Tougher Missouri alcohol laws dampen parties in college town

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- On a Friday night early in the fall semester, the opportunities for drunken debauchery in this college town can tempt even the most temperate of underage undergrads.

At Shiloh Bar & Grill near the University of Missouri-Columbia, Bacardi Girls beckon with belly button rings and shots of rum in test tubes as a pair of midget Elvis impersonators linger nearby.

Away from downtown, the duplexes that sprout like weeds off campus teem with street parties on a home football game weekend, the empty beer cans and cardboard boxes scattered in the street, front yards and sidewalks like debris from a passing tornado. Needless to say, no one checks identification.

When Columbia police officer Chris Kelley and two undercover liquor control agents pull up in an unmarked car, few of the partiers -- legal or not -- seem surprised to be asked for proof of age. Only when the teens and 20-somethings find out the complete details of Missouri's tougher new laws to combat teen drinking do their beer-fueled buzzes begin to fade.

As of Aug. 28, minors no longer have to be seen drinking booze or carrying an alcoholic beverage; they can be arrested for possession "by consumption" if police determine they are "visibly intoxicated" or if they have a blood alcohol level of 0.02 percent or more.

That means no more emptying a beer can into the bushes and getting away with it when an officer approaches.

Minors found guilty of consuming alcohol now face a mandatory, 30-day initial suspension of their driver's licenses. And property owners and renters who "knowingly allow" minors to drink alcohol or "knowingly fail" to stop them can also be charged with a misdemeanor.

"I think it's going to suppress a lot of underage drinking," said Kelley. "When you take away the driver's license, that's a huge deterrent.

"A lot of students are very paranoid about this."

In fewer than four hours during what they called a slow night, Kelley, five other Columbia police officers and 10 agents from the state Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control arrested nearly 100 suspects on alcohol-related charges during the Sept. 9 nuisance crime sting -- 91 of whom were minors.

Most were issued summonses and told to appear in court rather than taken to jail. A few who lacked identification, offered fake IDs or lied about their dates of birth were handcuffed before being released.

Faced with an overflow crowd in the hundreds at the Shiloh bar and thousands more partygoers at the street parties they crashed, the officers only scratched the surface. Once they realized who had showed up, few underage drinkers stuck around, scurrying in all directions.

The aggressive operation is designed to send a message to underage college drinkers early in the year, said Dale Roberts, supervisor of the alcohol control division, a part of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

"While some treat this illegal behavior as part of college orientation, the law does not, and neither will their future employers," he said. "It isn't harmless fun."

Vandalism, fights, sexual assaults and drunken driving are all possible byproducts of college drinking, Kelley and Roberts noted.

Not everyone in Columbia is enamored of the new law.

"It's way out of proportion to the seriousness of the offense," said Dan Viets, a criminal defense attorney and general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri.

"Why don't we take the same action for an offense that really kills people -- speeding. It presents a hell of a lot more danger and puts people in real direct harm," Viets said. "But we don't take away your driver's license the first time you get pulled over for a speeding ticket."

Columbia police are still determining how to define visibly intoxicated, said officer Bill Lee. In the nearly three weeks since the new law went into effect, they have issued only one citation for minor in possession by consumption -- in that case a young man with bloodshot eyes who was vomiting over the side of an apartment complex railway. Not exactly a borderline call.

"I don't foresee us going out and looking for every minor who looks intoxicated and taking them to jail," Lee said.

Students at the University of Missouri, Stephen's College and Columbia College are well aware of the new law, said John Harshaw, a University of Missouri junior.

Whether it changes their drinking habits is another matter. Harshaw, who recently hosted an overflow bash to celebrate his 21st birthday, said the minors in attendance quickly learned to stay inside and avoid law enforcement officers. And Harshaw wasn't concerned that as the party host he too could be arrested.

"I wasn't really too worried about it," he said.