On March 29 a new ordinance banning underage drinking on private property came into effect for Middletown. A state statute prohibits underage drinking in public, but until recently underage drinking on private property, like the Wesleyan campus, was not prohibited.
Section A of the ordinance prohibits underage possession of alcohol on private property, while Section B prohibits hosting parties or distributing alcohol to those underage. A violation of either section is punishable with a 90 dollar mail-in fine.
Sergeant Rick Siena of the Middletown Police Department, who co-authored the ordinance with Captain David Gervais, emphasized that the police will not be actively seeking out offenders.
“We have to lawfully be wherever we are,” he said. “We’re not going to be violating people’s fourth amendment rights and searching your dorms.”
However, if the police are called to a loud party they will now have significantly more leverage than before in controlling underage drinking.
“The new ordinance is an enforcement mechanism,” said Director of University Communications Justin Harmon.
The ordinance was a factor in influencing the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) and the administration to come up with the wristbands regulation for spring fling.
“We need to make a good faith effort to curb underage drinking at spring fling,” said Rebecca Solow ’04, Chair of the Student Affairs Committee.
How much the new ordinance will really change drinking and partying habits at Wesleyan will depend on how the Middletown Police choose to enforce the ordinance.
“It really depends on how the police respond,” said Assistant Dean of Student Services Rick Culliton.
“[Underage drinking] was always against Wesleyan rules. There’s no change for us,” said Director of Public Safety Maryann Wiggin.
President of the WSA Sohana Punithakumar ’04 said that the regulation brings no change to the role of the WSA in student drinking.
“We’ll continue to work with Public Safety, and hopefully people can still enjoy their weekends,” she said.
According to Siena, the driving force behind the new ordinance was the Connecticut Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking (CCSUD), which is a governor’s task force that has pushed to enact similar ordinances in towns all across Connecticut.
“I just got a copy of what other towns were using and molded it to the needs of our town,” he said.
The CCSUD website states that, “our mission is to reduce the harm associated by underage alcohol use through long-term change at the state and local level.”
The CCSUD’s main goals are reducing youth access to alcohol, increasing enforcement of underage drinking laws, and reducing the influence of alcohol advertising on youth.
Although drinking among college students is a major concern of the CCSUD, in Middletown the ordinance was not created in response to Wesleyan in particular, Siena said.
“[The ordinance] is helpful for everyone, for high schoolers and college kids,” he said. “We’ve even had problems with underage drinking and driving resulting from parents throwing high school graduation parties.”
Wesleyan will have to wait and see how the Middletown Police act on their new role in underage drinking on campus. Siena said that the consequences of the new ordinance also depend on how students react.
“They’re not going to make an arrest in every case,” Siena said. “But if we encounter a repeated problem then maybe it’s time to give out tickets.”
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