A: It’s actually pretty bad. There are mental health, legal, and financial risks to serving minors.

Physical and Mental Health Risk 

Brain imaging studies clearly show that adolescence is a critical period during which the brain develops and matures and thus is particularly vulnerable to alcohol and drug exposure.  Alcohol use during this time can affect brain structure and function which can lead to attention, concentration, learning, and memory impairments, resulting in difficulties in school and academic performance. Underage drinkers are more likely to miss classes, fall behind in their school work, make more errors on assignments and exams, and earn lower grades. Heavy alcohol use causes disinhibition, affects a teen’s ability to plan and organize, and impairs decision-making, all of which increase the likelihood of engaging in other unsafe behaviors such as driving while intoxicated, riding as a passenger with an intoxicated driver, experimenting with other drugs, and engaging in risky sexual behavior. Frequent use of alcohol has also been associated with low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and increased risk of suicide. Teens who binge drink (consuming 4 (women) or 5 (men) drinks in about 2 hours) are more likely to experience these consequences, and are also at high risk for alcohol poisoning, which can be fatal.

If your kid’s friend takes anti-depressants or anti-anxiety mediation their symptoms can be intensified. If you mix antidepressants and alcohol:

• You may feel more depressed or anxious. Drinking can counteract the benefits of your antidepressant medication, making your symptoms more difficult to treat. Alcohol may seem to improve your mood in the short term, but its overall effect increases symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Side effects of your medication may be worse. A few antidepressants cause sedation and drowsiness, and so does alcohol. When taken together, the combined effect can be intensified making you sedated or drowsy.
• Your thinking and alertness may be impaired. The combination of antidepressants and alcohol will affect your judgment, coordination, motor skills and reaction time more than alcohol alone. Some combinations may make you sleepy. This can impair your ability to drive or do other tasks that require focus and attention. 

Don’t stop taking an antidepressant or other medication just so that you can drink. Most antidepressants require taking a consistent, daily dose to maintain a constant level in your system and work as intended. Stopping and starting your medications can make your depression worse.

While it’s generally best not to drink at all if you’re depressed, ask your doctor. If you have depression:

• You may be at risk of alcohol abuse. People with depression are at increased risk of substance abuse and addiction. If you have trouble controlling your alcohol use, you may need treatment for alcohol dependence before your depression improves.
• You may have trouble sleeping. Some people who are depressed have trouble sleeping. Using alcohol to help you sleep may let you fall asleep quickly, but you tend to wake up more in the middle of the night.
• Alcohol can also increase the nervous system side effects of antidepressant medications or other miscellaneous drugs used for anxiety. Side effects may include dizziness, drowsiness, trouble concentrating, impairment in thinking, slowed reflexes, and poor judgment.

 Leslie Lundahl, PhD, Associate Professor in the Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University School of Medicine. 

Insurance Risk 

Make no mistake about this: If you provide alcohol, directly or indirectly, to someone under the legal drinking age you can be held responsible for what happens after they have consumed it. Those consequences can be punitive, civil, or even criminal. The frequency and severity of claims from underaged drinking, including house parties, have each risen 10 fold. Covid, coming out of Covid, and the law office marketing have all contributed to more and bigger lawsuits.

Consider this example of some underage kids drinking at a friend’s house then getting into a car accident:

John had his friends over to play beer pong in his basement. At curfew, Dan drove a couple of the girls home, on the way he lost control of his dad’s car and hit a neighbor’s house. Police at the scene of the accident suspected that Dan had been drinking, and blood tests at the hospital confirmed it. They also questioned him about where he had been drinking and he told them.

The kids in the car were taken to the hospital. Emma had facial lacerations requiring cosmetic surgery. Sophia was shaken up, but deemed ok physically. Dan suffered a broken leg and needed physical therapy.

Not being a law enforcement officer, I can’t comment on any criminal charges that may have been filed, but it was entirely possible. I can say that insurance would not cover any part of a criminal defense but here are the likely lawsuits and insurance claims:

1. Emma and Sophia’s parents and the homeowner’s insurance company who paid for the damage to the house Dan crashed into all sued Dan’s dad since he owned the car and had given Dan permission to use it.
2. Dan’s dad’s auto insurance company settled out of court with the girls’ parents and repaid the homeowner’s insurance company for their repairs. However, the policy limits were not sufficient to cover all of Emma’s surgeries. He was forced to liquidate his 401(k) and take a home equity loan to pay the balance. Dan’s father’s car was a total loss. They had cancelled the collision coverage earlier in the year because it was an older car.
3. Dan received a DUI and lost his driver’s license. Had he kept his license and his father replaced the car, his insurance premium would have gone from $515 to over $6,000 on a newer, fully covered car for the next 5 years.
4. Emma, Sophia and Dan’s parents all sued John’s parents since they owned the home where the alcohol was available. John’s parents’ homeowner’s and liability umbrella insurer paid maximum limits of $1,500,000 in settling the case.None of the financial consequences can account for what those families had to endure personally and emotionally. Fortunately, no one died.It does not matter what you did when you were younger or what you think your personal privacy entitles you to do. Zero tolerance for providing alcohol to anyone under 21 at any time in any place is the only safe way to live under the laws of this country.Don’t worry about being a friend, be a parent. If you leave your children on their own, give them some back up with neighbors or close-by family or don’t leave them. It will be a hard and unpopular position, but not as hard as standing by a hospital bed or a gravesite.
   
   Ed Lazar is a State Farm Insurance agent in Grosse Pointe Farms with 27 years experience in property and casualty insurance. He can be reached at 313-882-0600.

Legal Risk 

Michigan social hosting liability law holds those that furnish or sell alcohol to individuals under 21 years of age criminally liable.  Such penalties range from civil, misdemeanors and felonies, dependent of factors in each case.  Including possible civil liability.

Individuals under 21 years of age that purchase, consume or possess alcoholic beverages face penalties of a civil infractions, misdemeanors and felonies.  Penalties are dependent of factors including but not limited to possessing, consumption, driving while intoxicated, actions causing injury or death, etc…

It is imperative that parents discuss the negative effects with possession/consumption of alcohol, including the possible consequences of such (both criminal and civil). Those that host parties, need to be cognizant and take reasonable precautions to make sure that alcohol is not being furnished to underage guests. Hosts of non-alcoholic gatherings need to remain cognizant of possible alcohol being brought onto the premises by others.  Just because alcohol is not offered by the host, does not exclude that such wasn’t brought and consumed.

The Grosse Pointe Farms Department of Public Safety has its fair share of run ins with minors who have been consuming alcohol. Many of these contacts have arisen from responding to open house parties. Let’s first touch on the penalties of MIP’s as they have recently changed:

For a first offense the individual is issued a civil infraction that costs $100.00. There is usually a referral for substance abuse screening which is paid by the individual. There may be other related assessment costs as well.

A second offense is a misdemeanor with a $200.00 fine and the same related costs as a first offense. A third offense is also a misdemeanor with more related costs and a $500.00 fine. There is usually more court ordered assignments such as community service etc.

Now, for the crimes of furnishing alcohol to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and open house party, all are misdemeanors with fines up to $1000.00 and jail time of up to 60 days. A second offense is a fine up to $2500.00 and 90 days in jail.  In GPF it’s a $500.00 fine for the open house party. We have never lost one of these prosecutions!

Grosse Pointe Woods Detective Bureau Commander Lieutenant Keith Waszak and Grosse Pointe Farms Chief Dan Jensen.