Enforcement of The Minimum Drinking Age Law

MADD believes there should be more effective and stringent enforcement of the minimum drinking age law, by means of administrative, civil, and criminal measures, to further limit illegal underage access to alcohol and thus reduce youthful involvement in alcohol and other drug-related traffic crashes. This enforcement should include regular monitoring of retail establishments, home delivery services, and Internet sites selling alcohol. (Updated June 2001)

Zero Tolerance

MADD advocates that it be illegal for those under 21 to drive with any measurable level of blood alcohol. Zero tolerance shall establish as a maximum legal limit, a blood alcohol level of .02 BAC.

Fake ID/Fraudulent Licenses

MADD advocates requiring that driver's licenses and other documents used as primary sources of identification for the purchase of alcohol be standardized to facilitate age identification and that measures be taken to discourage falsification. MADD also supports appropriate sanctions for those who falsify ID and seek "fake IDs" for illegal purchase of alcohol.

Driver License Sanctions for Underage Purchase and/or Possession of Alcoholic Beverages - Use and Lose

MADD advocates that each state adopt and implement laws which provide driver's license sanctions for underage persons convicted of purchase or possession of alcoholic beverages.

Graduated Licensing or Provisional Licensing Programs

MADD advocates that each state adopt laws providing that persons under 21 receive driver's licenses which are more restrictive than full licenses, under which violations would result in driver improvement actions and license revocation and civil sanctions in addition to any criminal sanctions and penalties. MADD advocates that each state adopt laws providing for graduated licensing privileges to persons under 21. Early driving experiences must be acquired in a lower risk environment through extended restriction of no alcohol use, primary belt enforcement, limitations on night time driving and teenage passengers. Appropriate restrictions should be lifted in stages, based on clean driving records.

Alcohol-Free Zones

MADD advocates that schools and other organizations hosting social and athletic gatherings for youth take positive steps to ensure that alcoholic beverages not be present at those gatherings and that persons with alcohol in their systems be prohibited from such events.

Adults Providing Alcohol to Underage Persons

In order to further limit youthful involvement in alcohol-related crashes, MADD advocates criminalization of actions by adult who provide or allow alcoholic beverages at events for underage participants; further, MADD believes that when underage persons attend adult events where alcohol is present, the responsible adults present must ensure that the underage persons do not consume alcohol.

Social Host Liability

MADD supports laws (case law or statute) which establish civil liability for adults who provide alcohol to underage persons or who allow underage persons to consume alcohol.

Alcohol Education/Prevention

Solving the impaired driving problem in long term will require a nationwide commitment to alcohol/drug abuse prevention and education. MADD supports the implementation for every state and community of comprehensive alcohol/drug education/prevention programs, including K through 12 alcohol/drug education curricula in schools, alcohol/drug education programs in colleges, universities and trade schools and community-based prevention/education programs for the general population.

National 21 Minimum Drinking Age Law

MADD supports the establishment and maintenance of an uniform drinking age of 21 for all states, territories and jurisdictions of the United States.

Child Endangerment

Mothers Against Drunk Driving supports the enhancement of sanctions against convicted drunk drivers when the offender was driving with a minor child in the vehicle. MADD also supports amendments to State Family Codes indicating that evidence of driving while intoxicated with children in the vehicle is considered against the "best interest of the child" in suits affecting the parent-child relationship

Keg Registration

MADD supports the requirement that all kegs and other large containers of alcoholic beverages be registered at point of purchase in order to facilitate identification of those who purchase illegally or to provide to youth under age 21.

No Mixed Messages

MADD advocates elimination of any statements, slogans and other educational messages which target youth in such a way that "mixed messages" about alcohol use are conveyed. Because of the '21' legal drinking age laws nationwide, messages which simply urge these youth not to drink and drive are inappropriate. Instead, messages to underage youth should convey clear "no use" messages.

Resolution of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Outlining MADD's Alcohol Policies For College Campuses

WHEREAS, underage drinking, binge drinking, drinking and driving and other alcohol-related problems continue to be a major health and safety problem on college campuses; and

WHEREAS, many colleges and universities do not have comprehensive and consistent programs that both define their relationship with students and pose clear guidelines for students and campus behavior regarding alcohol; and

WHEREAS, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) believes that universities have a clear responsibility to:

1. promote a no-use message and policy to underage students to ensure their safety;
2. develop a strategic plan for reducing student alcohol use and commit their resources to this plan;
3. educate students and parents on the alcohol policies of potential higher education choices;
4. provide a basis for collaborative relationship between universities and community groups in an effort to prevent underage drinking and impaired driving on and around college campuses; and

WHEREAS, MADD believes that student involvement and input is essential to the development of programs to address and prevent underage drinking on and around college campuses; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, MADD's Commission on Youth recommended that the organization create a rating system to assess efforts by colleges and universities to eliminate underage drinking and impaired driving and to provide universities, students and parents with a tool for assessing the quality of campus-based alcohol prevention efforts; and

WHEREAS, MADD's objective for such a Rating The Colleges program is to promote a safe environment on college campuses which is conducive to academic achievement by preventing impaired driving and underage drinking, and;

WHEREAS, there is a need to outline alcohol policies that MADD believes have potential to prevent underage drinking on college and university campuses and for the purpose of developing a rating and assessment tool;

NOW THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT the following alcohol policies for colleges and universities be adopted for the purpose of development and implementation of a Rating The Colleges program and to further MADD's goal of eliminating underage drinking and underage drinking and driving.

