Linn County social host ordinance may soon go beyond alcohol

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Linn County Board of Supervisors is considering expanding the county's social host ordinance to include all controlled substances.

If they do, it means adults who provide or permit minors to use alcohol or controlled substances on property they own or control could be charged with a civil penalty.

Supervisors heard the first reading of the amended ordinance during Monday's work session at the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center, 935 Second St. SW in Cedar Rapids. Currently, the social host ordinance applies only to alcohol.

The amendment prohibits 'the consumption of alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances by people under the age of 21 where adult people knowingly allow or permit underage people to consume ... on property they own or control.” Included as a social host is any person or group supervising, in control or owning or leasing a space where there is a gathering of three or more underage people.

As it stands, a violation of the ordinance garners a civil fine of up to $750 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for subsequent offenses.

Supervisor James Houser said the trend of increased opioid use spreading across the nation spurred him to consider expanding the ordinance.

There were 21 fatal opiate overdoses in Linn County in 2015, including from painkillers and heroin, according to the Linn County Medical Examiner's Office.

'We want to be on the forefront of prevention,” Houser said. 'We also want to make parents aware of what their children are doing in the home or the barn. This would be another tool in the toolbox for law enforcement.”

Houser said he worked with Curt Wheeler, prevention specialist with the Area Substance Abuse Council, to draft the amended ordinance.

'We know that the younger kids start into substance abuse, the greater the likelihood of later-life problems,” Wheeler said at Monday's meeting.

Supervisors also discussed whether landlords could be found guilty of violating the ordinance.

Bob Hruska, assistant Linn County Attorney, said a landlord who is not on the premises at the time of the gathering would likely not be found immediately responsible.

'However, if there's a landlord who may not be on the premises but is knowledgeable, I think they have some liability,” Hruska said.

Supervisor Brent Oleson said he is not in favor of expanding the ordinance to include controlled substances, saying it puts an unreasonable amount of responsibility on adults. Oleson said 'any reasonable parent” or present authority figure should know if underage alcohol consumption is occurring, but it could be more difficult for the adult to know about controlled substance use.

'It's not that I'm supportive of the use of controlled substances, but I think good intentions doesn't always make good law,” Oleson said. 'These are really good intentions but could have a negative impact on parents and people who control property because it's so easily hidden from them. It's a little hard to hide a red Solo cup in your pocket but not so hard to hide a Vicodin pill.”

However, Col. John Stuelke, said the Linn County Sheriff's Office would use the ordinance to target large groups of underage people and those who supply them with substances. And Stuelke said the sheriff's office has only used the social host ordinance a handful of times.

'We're not looking for the parent who their kids and their friends come over, and they're in the basement and they grab a bottle of beer,” he said. 'This is for actual parties that are planned and advertised as a drinking or drug party with 30 to 40 kids.”

Ruth Lane, of Central City, told the board she is in favor of the amendment.

'Living in rural Linn County in that culture of ‘that's how we were raised, so let's do it for our kids,' I'm of the opinion that we should do it better for our kids,” she said. 'It's not OK to let our kids drink in a controlled environment. This is not the same environment that we grew up in 20 years ago. There are so many other things available, whether it's alcohol or marijuana that open the door to other things.”

The second reading of the amended ordinance is to come during a work session set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Linn County Public Service Center.

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