Maui County youth drink more alcohol and binge drink at higher rates compared to the statewide and national averages, according to the Center for Disease Control’s 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Holding the host of a gathering liable for circumstances at their homes or on their property through an enforceable Maui social host liability ordinance will help to prevent and reduce illegal underage drinking, advocates say.

“We are hopeful that this will help create a future where more people in Maui County are living resilient, healthy and drug-free lives,” said Andrea Snow, coordinator of the Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth at the Hawaii Public Health Institute. “We are grateful to the community members who spent three years bringing this ordinance from a pie-in-the-sky grassroots idea all the way into the County Code.”

The ordinance goes into effect on Wednesday, but the bill was passed by the Maui County Council unanimously and made law in February. The delayed implementation date was to give the Maui Police Department time to write the standard operating procedures and the Police Commission time to write the appeals process rules, Snow said.

The law does not apply to Lanai and Molokai, according to the bill.

Youth and young adults are often introduced to heavy drinking behaviors by older adults at house parties.

Underage drinking parties are high-risk settings for binge drinking and associated alcohol problems, including impaired driving.

According to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 30 percent of Maui County high school students currently drink compared to 23 percent statewide, 15 percent of high school students report binge drinking compared to 11 percent statewide and 19 percent of middle school students in the county had their first drink before the age of 13.

The same survey also found that during the past 30 days, 17 percent reported that they rode with a driver who had been drinking alcohol while 5 percent said that they had gotten behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.

Additional data was collected by the Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth and community partners in 2019. Among 449 Maui middle and high school students surveyed, youth reported that underage drinking occurred most often in private residences at parties or gatherings.

Of those who attended the gatherings, 74 percent of youth reported that they were binge drinking at house parties.

Many of the youth surveyed have suffered, or know a peer who suffered, major consequences from underage drinking at house parties, including getting into a fight (46 percent), getting arrested (33 percent), car crash or accident (29 percent), alcohol poisoning (22 percent) and sexual assault (18 percent).

High school students in Maui County get alcohol primarily through social sources (38 percent), such as peers, neighbors and family, according to the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Theft and retail sources were much less common, with 13 percent of respondents saying they usually took it from a store or family member, 12 percent saying they usually gave someone money to buy it for them and 5 percent reporting they usually bought the alcohol they drank from stores, gas stations, restaurants and bars.

“Other communities that have implemented social host laws have seen a reduction in large parties where underage drinking takes place and we anticipate that benefit on Maui” Snow said. “Just like speed limits, if there is no enforcement, people will still go dangerously fast. Likewise, underage drinking laws only prevent injury, assault and car crashes if they are enforced.”

Unlike Hawaii’s state social host ordinance, which is criminal, the Maui social host liability ordinance is civil, which makes it faster to enforce “while not creating criminal records or overburdening the court system,” she added.

Enforcement will be a shared responsibility between the Maui Police Department, the Maui Police Commission and the Maui Coalition.

MPD spokeswoman Alana Pico said that officers will provide on-site enforcement when there’s a call for service if a party gets too loud or someone gets hurt, for example, or when police observe or receive a report that a youth is drinking alcohol.

“This ordinance aims to deter people from allowing or ignoring underage drinking on their property by holding the host accountable,” Pico said Monday night. “It provides another tool for our community to have against underage drinking by complementing existing laws.”

When responding to calls, police will investigate and document the case accordingly, such as verifying ages of those drinking at the party and other information. Youth may receive minor-in-possession charges if violations are found.

Officers will issue a “social host” citation to the person responsible for the residence or property at which a gathering occurs, such as a property owner, tenant or lessee. If the responsible person is a minor, the minor’s parents or legal guardians will be liable.

Violating Maui’s social host ordinance will carry a $200 civil fine for the first violation, $500 for second violation and $1,000 for third violation within a 12-month period, according to the bill. Subsequent violations within the same 12-month period may require reimbursement of police, fire or other emergency response service costs.

The commission will handle the citation appeals, however, they sent a letter to Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino last week saying members were “displeased” to learn the commission was given the duty to handle appeals of any violations of the law.

The letter said that would be outside the work of the commission under the County Charter.

Vice Chairwoman Roberta Patnode said she has a meeting with Council Member Mike Molina’s office on Sept. 20 to talk about the law.

Lastly, the Maui Coalition will lead community education, which the group already began with a five-month communication campaign on April 1.

In light of the pandemic, Snow said they decided to focus on their social media presence, reaching about 40,000 people in Maui County, as well as conduct outreach by putting up yard signs and banners, writing articles for the newspaper and making radio public service announcements.

Snow said that this ordinance was made possible through the advocacy of parents, teens, doctors, teachers and kupuna, as well as organizations like MPD, Kiwanis Club of the Valley Isle, Maui Youth and Family Services, Hawaii Department of Health, Maui Family Support Services, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Maui Nui Youth Council and others who have endorsed the ordinance.

To learn more about the Maui Social Host Ordinance, visit www.mcdfy.org.

The Maui Coalition for Drug-Free Youth can be followed on Instagram and Facebook @mauicoalitionfordrugfreeyouth.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.