Why minors shouldn’t drink
Alcohol laws can be complicated; experts advise against consumption by the underagedBy KATIE WILLIAMS Messenger staff writer
Article Photos
When it comes to alcohol, the law gets a little complicated.
According to the Code of Iowa, a 16-year-old can sell alcohol legally in a grocery store or other establishment where alcohol isn't actually consumed on the premise, but you must be 18 years old to sell alcohol in a bar or restaurant.
To confuse matters further, you can't drink alcohol legally until you're 21.
Of course there is the law that says a minor can consume alcohol with the permission of a parent, but another law says a bar can allow 18-year-old patrons into the establishment - as long as no one sells them alcohol.
It's enough to make your head spin.
"Having under-aged patrons in a bar does make it difficult to enforce the law," said Assistant Fort Dodge Police Chief Kevin Doty. "A lot of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds attempt to get served using fake IDs or borrowed IDs."
Bar owners end up depending a lot on their servers to be responsible enough to check driver's licenses and do the math to make sure the person ordering is old enough, said Doty.
''If the law changes to allow 18-year-olds to drink, is it easier on everyone? Yes,'' said Doty. ''Is it right? No.''
During a workshop session on Aug. 18, Fort Dodge City Council members discussed the possibility of amending a civic ordinance in the near future to prevent anyone under the age of 21 from even entering a bar.
There's a gray area between what constitutes a bar and a restaurant that happens to sell alcohol.
Dan Payne, a Fort Dodge City Council member, explained that if 50 percent or more of the total revenue of an establishment comes from food rather than alcohol, it is considered to be a restaurant.
If the measure were to be passed, 18-year-olds would be barred from entering an establishment that earns 50 percent or more of its revenue from alcohol.
Paul Cain, manager of the Sport's Page Bar & Grill, 2707 N. 15th St., said if the changed ordinance passed it wouldn't affect the restaurant because 85 to 90 percent of its revenue comes from selling food.
Even without stricter guidelines, the establishment opts for what it refers to as a responsible policy.
''We had signs up that said unaccompanied minors were not allowed in the establishment after the grill closed,'' said Cain. ''But someone stole them.''
Despite no longer having signs up, the bars still closes its door to anyone under 21 years old after 10 p.m., he said.
While Fareway, 615 Second Ave. S., can legally let its younger employees sell alcohol, its corporate policy requires the sales of cigarettes or beer to be handled by employees 21 years old or older to prevent peer pressure, said Dale Valvoda, a Fareway manager.
The push to prevent young people from drinking alcohol too soon in life is more than a social issue. It is a health issue.
Dena DeStigter, a representative for the prevention department of Hamilton County Community & Family Resources in Webster City, said a minor's brain is still developing and is therefore vulnerable to damage by alcohol.
''A brain of a 15-year-old is four times more likely to become addicted to alcohol than a 21-year-old,'' she said. ''The brain matures by 21, but before then alcohol is more likely to affect the neurotransmitters.''
She said consuming alcohol under age ''rewires'' the brain's neurotransmitters and actually makes the brain slower.
''Alcohol also affects the serotonin levels, making the person severely depressed,'' DeStigter said.
So, even though it's legal for parents to allow their minor children to consume alcohol, they shouldn't, she said.
''It also affects the frontal lobe of the brain which controls thinking, reasoning and impulse control,'' DeStigter said. ''The impulse control can also feed into the early addiction.''
She said teens naturally make an abundance of dopamine, the chemical in the brain that makes you feel good, and alcohol reacts with it making the brain's ability to sense pleasure from other things difficult. Minors then can only feel happy by consuming alcohol, she said.
And that means trouble.
''You rapidly go from liking it, to wanting it, to needing it,'' DeStigter said.
Contact Katie Williams at (515) 573-2141 or katie@messengernews.net
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Oksure
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08-26-08 8:44 AM
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Ha, ha. My comments got deleted too for taking the Messenger to task for not having the courage to stand up in the name of integrity. I saw on the Register that their excuse for deleting the other comments was they couldn't just delete one or two, they had to delete the whole thread. Obviously that's not true.
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kaleidoscope
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08-26-08 1:53 AM
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Carol Foltz is an EMPLOYEE of The Messenger. To heap grief on her for following orders is not only pointless, but unfair. Direct your comments in letter or on forum to Barbara Wallace Hughes, managing editor of The Messenger. Good luck.
