Advertisement
Rep. Morrie Lanning,
R-Moorhead, said he’ll push a bill in the upcoming session that attempts to cut out bottomless beer cups and lady’s drink-for-free specials.
Four college-aged people have died of alcohol-related causes since the start of the fall semester in Minnesota.
“It certainly is, I think, more on the public’s mind than probably it ever has been before,” Lanning said. “Binge drinking is a serious problem, and one that we need to address as a society.”
But the leader of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association warns there is no clear consensus among the establishments he represents on a state law limiting drink specials.
Lanning, a former vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Concordia College in Moorhead, sponsored the bill a couple years ago that outlawed the so-called Power Hour. Now, people who turn 21 years old must wait until 8 a.m. of their birthday to purchase alcohol, preventing them from the tradition of downing 21 shots of liquor before bar closing when they reach the legal drinking age.
He was also behind the law banning devices that atomize alcohol so it can be absorbed through the lungs.
“Alcohol is a regulated drug in our society. It seems to me reasonable for the Legislature, for the state, to say that certain kinds of promotions would not be allowed — promotions that really promote excessive drinking,” Lanning said.
Another Lanning bill, co-sponsored by his DFL colleague Paul Marquart of Dilworth, would change state law to allow colleges to notify parents when their children violate campus drug and alcohol policies.
But Jim Farrell of the beverage association sees the effort as heavy-handed. He agrees the all-night free drink offers are inappropriate, although he argues for enforcing existing regulations.
“What we have now is drink specials, and more of a public acceptance of just stupidity,” Farrell said. “People are in the business to make money. They’re not in the business to give alcohol away.”
He became a champion of alcohol restrictions after two students died following nights of heavy drinking in 2004 and 2005.
Susanne Williams has tried to attack the problem through a partnership formed among Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia University, and the city’s community and technical college.
“Every single piece, including the legislation, can go a long way toward ultimately creating a culture that is much more safe, much more protective of one another,” Williams said.
In the area, there are now mandatory classes on the dangers of alcohol for all incoming freshman and extra police patrols in student neighborhoods.
She said legislation further limiting access to cheap and abundant alcohol is also important.
But Jim Farrell of the beverage association sees the effort as heavy-handed. He agrees the all-night free drink offers are inappropriate, although he argues for enforcing existing regulations.
“What we have now is drink specials, and more of a public acceptance of just stupidity,” Farrell said. “People are in the business to make money. They’re not in the business to give alcohol away.”
The Ultimate Hustler wrote on Jan 18, 2008 6:40 PM: