New FD law would target underage drinkers
By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writerUnderage people having an illicit drink in Fort Dodge could someday find that the can of beer in their hand may not be the only thing to put them on the wrong side of the law banning possession of alcohol by minors.
The beer, whisky or other alcoholic beverage they just drank would put them in violation of a new law that won preliminary City Council approval Monday.
The measure changes the definition of possession of alcohol by a minor to include alcohol within the body, according to City Manager David Fierke.
A preliminary breath test typically used by police officers to determine if a driver is drunk would be the key tool in enforcing the new law. Fierke said any underaged person who registered a .02 on that test would be deemed to be in possession of alcohol.
A reading of .08 is the legal threshold at which a person is presumed to be driving drunk.
City Attorney Maurice Breen said people who are convicted of possession of alcohol by a minor face a fine of up to $500.
Assistant Police Chief Kevin Doty previously told the council that an underage person who obviously appears to have been drinking but isn't holding a container of alcohol cannot be charged with a crime under current laws.
Council members voted unanimously in favor of the proposal. It must be approved twice more to become law.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
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aganger
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08-26-08 11:53 AM
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When I grew up the drinking age was 18. When I joined the Navy, the drinking age everywhere I went was 21 but I could drink on base. I feel that if you’re 18, you can vote and carry a gun into battle and you should be able to have a drink if you want one. However the laws do not support that. It would be difficult to change the laws. Here in California, if you blow a .01 and you are under the age of 21, you get your drivers license taken away and you don’t get it back until you turn 21. That’s a great law. It works.
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yougonow
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08-26-08 10:50 AM
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What worries me is do we have enough officers to enforce the laws we have now? I'd like to see us deal with the current crimes or add enough officers to the force to help, as well as detectives, etc. Maybe this has been done already? Just my .02
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BoogsDelbreaux
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08-26-08 10:22 AM
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Booknerd-I agree with your point that the new ordinance would essentially attach 2 charges to 1 offense for enebriated minors. A drunk in public minor would be chraged with Public intox and the new Drunk Minor Ordinance. This ordinance has as much substance as a bucket of flatulence
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Paladin
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08-26-08 10:10 AM
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And while we are at it drop the failed war on drugs, make them all legal. Take the profit out of it and it will dry up. We will save money on a losing effort.
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jbo888
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08-26-08 10:02 AM
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You know, a law is a law and should be followed. However, I am for lowering the drinking age. One thing to be careful if this actually happens is making sure the kids who are legal are out of highschool. Lowering the age to 19 or even 20 will prevent highschoolers from being able to drink. Many people bring up the argument that if you can go to war and dire for your country that you should be able to drink. I agree with that, but I do not think that this is something that should allow highschoolers to have easy access too.
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booknerd
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08-26-08 4:57 AM
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rejoinder: why is it that an underaged person apparently under the influence couldn't at least be charged with Public Intox? That's one charge that, though not necessarily an offense you can chain from, will stick. You're 18/19/20.... you blow over .02 on a public street. Dunzo. Would that threshold still work for public intox or would it be .08 only?
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booknerd
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08-26-08 4:54 AM
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This law could actually turn out to be rather revolutionary. However, it begs certain questions re: enforcement and the time that's spent dealing with said type of call. Either way, it's good to see them getting creative about ways to curb this out of control behavior in FD. I'm torn about lowering the drinking age, but its obvious that something needs to be done on two fronts: on the level of reasonable enforcement and the level of the quasi-morality that people attach to drinking.
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kaleidoscope
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08-26-08 2:00 AM
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Wonder if this includes John Paxton, son of the 'can do nothing wrong' college president?
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personanongrata
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08-26-08 12:23 AM
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???
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