Senator+Drennan

112th congress 1st Session  S.  The purpose of this bill is to encourage healthier drinking habits among Americans between the ages of 18 and 21 by amending the Nation Minimum Drinking Act.
 * Senate Profile: ** Senator Caroline Drennan (D)   United States Senator from Vermont    ** Personal Background **    o Family: Married to Ted Drennan for 23 years now with two children Peyton (19) and     o Birthday: May 24, 1957     o Education: Rice University     o Political experience: served on Congress for 12 years running     o Age: 54     o Income: 2 million dollars a year

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 09, 2011  Ms. Drennan introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on ___.

A BILL  The purpose of this bill is to encourage healthier drinking habits among Americans between the ages of 18 and 21 by amending the Nation Minimum Drinking Act.

//Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives in Congress assembled.//

**SECTION 1: 18? Cheers**

**SECTION 2: Findings**
 * Binge drinking is the consumption of 5 or more alcoholic beverages in a row on a single session with having the intension of becoming drunk.
 * Binge drinking can lead to alcohol poisoning and harm the body as well as cause many diseases.
 * It is more common in males, young adults, and during adolescence.
 * The law today is unenforceable but it doesn’t do a good job of stopping teens from drinking, drinking still occurs behind closed doors and which puts young adults at greater risk

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**SECTION 3: Eligibility**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">This bill applies to all states in the United States between the ages of 18 and 20

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**SECTION 4: Terms and Benefit**s
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The National Minimum Drinking Age Act is amended to remove the penalty imposed on states which reduce their drinking age from 21 to 18. Such states would no longer have their federal highway funds reduced by 10%.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">To receive this waiver these states would have to:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">to implement a plan for educating and licensing young adults about responsible alcohol consumption
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">this education program should focus on making responsible choices when in a situation involving alcohol, teach young adults about alcohol in American society, and provide accurate and truthful information about alcohol


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">this license should include: that if you have violated the state's alcohol law before the age of 18 you will not be eligible for licensing until determined by the state, if one violates the a states alcohol laws, their provisionary license will be suspended immediately, license will be limited to a particular state within the state lines that the young adult has made his or her residency unless the state says otherwise


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">demonstrate that lowering the drinking age in their state did not lead to increased fatalities
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">create a device to collect data to observe the effects of the change in law and submit these statistics to Congress
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;">In order for each state to receive eligibility they must have a proposal with guidelines, and also postpone the licenses

Statistics Underage Drinking- (Students Against Destructive Decisions) http://www.sadd.org/stats.htm#underage
 * 26.4% of underage persons (ages 12-20) used alcohol, and binge drinking among the same age group was 17.4%
 * three quarters of students (72%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school, and more than a third (37%) have done so by eighth grade
 * 2002 and 2008 for those ages 12-13 (4.3% to 3.4%), 14 or 15 (16.6% to 13.1%), 16 or 17 (32.6% to 26.2%), and 18-20 (51.0% to 48.7%)
 * whites had the highest percentage of underage (ages 12-20) past-month alcohol use (30.4%). Asians had the lowest rate at 16.1%.
 * 2008, 56.2% of current underage drinkers (ages 12-20) reported that their last use of alcohol occurred in someone else’s home; 29.6% reported that it occurred in their own home.
 * underage drinkers (ages 12-20), 30.8% paid for the alcohol the last time they drank – including 8.3% who purchased the alcohol themselves and 22.3% who gave money to someone else to purchase it

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20249460/ns/health-addictions/t/debate-lower-drinking-age-bubbling/ http://www.chooseresponsibility.org/proposal/