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Committees Hold First of Statewide Hearings on Underage Drinking
HARRISBURG -- Members
of the Senate Law and Justice Committee and House Liquor Control Committee today
kicked off a series of statewide hearings on the growing problem of underage
drinking.
Senator John Rafferty (R-44),
chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, led the hearing, which took
place at Temple University in Philadelphia.
The joint
hearings will focus on a number of issues, including making it
harder for teenagers to gain access to alcohol, new technology to ensure that
young people have proper identification, keg registration, and public education
efforts.
Testifying were representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Pennsylvania
State Police, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and the Beer Institute.
Committee members also heard from a DUI victim, members of Bryn Mawr Rehab
Hospital’s “Cruising Not Boozing Program,” and Temple University administrators.
According to the American Public Health Association, two-thirds of high school seniors consume alcohol.
Of those students, one-third
are binge drinkers.
Rafferty is sponsoring two
pieces of legislation to combat underage drinking, including a measure to
suspend driver’s licenses of adults who furnish alcohol to minors and a bill to
require all colleges, universities and community colleges to have a written
alcohol policy, including counseling and penalties for underage drinking.
He said the Senate Law and
Justice Committee and House Liquor Control Committee will travel around the
state to seek public input on the problem and proposed solutions from educators,
representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Pennsylvanians Against
Underage Drinking, law enforcement officials and parents.
 
Sen. John Rafferty, chairman
of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, makes a
point during a hearing in Philadelphia on underage drinking. The hearing
is the first in a series of statewide hearings planned by a joint Senate/House
panel.
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