to have probable cause -- such as a call about a disturbance at a house. A cop just can't decide to stand on your porch and look into your windows. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep your blinds down anyway.


3 posted on 04/13/2005 4:00:42 PM PDT by ladylib
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To: Drew68

Step right up folks. Civil protections against unreasonable searches is being eroded right here. If these people wanted to discourage teen drinking, they'd arrange field trips to freeway underpasses, prisons, hospital emergency rooms, and psychiatric facilities, not busting down doors looking for wine coolers.


4 posted on 04/13/2005 4:04:49 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: SpaceBar
If these people wanted to discourage teen drinking, they'd arrange field trips to freeway underpasses, prisons, hospital emergency rooms, and psychiatric facilities, not busting down doors looking for wine coolers.

Nah... No teen believs that this will ever happen to them. Furthermore, I have a problem with the whole 21 year-old drinking age anyway. Eighteen is the age of adulthood in this country. Eighteen year-olds are adults and should be treated as such. When we treat them as children we should not be surprised when they enjoy a prolonged adolescence.

Jack Daniel was distilling whisky at 13 and opened up his first distillary at 16. Now we have 27 year-olds who still live with their folks because they have been coddled and treated like a child for far too long.

The 21 year-old drinking age was one of the few sad moments of the Reagan Administration.

5 posted on 04/13/2005 4:10:29 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68

I agree.

Regards,


6 posted on 04/13/2005 4:14:00 PM PDT by VermiciousKnid
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To: Drew68
The police best use extreme caution...... I for one have a rule what to do if someone is peering in my windows.
7 posted on 04/13/2005 4:17:55 PM PDT by dfwddr
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To: Drew68

Since when do parents not have the legal right to give alcohol to their own kids? The 21 thing is just for in public.


8 posted on 04/13/2005 5:46:30 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Disregard the law of unintended consequences at your own risk.)
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To: Still Thinking
The 21 thing is just for in public.

That is what this law hopes to change.

9 posted on 04/13/2005 5:48:26 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: Drew68
Proponents of the Connecticut ordinances say they address a loophole in the state law that makes it a crime for anyone under 21 to drink on public property but does not prohibit drinking in private homes.

In public serpent-speak, "loophole" is any freedom they've overlooked (until now).

10 posted on 04/13/2005 7:53:53 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Disregard the law of unintended consequences at your own risk.)
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Once again, those who would regulate and control every aspect of our private lives knock another chip from the protections against unwarranted state intrusion while screeching the tired old battle cries of the oppressor: "Public Safety!" and "It's For The Chilllldren!"

And let me tell you something else. When I was a lad, if some "local officials" would have started asking me about my feelings about alcohol, I would have looked 'em straight in the eye and told them I never touched the stuff, and neither did any of my friends. A "tactical misdirection", if you will.

I've always been of the belief that, as long as I am not causing anyone harm, what I do on my own time is nobody's business but mine.

11 posted on 04/13/2005 8:19:17 PM PDT by FierceDraka (The Democratic Party - Aiding and Abetting The Enemies of America Since 1968)
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To: blackeagle
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."

Probably paved with liberals.

12 posted on 04/13/2005 8:28:13 PM PDT by TheLion
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To: Drew68
Well, as long as the cops are nosing around people's homes, on the say-so of a phone-in tipster, I do hope they will inspect the smoke detectors to insure that the batteries are functioning.

I'm concerned about fire safety, and they might as well take on the battery tasking. On their off-time from raising other people's children, of course.

13 posted on 04/13/2005 8:29:08 PM PDT by TontoKowalski
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To: Drew68

Wonderful, more rights going down the tubes because parents can't seem to make their children into responsible adults.

The people on these councils must not be smart enough to know they are giving up their rights.

Police have no business in your house unless you call them or have a an emergency they are responding to.

Isn't socialism wonderful.


14 posted on 04/13/2005 8:42:12 PM PDT by TheLion
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To: FierceDraka
The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter,--but the King of England cannot enter; all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement! William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. 1708-1778. (Speech on the Excise Bill)

So it was many years ago. Today, things are apparently different. Any excuse to rule over us and keep us in our place is deemed good enough for the modern Crown.

15 posted on 04/13/2005 8:56:06 PM PDT by zeugma (Come to the Dark Side...... We have cookies! (Made from the finest girlscouts!))
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To: Drew68

This is stupid and the picture of the busybodies who dominate government. Parents SHOULD be able to give their children wine with diner as part of teaching RESPONSIBLE consumption.

If the government council has time for this then they should have their pay cut because they are overpaid and the government does not have enough to do and taxes reduced to adjust for the lack of need.


16 posted on 04/13/2005 8:59:06 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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