Ordinance shifting problem elsewhere

By Matt Pfaltzgraf

-------

The 21-only ordinance does nothing to address underage drinking but only compounds the problems and shifts it to a new area. As fines and punishments have increased, so has binge drinking.

Using the same approach will only make the problem worse and has a negative impact, not only on students, but the city of Iowa City as well.

How have alcohol sales changed in Iowa City since the 21 ordinance?

A recent Press-Citizen article about alcohol sales stated: “Steve Fuhrmeister, who is an Iowa City sales representative for Fleck Sales Co. of Cedar Rapids, a beer distributor, said off-premise sales, which includes convenience, liquor and grocery stores, are up 12 to 15 percent while on-premise sales, including bars and restaurants, are down 8 to 10 percent. ‘There's a lot more house parties than there used to be,'?” Fuhrmeister said, explaining the change. ‘It's more (sales) everywhere, but downtown, their sales are definitely up.'?”

Not only have sales not stayed flat, but they have increased dramatically.

Does the 21 ordinance make young adults safer?

More alcohol is being consumed and it is being consumed in less regulated areas. As statistics show, this is common in Ames and has lead to tragic results there, with three alcohol-related deaths in a little over a year and half a dozen in the last couple of years.

Here at the University of Iowa, deaths related to alcohol have been much rarer because businesses have not been shy about calling paramedics. House parties will not call a paramedic unless someone appears to be dying because 99 percent of the time that person will sober up and be fine a day or two later. Because of the increased fines and punishment, they are afraid to risk getting a criminal record and so don't call the paramedics unless they believe someone could die.

Ryan From, an eight-year veteran of the Johnson County Ambulance Service, concurred when he stated in a Press-Citizen article last month: “The thing is, a lot of times at house parties, people are afraid to call. That's when people get hurt and people die. It's in the bars' best interest to have that person leave or leave with medical attention.”

Does the 21 ordinance reduce access to alcohol?

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “Three-fourths of 12th-graders, more than two-thirds of 10th-graders, and about two in five eighth-graders have consumed alcohol (more than a few sips) in their lifetime.” And, “Twenty-nine percent of 12th-graders, 22 percent of 10th-graders, and 11 percent of eighth-graders have engaged in binge drinking.”

In short, you are never going to keep someone who wants to drink underage from doing so. Someone who is intelligent enough to be accepted into a respected school like the UI is surely able to attain alcohol if they chose to. As the numbers above show, since the 21 ordinance, the amount of alcohol available has only increased.

The 21 ordinance does not address underage drinking, but like steps in the past to ban alcohol from the dorms and Greek houses, pushes it to another location. We have spent 25 years of increasing fines and punishments to address underage drinking and all it has done is create more binge drinking. The 21 ordinance has and will only continue to compound that problem.

I urge you to vote “yes” on Nov. 2 so we can focus our attention on addressing binge drinking, not shifting it into a new location.

Matt Pfaltzgraf is campaign manager for Yes to Entertaining Students Safely, which supports repeal of Iowa City's 21-only bar ordinance. Comments: matt.pfaltzgraf@gmail.com