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personanongrata
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08-26-08 12:07 AM
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I don't believe Ms. FOLTZ showed us any respect. However, if Ms. FOLTZ would care to share with us the Messenger employee that ordered her to start censoring posts, I will be more than happy to address the issue with them. Unfortunately it appears the Messenger has chosen to allow Ms. FOLTZ to be the face of the Messenger in this matter rather than the person who's making the rules.
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kaleidoscope
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08-26-08 12:00 AM
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personanongrata: Ms. Foltz (you show disrepect by misspelling her name, btw) is doing her job as she is instructed to do. Get off her back and put blame where it belongs.
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personanongrata
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08-25-08 11:50 PM
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Are you inviting us to respond to your blog so you can just delete any that you don't like Ms. Folz?
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kaleidoscope
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08-25-08 11:30 PM
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Paladin is right, First Ammendment rights don't apply here, but each of us has the right to cancel subscriptions and let them know why.
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Carol_Foltz
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08-25-08 11:29 PM
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See my blog entry: "My right to blog, your right to comment" for my point of view on the comments issue.
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personanongrata
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08-25-08 10:18 PM
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I suggest you all vote yes to the aquatic center tomorrow, and triple the amount of of money you're going to spend on it in the process, because while the Messenger obviously believes they will face little fall out from their deplorable behavior in regards to this whole issue, I think in the long run, as the story spreads as it has been, you'll find the Messenger will have cost your community dearly. Either that, every corrupt company in the country will flock here knowing they can get awat with anything they want as long as they have a big bank account and buy the right connections.
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Paladin
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08-25-08 10:09 PM
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I am not defending the Messenger, far from it, however this website is not a democracy and you are not entitled to any first amendment rights on this website. It is privately owned. That being said, I do not agree with their dropping of all the comments under their editorial. No matter how you slice it, it does not look good.
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MelissaT
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08-25-08 9:54 PM
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Just so you all know the whole thing that Paxton "doesn't drink or seldom drink" is a flat out lie. I have served him plenty of Michelob Gold lights when I worked at Willow Ridge Golf Course.
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kaleidoscope
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08-25-08 8:55 PM
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I'm witness to the deleted comments by bukfush as well. Wonder what gives?
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BornInFD
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08-25-08 8:44 PM
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BUKFUSH - I have read your entries and now they are gone. That is too bad, I wasn't taken aback by what you had to say. The Messenger acts as if it has never pandered to a story that was a little titillating. Look, you have a fairly high profile president. I believe that people who care should know their school's presidents name but not that many should know what he looks like...in swim trunks...pouring beer down a coed...with others on board...drinking vodka. The Messenger should want to know. When his answers don't quite jive with known fact, more should be done. Their fast pacification from Mr. Paxton raises even more questions and that editorial did nothing to soothe the FD community. Redeem yourself Messenger and get to the bottom of the story. Dispel rumor and innuendo by going to the source. Figure what is right and wrong. Seems when Sheriff Griggs was getting free beef, the Messenger was all up in his business, maybe that's just my take.
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kaleidoscope
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08-25-08 8:24 PM
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Murano: "What we have right now for community leaders is appalling." That's a broad sweep of the brush. There are any number of fine leaders in this community; please don't paint them all the same color. "We have the community college that has a drunken frat boy for a president and has helped walked the college into a lawsuit." Paxton asserts he does not drink, or at least not very much. Until it is proven otherwise let's say he's a "wannabe frat boy." The rest of your statement is true. "The city has had an “acting” and not a real chief of police for over a year..," Doug Utley cares about this community more than you might realize. I think he deserves a fair shake for circumstances beyond his control. "....former city Mayor..." Good grief! The man is dead!! Geesh, what good does it do to attack him now? Thankfully, the County Sheriff is up for re-election. You have a vote, use it to voice your opinion, I will.
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BornInFD
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08-25-08 8:15 PM
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they may not have developed if they were educated about these dangers while under the roof of parents. I have been that age before, I drank as a sophomore at FDSH, it wasn't that difficult to get. Stop acting like the law is a deterrent, the only thing it deters is responsibility.
