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Hayley Graves
Professor Sotirakopulos
English 1102 Honors
18 November 2015
Underage Drinking
When people think of the college experience they think of the stress of deciding on a
major, the independence that comes with being on your own for the first time, and the partying.
Partying and drinking are a huge part of the college experience, but when most people think of
college they do not think of someone dying from alcohol poisoning. Unfortunately, this is a
reality that todays college students have to deal with and many people do not realize how large
of a problem this has become. According to the Indiana Youth Association a college-aged person
dies from alcohol poisoning every forty-four hours (qtd. inMake Good Decisions). Binge
drinking has become a serious problem on college campuses across the country; there are also a
large amount of underage drinkers on these college campuses. Because of these problems there
are laws being passed across the nation to prevent alcohol related death especially in underage
drinkers. These laws are called either Lifeline Laws or Medical Amnesty Laws depending on
what state you are in. These laws would protect underage drinkers in the event of an emergency
and eliminate the fear of punishment in these situations. There are about twenty-five states with
some version of these laws and others with pending legislation, however all states should be
required to have some form of this law because it can prevent and lessen the amount of alcohol
related deaths on college campuses.
Underage drinking has become a normal part of American society; it is not taboo for
college students to drink alcohol prior to reaching the legal age and many people are aware that it
is happening. However, the numbers related to underage drinking are a lot higher than most
realize. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, People aged 12 to 20

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years old drink 11 [percent] of all alcohol consumed in the United States (qtd. in Facts SheetUnderage Drinking). Even though it is illegal for this age group to be consuming alcohol, they
consume a good portion of alcohol. I conducted a survey of underage students in high school and
college and the results I received solidified my perceptions of underage drinking. Out of fiftytwo responses, thirty-five of those were people under the age of twenty-one; I filtered the results
so I only saw the responses from those under twenty-one. Around ninety-one percent of the
underage group has had alcohol underage. Around sixty-three percent of the group that is
underage reported that they attend a four year university where there is a larger risk for underage
drinking. Fifteen-percent of the thirty-five responses reported that they were in at a community
college and another fifteen percent said that they are still in high school. The following graph
shows how often these underage students drink alcohol:

More students reported that they drink alcohol more than once a week than students who never
drink alcohol. Almost as many underage students drink alcohol at least once a week as the
amount who almost never drink alcohol. When asked their reasons for drinking alcohol the
subjects were allowed to pick more than one category. Fifty percent responded that their reason

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for drinking alcohol was because of a college party, but forty-one percent of these students
responded that they also drank at high school parties. It is estimated that about twenty percent of
all college students meet the standards that qualify them for Alcohol Use Disorder (College
Drinking). Alcohol Use Disorder is the medical term for alcoholism. Twenty percent of all
college students could be qualified as alcoholics because of how much they drink and how often
they drink. This fact solidifies that there is an extreme amount of drinking that occurs while
students experience college.
The numbers of alcohol-related injuries are very high and many cases go unreported so
numbers are estimated to be higher than most surveys show. A study of eighteen to twenty-two
year olds done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) states that
around sixty percent of the group surveyed drank alcohol in the past month (College Drinking
1). The NIAAA says it is estimated that about 1,825 college students between the ages of 18
and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries per year (College Drinking 1). That is
about five students per day dying from alcohol related injuries, but this is just an estimate. It is
believed that many of these alcohol-related deaths go unreported so it is hard to pinpoint an exact
amount.
The laws targeting underage drinking arent the most severe, but they are still laws that
people do not want to get caught breaking. The laws directed towards underage drinking are only
misdemeanors in Illinois; for example, according to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission
Illinois law prohibits the consumption of alcoholic liquor by any person under [twenty-one]
years of age, which is a Class A Misdemeanor with a fine of at least five hundred dollars
(Laws and Penalties for Underage Drinkers). Many underage drinkers would likely have
problems with coming up with at least five hundred dollars and would not want their parents to

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find out that they committed a Class A Misdemeanor at college where they are supposed to be
acting like responsible young adults. There are also circumstances where the underage drinker
could get even heavier punishments if they are caught intoxicated; it is stated by the Illinois
Liquor Control Commission that Illinois law prohibits persons under [twenty-one] years of age
from purchasing, possessing, consuming, and/or accepting a gift of alcoholic beverages unless
their parents approve and are directly supervising the person underage or during a religious
ceremony, such as church (Laws and Penalties for Underage Drinkers). This is also a Class A
Misdemeanor with the underage drinker paying a minimum of a five hundred dollar fee, but also
[twenty-five] hours of community service, preferable as a part of an alcohol abuse prevention
program (Laws and Penalties for Underage Drinkers). Most students do not have an extra
twenty-five hours to spare to do community service between classes and possibly work. Not only
are these fines and punishments intimidating to any underage drinkers, but these misdemeanors
are filed on the students criminal record. It can also appear on any background checks done by
employers; this would not look good for the student because it would be a recent and immature
crime that will be evaluated at a crucial point in their search for a job. Why would any underage
drinker want to call 911 in an emergency and remain on the scene to do the right thing if theres a
good chance that they will get charged with the crime.
Indiana passed their version of the Lifeline Law in 2012 and is extremely well-known
throughout the state. The law is only focused on minor public intoxication crimes for underage
drinkers and does not excuse anyone underage from getting in a car after drinking. It is also
required by the law that the person who calls must stay on the scene and cooperate with first
responders in order for the law to apply to the situation. If the person who called 911 flees the
scene that person will no longer be granted any form of immunity provided by this law (Make

