In an effort to bring awareness to local teen drinking and drug use, the Truckee Town Council passed an ordinance that issues a citation to any adults found providing alcohol or drugs to minors in their home.
Truckee’s Social Host Liability Ordinance, also known as the Teen Party Law, was adopted by the council in May and went into effect July 9. Adults could be subject to a citation and fine if they host or allow a party on their property where minors are consuming or using alcohol, marijuana, or controlled substances. Juveniles can be held jointly liable if their parents are not home and they threw the party. A violation of the ordinance can occur even if the person responsible for the party did not intend for youths under 21 to drink alcohol or use drugs, but did nothing to stop or try to prevent it. Fines climb from $250 for the first offense to $500 for a second violation within 12 months, and $1,000 for each additional offense within 12 months of the first violation.
Truckee police say this new ordinance is geared toward egregious violations where multiple teens are drinking or using drugs, and not for small family gatherings. Truckee Police Captain Rob Leftwich points out that while it is legal to allow your child to drink in your own home, it is not ok to allow other minors to do so.
“This is in protection for all those parents that don’t want their kids drinking,” Leftwich said. “Kids don’t know their own limitations. You can make a decision for your own kids, but don’t make the decision for other parents.”
Leftwich said he foresees police giving only one to three fines a year under the new ordinance, and that the purpose is to educate parents and change the culture of drinking locally, not to give out citations. Truckee Detective Sara Rodriguez said police will still only respond to parties when a complaint is received and that the only difference with this ordinance is how the investigation is done. Under the new ordinance, police can investigate where minors obtained their alcohol, instead of just issuing citations for minors in possession.
“No one is going to be actively driving around looking for your juveniles partying,” Rodriguez said.
Currently in California, 91 cities and 12 counties have similar ordinances. Truckee is the first in Nevada County to pass such a law. Rocklin, which passed a similar ordinance in March, was the first city in Placer County to do so. Placer County is considering passing a county-wide ordinance in the next year, which would include North Lake Tahoe.
SparksInitiative owner Michael Sparks, who consults with cities and agencies on social host ordinances, said this type of ordinance began in the 1990s in California as a criminal ordinance, but police found they were hard to enforce and cities began passing civil-based ordinances in 2005. Studies are currently being conducted to see if they are effective in curbing teen drinking.
“We don’t want to criminalize parents; we want to change behavior,” Sparks said. “The effectiveness of a social host ordinance is correlated to how it is enforced. Deterrence begins to shift when people start getting fines.”
Changing the Mindset of Adults
Tahoe-Truckee Future Without Drug Dependence (FWDD), a community-wide coalition to prevent youth substance abuse, championed the ordinance after researching similar laws statewide and surveying the community for the past year. The group initiated the Parent Committed program, which asks parents to sign a pledge that they will not contribute to teen alcohol use, but felt more was needed to hold parents accountable.
FWDD Director River Coyote said the coalition was alarmed by recent surveys that show local youth alcohol rates are above the state average. According to the 2014 California Healthy Kids Survey, students in ninth grade in the Truckee Tahoe Unified School District reported using alcohol 65 percent more than other California ninth graders in a 30-day period. The same study saw that TTUSD eleventh graders reported alcohol use was 42 percent higher than other eleventh graders in the state. When it comes to binge drinking, ninth graders reported 73 percent higher and eleventh graders 45 percent higher than their peers statewide.
FWDD’s own research found that parents were supplying alcohol at parties, and teens reported getting marijuana and pills at these same parties.
“We still have a problem, which is why this ordinance is necessary,” Coyote said. “We are asking the community to set higher standards, and it starts with adults.”
Both Rodriguez and Leftwich point to the fact that local restaurants and stores are vigilant about not serving underage persons, and that youth are getting alcohol from older siblings or parents. Additionally, Rodriguez said the Truckee Police Department found that 70 percent of minor DUIs by Nevada County police departments were within Truckee town limits.
“Before, there was nothing we could do about [parents giving minors alcohol],” Rodriguez said. “With the social host ordinance, there is some level of accountability.”
Rose Weskamp, who has a 13-year-old at Alder Creek Middle School and is the school’s PTO president, supports the ordinance. She believes the culture norms surrounding alcohol in Truckee need to change.
“If kids follow our lead, we need to teach them you can have fun without drugs or alcohol,” said Weskamp, who does not allow alcohol in her home during parties where children are present.
Dr. Nina Winans, who has a 13-year-old at Alder Creek Middle School and a 16-year-old at Truckee High School, agrees.
“The excuse to party is always there. There is this culture around alcohol and marijuana around parents,” Winans said. “I personally drink a lot less than I used to since I have teens. I want to show by example.”
All those interviewed for this story don’t believe the ordinance will stop teen drinking, but they hope it will at least reduce it, as well as make parents think twice before furnishing teens with alcohol.
“It is one tool that can address teen drinking from an environmental perspective,” Coyote said. “The hope is that we can use this for awareness.”
To report an event where you believe underage drinking is occurring, please contact the Truckee Police Department’s dispatch at (530) 550-2320.
For more information on Truckee’s Social Host Liability Ordinance, email srodriguez@townoftruckee.com or visit ttfwdd.com/teen-party-law.php.