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BornInFD
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08-25-08 8:13 PM
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now, my comment on lowering the age to 18. Unfortunately those on the cusp of 18 would be harmed the most but this needs to happen. As time goes on, it will not be such a big deal. Those liberated by the law being lowered are most likely going to succumb to some unforeseen issues that being 18 and allowed to drink in bars will bring. They won't anticipate how truly mature someone must be given this type of privilege. They will think they are so cool to be in a club with older people. Young women will be preyed upon. Young men will fight to establish they belong. In all, many will be taken advantage of but it still needs to happen. It will force parents of tomorrow to educate their children on the dangers of alcohol. I have read about those who have traveled abroad and mostly agree. Societal ills will continue whether or not it is lowered. You see, as a parent, your child goes off to college and drinks like a maniac and you think they are fine. They hit 21 and many have nasty habits
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BornInFD
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08-25-08 8:07 PM
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lots going on in FD today, huh? I am in higher education and my institution looks at ICCC as an exemplary school. If my school's president acted in such a manner, my colleagues and I would hold a closed door session, him invited, and discuss the exit strategy. The voice of many can't be squashed by the heavy hand of one for very long. I hope that some of these allegations outside of what that photo tells is not the truth. If he is such a bad seed, why is it that a photo of him pouring beer down a young woman's throat the last straw? I understand people can only take so much but the rest of what he may have been doing sounds a whole lot more unethical, immoral and illegal than what he does on his boat at Okoboji. I am certainly taken by this story and will be monitoring. ICCC staff, demand answers if this is all true.
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hybernation
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08-25-08 7:58 PM
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i agree minors shouldn't drink, but this article doesn't say why they shouldn't
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ponders
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08-25-08 7:54 PM
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What happened to the discussion on the excuse site? The DMR has over 300 comments. I kind of understood the editorial, but to take all discussion off the site?
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hybernation
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08-25-08 7:53 PM
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hmm, i never thought of it till now, i wonder how many minors sell alcohol to their under 21 y/o friends while they're working at a place that sells alcohol?
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Murano
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08-25-08 7:25 PM
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This article and Paxton’s editorial is a wakeup call and good reminder what happens when a community loses their voice, looks the other way and settles for inferior leadership. I would really like to see our community get more professional and ethical leadership in place. What we have right now for community leaders is appalling. We have the community college that has a drunken frat boy for a president and has helped walked the college into a lawsuit. The city has had an “acting” and not a real chief of police for over a year and a former city mayor who behaved in such an inappropriate manner he cost the city thousands of dollars in lawsuit damages, and a county sheriff who doesn’t know & follow his own policies and fires employees illegally, which will undoubtedly walk the county in an expensive lawsuit. As a community we deserve better than this.
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rallen
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08-25-08 6:02 PM
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The messenger is really sending a mixed message here. Going to bat for Bob Paxton and then writing an article "Why minors shouldn't drink" Doesn't surprise me a bit though.
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brodie88
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08-25-08 5:24 PM
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and just to add, I never could understand how you can inlist & die for your country at 18, but you can't even have a beer?!?!? At 18 you are considered an adult to make your own choices, to fight for your country and should be able to drink if you want to.
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brodie88
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08-25-08 5:21 PM
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I have to add that I have visited several countries, which of some even have a drinking age of 16 (which I do think is a little too young), but I have always noticed that high school/college kids always think drinking is a way to "look older," I think if the drinking age is dropped down to 18 it will stop most of the ones trying to "look older" when they realize they are old enough, then just get bored. I highly doubt anyone can say that they never drank before they were of legal age, and most of the parents of these children could drink at 18 legally before the law switched to 21 in the 70's. I also think banning anyone under 21 would be rediculous!! Most people go to some bars just to dance or socialize - not everyone goes to drink. I would rather see people socialize at a bar than have some "house party" that destroys our neighborhoods and is so loud the neighbors get woke up in the middle of the night.
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Carol_Foltz
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08-25-08 4:03 PM
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Regarding Robert Paxton: Go to Editorial (left side of page link), then look for the article "Responsible journalism is our goal" for an explanation of why The Messenger didn't have a story. I'd also like to point out that the article on drinking was written by Friday and was actually planned by Aug. 19 for Aug. 25.
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JustShutUp
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08-25-08 2:15 PM
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Wow... I can see Carol pressing the delete button as I type...
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