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Good Decisions). The government officials in Indiana realized that something needed to be
done after Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Indiana Senator Jim Merrit were
approached by numerous college students worried about the possible outcomes of drinking.
Senator Merrit says that he finds it extremely unrealistic to expect that college students are not
going to drink underage which is why he is proud of this law raising awareness about the
symptoms of alcohol poisoning (A Law that Saves Lives). This law has since been revised to
make the law much more clear since its passage in 2012 (Make Good Decisions).
Illinois is passing their version of this law in July of 2016. After doing some research, I
was able to find the Illinois government official who was supporting and raising awareness for
this bill; his name is Scott Drury and he is a representative in the Illinois House. I was able to
interview a member of his legislative team about some of the questions I had regarding the law.
The member of his legislative team said that Representative Drury was contacted by the family
of a girl who almost died at a New Years Eve party during her senior year of high school; all the
other students were afraid to call the police until finally a college freshman decided that the
safety of the girl was a concern. Representative Drurys legislative member said that not only
was everyone at that party afraid to call, but they are so young that they do not know what
alcohol poisoning looks like and they do not know how much they can drink before it becomes
unsafe. While Indianas focus of the law is more towards college students, Illinois recognizes
that this law affects high school students too because of stories like the one presented to
Representative Drury.
During my interview I asked about more specifics of the law that is not as clear in the
writing of the law. For example, Illinoiss version of this law does not apply to more than three
people; the person receiving medical treatment can be one of the three people granted immunity

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in these situations. The only thing underage drinkers can be immune from are laws regarding
consumption and possession of alcohol, but any other violations of any other laws would still
apply. In order to gain immunity the people requesting emergency service must comply with
some requirements. The person must have requested emergency medical assistance for an
individual who reasonably appeared to be in need of medical assistance due to alcohol
consumption or acted in concert with another person who requested medical assistance for
someone with alcohol related complications (An Act Concerning Liquor 4). The person must
also provide any information requested by the officer on the scene, they must remain on the
scene, and they must cooperate with emergency responders (An Act Concerning Liquor 4). If
they follow these requirements then the person will receive immunity from possession and
consumption laws.
Some people do not agree with this law, but this is probably because they do not
understand it. I have heard the argument that it will only cause people underage to drink more if
they know they can be let off the hook somehow, but what they do not understand is the person
must call 911 in good faith for a legitimate concern about anothers well-being. These laws are
not meant to make underage drinkers feel like they can break laws any more than they already
are; they are meant to save lives across the states they are passed in because there is a serious
problem with alcohol-related injuries on college campuses.
College is said to be the time of your life; its one last hurrah before you are thrust into
the real world. The problem is that for some people they spend so much time drinking in college
that they do not get to make it to the rest of their life because of alcohol-related injuries.
Underage drinking has become a severe-enough problem on college campuses over recent years
that state governments have felt it necessary to come up with forms of legislation such as

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Lifeline and Medical Amnesty Laws. These laws are essential in raising awareness for symptoms
of alcohol poisoning among underage drinkers and saving underage lives in emergency
situations. These laws should be passed in every state in America to aid this growing problem.
Realistically, it is ridiculous to think that underage drinking will go away and stop happening, so
it is up to state governments to enact these laws to prevent underage alcohol-related deaths from
happening. These laws will save lives, so why doesnt every state have them?

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Works Cited
A law that saves lives. UWIRE Text 20 Nov. 2013: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Berglin, Beth. Telephone Interview. 24 Nov. 2015.
"College Drinking." NIAAA. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Apr. 2015.
Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
"Fact Sheets - Underage Drinking." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Illinois (State). Legislature. House of Representatives. An Act Concerning Liquor. Illinois State
Assembly. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.
"Laws and Penalties for Underage Drinkers." Illinois Liquor Control Commission. Illinois
Liquor Control Commission, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.
"Make Good Decisions." Www.indianalifeline.org. Indiana Youth Association, 2014. Web. 27
Oct. 2015.
Underage Drinking. Survey. 18 Nov. 2015.