Posted on 07/05/2007 4:49:32 AM PDT by Calpernia
Trenton "In our colleges, particularly the frat houses, many kids are dying from binge drinking," says State Senator Shirley Turner. She says underage binge drinking is happening at colleges, beach parties and backyard summer picnics and since these kids are minors it doesn't take a Mensa member to figure out they must be getting their alcohol from an adult.
Under a bill Turner is sponsoring all kegs that are sold by retailers to consumers would have to be affixed with a keg registration seal which displays a registration number and the name of the licensee offering the keg for sale to the consumer. The seller would be required to complete a keg declaration of receipt form which must contain the following information: the keg registration seal number, the consumer's telephone number, the name and address of the consumer verified by a valid identification document, and the type and registration number of the identification presented by the consumer.
The legislation goes even one step further. The keg declaration of receipt form must also contain a statement signed by the consumer stating that the consumer is 21 years of age or older, does not intend to allow persons under 21 years of age to illegally consume any of the alcoholic beverage purchased, and will not remove or obliterate the keg registration seal affixed to the keg. A $50 deposit would be required for each keg and that deposit would be forfeited if the keg is not returned with the keg registration seal attached.
"If police raid a party," says Turner, "and they find a keg it would tagged with the ID of the person who bought it…..those people who are found to purchase this keg for an underage drinker would be subject to a fine of $500 or 30 days in jail."
The information collected for the keg declaration of receipt could only be released to the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the director's authorized representatives, or other law enforcement officers. The seller would maintain the receipt form for two years following the date of purchase. The bill would also require information about keg registration to be included in licensee education courses.
That is one funny tagline.
Well, when you consider how the lamestream media portrays un-PC lobbyists, it makes absolute sense.
Back when I was helping out the watermen in Delaware I was always referred to as the “commercial fishing industry lobbyist” while those I was opposing were referred to as “conservation advocates.” The difference was those “advocates” were being paid and this “lobbyist” wasn’t.
They’ll mandate an ultra wide band EPIRB for each keg before they do that!
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
NORTH HALEDON – If some borough officials have their way, beer kegs will have to be tagged before they're tapped. That way, when police raid a party where they suspect underage drinking, they'll know who to charge with making alcohol available to persons younger than 21. But borough officials are far from united on the idea. An ordinance requiring liquor stores that sell beer kegs to keep a registry of purchasers and place a tag bearing the buyer's name on kegs barely survived its introduction on May 16 with a council vote of 3-2. "I just don't believe it's an issue of kegs," said Councilman Bruce Iacobelli, who cast one of the dissenting votes. "A six pack of beer is just as lethal." On Saturday, Michael Kurzynski, a Hillside Drive resident, said he thought the ordinance would be an effective deterrent by simply reducing the quantity of beer available at parties because it would be more difficult to obtain kegs.
"They have to get a ton of cases to make up for that keg," Kurzynski said. There were also concerns about whether the ordinance could present a liability to the borough in the event that a minor was harmed after drinking from an unregistered keg. "Now somebody can make the argument that the town was negligent in enforcing its ordinance," said Councilman Michael DeMarco, who ultimately supported the measure's introduction. Acting Borough Attorney Michael Pasquale and the borough's insurance auditors are reviewing the measure. Mayor Randy George and police Chief Robert Bracco are vigorously pushing for the law, citing a March 17, 2006, party at the home of Charles H. and Cathy Taylor on Hillside Drive. The Taylors' 15-year-old son attracted more than 75 teenagers from Passaic and Bergen counties to the home with a posting on the MySpace.com Web site.
The Taylors pleaded guilty for hosting the party in August 2006. Three employees of Grand Opening Liquors on High Mountain Road were also charged with selling alcoholic beverages to persons younger than 21. If the Borough Council approves the ordinance after a public hearing on June 20, North Haledon would be the first Passaic County community to adopt beer-keg registration. Recently, there has been a wave of communities in South Jersey tapping into the idea of keg registration. Matawan and Belmar in Monmouth County adopted the requirement in April, followed by Freehold on May 22. Grand Opening Liquors is the only store in the borough that sells beer kegs, officials said.
The store is owned by Nicholas Markets, which also operates grocery stores. Raymond J. Maniaci, chairman of the Nicholas Markets liquor division, declined comment. Meanwhile, Kurzynski, the Hillside Drive resident, said he thought tagging kegs would be effective. "People, years ago, used to send an older brother or sister (to get a beer keg) all the time," said Kurzynski, a 43-year-old father of two children, as he piled mulch around some azaleas. "Now that person would be responsible."
no beer, no fireworks, no trans fats, no baking soda, no pseudafed, no robitussin, It may be easier to live in the former USSR, pass the pretzels w/o the trans fats.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.