Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Getting Creative With Underage Drinkers
We here in Wahey-land have been critical in the past of the no tolerance approach that many take to curb underage alcohol and drug use. Most recently the School Committee in Weymouth voted to maintain a strict policy aimed at students caught with alcohol in lieu of a more lenient rule that was suggested by the high school principle, among others. Previous to that, a policy was approved to prohibit wearing a school uniform while fundraising at locations not deemed suitable by the Superintendent Of Schools. While we maintain that dictating as opposed to educating students should be the main concern of the school committee as well as those that recommend these harsher rules, we do understand that all involved have the same goal, which is to minimize substance abuse. Bearing that in mind, it's always refreshing when we see policy makers thinking "outside the box".
In Waltham, a pair of city councilors, have come up with a method of limiting underage alcohol abuse that will educate abusers, reward alcohol servers, and produce some revenue for their municipality. This new type of ordinance has been successful elsewhere and should be looked at seriously by policy makers who really wish to be proactive in their approach to slow down underage substance abuse.
POSTED BY STAN on August 4, 2009
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