Big Bear/San Bernardino, CA — The efforts of the Breakthrough Task Force, the grassroots community group based here in Big Bear and sponsored by Big Bear Recovery Services, go before the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors tomorrow, June 15. The Task Force has been meeting for years and, in recent months, has invited law enforcement and other groups including the Rim Youth Prevention Leadership Coalition to join them in drafting the Social Host Ordinance, which would make liable those adults who provide alcohol for minors. County Supervisor Neil Derry brought the Social Host Ordinance before the County Board in May and, come Tuesday morning, the five supervisors will vote on adoption which, if passed, the Social Host Ordinance would become law in 30 days (on July 15) and result in fines for offending adults. Bonnie Shaffer, who has spearheaded the Task Force effort, tells KBHR, “We are excited as this has been a long time coming. We at the Breakthrough Task Force have been working on this for a long time and this ordinance will hold adults responsible when they provide underage people a place to drink.” In an earlier statement from County Supervisors Chairman Gary Ovitt, he said of the ordinance, “Some adults, believing that young people will be drinking anyway, think that providing them a safe place to do their drinking, even supplying them with alcohol, is the responsible thing to do. But the research does not substantiate this belief. In addition to drinking and driving, many other problems have been linked to underage drinking. These include an increased chance of developing a drinking problem later on in life. This Social Host Ordinance reduces the steady stream of alcohol for young people at house parties. It’s a tool for the community–not just law enforcement. It will force parents to think twice before they decide to host an underage drinking party.”
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