Local college and high school students from Oceanside and Vista will gather together while riding the Sprinter to raise awareness about social host ordinances to prevent underage drinking at Halloween parties this year.
Teens and young adults will be getting into the Halloween spirit by dressing up in costumes while actively posting prevention messages on the Instagram page @whatis_SUPP. Halloween has been associated with binge drinking, particularly for young adults attending Halloween gatherings and parties. The campaign serves as a reminder for party hosts that providing alcohol or marijuana to those under 21 is against the law.
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2019 FROM 2:00 TO 5:00 P.M.
*Photo opportunities can be arranged around 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., if needed
WHERE: OCEANSIDE TRANSIT CENTER STATION, 313 S. CLEVELAND ST., OCEANSIDE, CA 92054
Teams of young adults will campaign while riding the Sprinter at multiple stops in Oceanside, Vista and San Marcos while educating others on local social host ordinance laws.
WHO: North County high school students and young adult prevention advocates
Photo Ops: Bilingual English/Spanish speakers available for interviews.
WHY:
• Many cities throughout the County, including Vista and San Marcos, have revised their social host ordinance to specifically include marijuana. The ordinances hold party hosts responsible for ensuring minors do not have access to alcohol, marijuana or other controlled substances at their gatherings.
• “Social hosts” may be subject to fines of up to $1,000 and/or jail up to six months, and liable for cost recovery. Party hosts can avoid citations by: 1) controlling access by minors to alcohol, marijuana or other controlled substances, 2) verifying the age of persons attending the gathering, and 3) supervising the activities of minors at the gathering.
• Over 1 in 5 young adults in North County reported providing alcohol to minors in the past year, according to a survey of 266 respondents age 18-25 conducted by NCPC in Spring 2019.
• The most common sources of alcohol and cannabis for teens are parties and events outside of school, and friends and other teens (CA Healthy Kids Survey, Vista Unified, 2016-17).
• Of the more than 400 “Social Host” citations written countywide between 2008 and 2014, the vast majority (69 percent) were issued to young adults (aged 18-25), and another 15 percent were written to juveniles under the age of 18 (Center for Community Research).
• Forty-five percent of all traffic fatalities on Halloween between 2011 and 2015 involved a drunk-driving-related crash, while 23 percent of all pedestrian fatalities on Halloween involved a drunk driver. (National Highway Traffic Administration).
• More than 5,000 youth die each year from underage-drinking-related causes, including alcohol-related traffic fatalities, homicides, suicides, and other unintentional injuries (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism).
