A state-backed alcohol ordinance in New Jersey towns, which supporters laud as a key tool in fighting underage drinking, has not been widely enacted throughout the state. In those rare cases where the ordinances were put into effect, citations were often issued to minors seeking medical help.
Former Gov. Christie Whitman signed a bill into law last June allowing towns to adopt ordinances permitting police to enforce underage drinking laws on private property.
Princeton Borough officials are considering such an ordinance to discourage University students from binge drinking. In several meetings this year, Borough officials and students have questioned the effectiveness of the ordinance in other municipalities.
The legislation was fueled by politicians seeking to curb underage drinking in towns along the New Jersey shore. Ordinances have since been adopted by some college towns to limit excessive drinking and noisy parties.
But those towns that approved the ordinance more than a year ago have rarely enforced the new policy.
Ship Bottom — a small borough on Long Beach Island that swells from 2,000 residents to 15,000 each summer — was one of the first municipalities to adopt the ordinance last August.
Since the ordinance went into effect, police in Ship Bottom have issued four summonses to underage drinkers who were consuming alcohol on private property, Ship Bottom Police Chief Paul Sharkey said.
Earlier efforts to enforce underage drinking laws on private property, however, were significantly more aggressive. From 1996 until 1999, police in another shore town, Avalon, cited nearly 3,000 minors for underage drinking. The ordinance was later overturned when a lawsuit accused Avalon of illegally extending a state statute.
Ten minutes away from Princeton, in Lawrence — where Rider University is located — police have cited five people since the township adopted the ordinance in November, Lawrence Police Lt. Joseph Prettyman said.
Four violators were Rider students whose friends called police for an ambulance. After receiving medical treatment, the intoxicated students received citations.
"That's kind of always been my point with this whole thing," USG president Joe Kochan '02 said. "If people are afraid they're going to get into trouble, the chances they're going to want to help will get smaller and smaller. That's a dangerous situation in my mind. That's exactly what we're trying to avoid."
But Prettyman contends students are smart enough not to risk their friends' lives for fear of punishment.
"I don't think that's been a problem that people don't call because they're afraid of getting their friends an alcohol violation," he said.
Ship Bottom residents were stirred a few years ago after an article in the Atlantic City Press detailed the experiences of 13 teenagers who were partying in a beach house. The teenagers played beer games and fell unconscious from binge drinking.
The article caused concern among state senators, who saw the ordinance as a means to prevent alcohol-related injuries.
But the low number of citations in towns that have adopted the ordinance has raised questions for Borough officials about the objectives of such ordinances.
"If the municipality is not really going to enforce it, there's no reason for them to have it on the books," Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed said. "It's not fair to adopt an ordinance and just keep it on the books as a threatening ordinance."
If the Borough were to approve the ordinance, it would seek to enforce it strictly, Reed said.
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