MADD's Alcohol Policies for the Colleges

a) State and local laws and ordinances relating to impaired driving and underage drinking should be enforced on campus:

• MADD encourages all colleges to have a policy that states that alcohol is not to be sold to, provided to, or possessed by students under age 21 on their college campuses.
• MADD recommends that separate living quarters which are designated as alcohol free residence halls be provided for freshmen and sophomores, or better yet, for all students under 21.
• MADD recommends that there be agreements with local law enforcement agencies and campus police providing for reciprocity on the enforcement of age 21 and impaired driving laws.
• MADD recommends that campuses create a centralized system-wide reporting mechanism for recording alcohol violations and alcohol involvement in campus rule or law violations.

b) Campus alcohol policy leadership:

• MADD recommends that the administration work with the students, faculty and deans to establish a comprehensive written campus policy on alcohol sales, service, and advertising on campus and establish education and intervention programs designed to minimize alcohol problems among young adults to prevent underage drinking.
• MADD recommends that a campus task force on drug and alcohol problem prevention be established which reports directly to the president and includes students and faculty as well as administrators.
• MADD encourages college presidents to speak out in favor of state, local and campus policies and laws directed at reducing underage drinking and drunk driving.
• MADD recommends that administrators print and distribute the campus rules on alcohol as part of the marketing materials sent out to prospective students and that a formal orientation to campus alcohol policies be held for each incoming freshman class.

c) The campus should implement responsible beverage service policies:

• MADD recommends that students, faculty, deans and administrators all be involved in the development of responsible beverage service policies.
• MADD recommends that campuses have a policy that limits the times and locations of parties on campus where alcohol is served, and limits attendance to students age 21 or older.
• MADD recommends that all campus parties be registered in advance with a written contract specifying the responsible beverage service serving policies to be implemented with emphasis on the procedures for assuring that students under 21 are not served alcohol.
• MADD recommends that trained servers over 21 be required at all campus events where alcohol is served or sold.
• MADD recommends that organization sponsoring events at which alcohol is served be required to obtain liability insurance.
• MADD recommends that a policy be established that the service of food and non-alcoholic drinks is required at campus events where alcohol is lawfully served.
• MADD recommends that because of the difficulty of controlling service, that keg parties be banned.

d) Campus responsible alcohol sales policies:

• MADD recommends that on campus pubs be avoided because they increase the availability of alcohol and are likely to encourage heavy drinking and underage drinking.
• MADD recommends that the management of any on campus facility which serves alcohol be required to file a responsible beverage service plan with the administration. This plan must demonstrate that the management will avoid special alcohol promotions and insure that their staff training and sales policies are designed to prevent sales to underage persons and obviously intoxicated patrons.
• MADD recommends that if alcohol is sold on campus, no one under 21 be employed to sell or serve alcohol.
• MADD recommends that campus facilities that sell alcohol beverages be required to also provide food and non-alcohol drinks.
• MADD recommends that alcoholic beverages should not be sold or served at any college athletic or sporting event.

e) Advertising and promoting alcohol on campus:

• MADD has established the position that alcohol should not be advertised to youth. Because a large proportion of undergraduates are under age 21, MADD recommends that alcohol advertising not be permitted on campus. MADD recommends that sponsorship of campus events by alcohol beverage companies be avoided. In any case, reduced price promotions of alcoholic beverages should be banned.

f) Campus intervention programs:

• MADD recommends that universities adopt the policy of referring to the health clinic any student found to be guilty of a campus rule violation if alcohol was a factor in the offense.
• MADD recommends that training programs on methods for recognizing alcohol problems and on the procedures for referring students to health clinic programs be established for faculty, administrators and particularly athletic coaches.
• MADD recommends that student health clinic staff ask questions about drinking whenever a student visits the clinic for health related services.

g) Campus-community cooperation on alcohol problem prevention:

• MADD recommends that college administrators seek to establish community/campus task forces on alcohol and drug prevention programs.
• MADD recommends that administrators assist surrounding communities to establish responsible beverage service programs and to use conditional use permits under local zoning laws to prevent undesirable clustering of alcohol sales outlets. (Adopted October 1997)