City, County Officials Address Underage Drinking

“Cobb County students report more 30-day alcohol use, more binge drinking and more weekend alcohol use than all Georgia students, according to the Georgia Student Health Survey,” said Cathy Finck, Coordinator of the Cobb Alcohol Taskforce.

The taskforce, originally formed in 2000 as the Cobb Underage Drinking Task Force, aims to reduce underage and youth binge drinking by “advancing strategic enforcement, policy and education goals.”

Kennesaw Chief of Police Bill Westenberger currently serves as a board member and secretary for the group. don't take the matter of underage drinking lightly–in December, at one party for charges ranging from underage consumption to furnishing alcohol to minors. The department also at local businesses to help prevent illegal sales to minors.

Chief Westenberger said that while Cobb retailers are held to high standards via licensing requirements, party hosts are rarely held to the same level of accountability.

“In most cases, the consumers at a party don’t actually know where the alcohol comes from,” Westenberger said. “Current laws have gaps due to levels of proof on providing.”

Cobb Alcohol Taskforce Communication Chair Laura Searcy said the mission of the alliance is threefold: raising awareness and increasing community knowledge about underage drinking, providing information and guidance to policy makers at government and educational institutes and working with local authorities to achieve consistent enforcement of alcohol laws.

Searcy described underage binge drinking as a “community safety and public health issue of imminent importance.”

“As the most used and abused drug, alcohol has a devastating effect on youth,” she said. “The most visible consequences of binge drinking-related and drunk driving-related deaths and injuries are only the tip of the iceberg.”

Searcy said a majority of youth crime, violence and sexual assaults are linked to alcohol use, and that there is “a growing body of medical evidence” that illustrates permanent brain damage to minors as a result of binge drinking.

“Attention, concentration, judgment and higher order thinking skills are affected long term, not just while under the influence,” she said.

“The earlier alcohol use starts, the greater the chances of an individual developing an addictive disorder at some point in the future,” Searcy said. “As many as 40 percent of those who start drinking at or before age 15 will eventually suffer from some form of addiction.”

Although Searcy considers such statistics “compelling,” she believes that community perceptions of teenage alcohol use are difficult to change.

Finck said the attitudes and behaviors of adults and parents contribute to underage drinking.

“Believing that underage drinking is an adolescent rite of passage, that there’s nothing we can do to prevent it, that hosting underage drinking parties can keep kids safe–these commonly held beliefs, though not based in fact, contribute to weak parental and adult monitoring of youth activities and behaviors and the inconsistent enforcement of minimum legal drinking age laws," said Finck.

According to the taskforce, most underage drinking can be attributed to adults who purchase or provide alcohol to minors. 

“Generally speaking, very few adults who provide alcohol to minors are ever charged,” Finck said. “What often happens is law enforcement officers or deputies will arrive at a party where underage youth are drinking alcohol, but they will be unable to determine who furnished the alcohol.”

Finck advocates local social host ordinances that would allows officers to cite or charge individuals for “providing the place for underage drinking to occur, with or without bringing a charge for furnishing alcohol to a minor.”

Finck said the group has been working with campus officials at and Southern Polytechnic to address underage binge drinking at both institutes.

The taskforce is also partnering with the Cobb and Marietta school systems to develop and refine policy practices. Finck recommends that school districts implement alcohol policies that are “not weaker than those for other drug violations” and encourage parents and administrators to engage in annual review processes that monitor enforcement practices.

“I would tell [underage drinkers in Cobb County] that this is not just harmless partying,” Searcy said. “I would want them to be aware of the dangers and risks not just in the future, but to the things that matter to them now such as getting into a good college or sports performance.”

“However,” Searcy continued, “we know this message, by itself, won’t be very effective in preventing these behaviors. Risk-taking behavior is part of adolescence and adult advice to teens is not often heard. That is why the activities of the taskforce are directed primarily at the adult community to provide a framework of safety and support by making alcohol less available to teens.”

For more information on the Cobb Alcohol Taskforce, visit cobbat.org or call 404-791-7406.