Underage drinking laws in PA are downright serious when it comes to controlling underage drinking in the state. The sternness of their laws would make you think that the state does not want to just control drinking underage, instead it wants to STOP underage drinking altogether. PA underage drinking laws do not just involve “drinking,” it also prohibits purchasing, attempting to purchase and knowingly transporting alcohol by minors.
These laws are in response to the number children aged 12 – 20 who drink in PA are one of the highest in the country.[1] Many adolescents are arrested during underage drinking parties. Recently, the PA police apprehended 4 people for a shooting incident that injured two teens during an underage drinking party.[2] And even more recently, in Carlisle, seven minors were arrested for drinking alcohol at a local bar.[3]
The state of Pennsylvania has provided policies and penalties in different instances that involve drinking alcohol by minors. They have laws against drinking and driving, hosting underage drinking parties, selling of alcohol to minors, among others.
Under the Zero Tolerance Act, children under 21 are NOT allowed to operate any vehicle if their blood alcohol content is above .02. Violators may be sanctioned from having to do a 48-hour community service to serving three years in prison, depending on the number of offenses. Fines range from $1000 to a huge amount of $8000 along with the suspension of the violator’s driver’s license. [4]
Another underage drinking law that has been implemented by the state is Public Act: PA 06-112. Under this act, it is illegal for anyone who owns a property to knowingly permit a minor to obtain alcohol or when the proprietor does not attempt to stop or prevent the minor from acquiring alcohol in his or her property. This act is punishable by imprisonment for one year and/or a fine of $500.[5]
Underage drinking laws in PA also penalize anyone who sells or delivers alcohol to minors, employees who allow minors to loiter in an area where alcohol is sold and sanctions anyone who hosts underage drinking parties.4
[2] http://dailylocal.com/articles/2011/04/07/news/police/doc4d9dcbb4a44fb468469466.txt
[3] http://www.wgal.com/news/27507145/detail.html
[4] http://enfield-ct.gov/filestorage/91/115/5085/CT-Underage_Drinking_laws.pdf
[5]http://www.yale.edu/securityawareness/alcohol_brochure.pdf