On January 13, 2011, Mississippians Advocating Against Underage Drinking (MAAUD) hosted a press conference to raise awareness about social hosting and to bring attention to the upcoming legislation that addresses this issue. MAAUD members from across the state, as well as members of the Gulf Coast Substance Abuse Task Force and the Community of Concern gathered on the steps of the Capitol to listen to Senator David Blount (Jackson), Representative Richard Bennett (Long Beach), University of Southern Mississippi student Brandon Hersey, and parent Doug Boone discuss their concerns about parents who host underage drinking parties. “The purpose of this bill is to hold parents accountable for knowingly allowing underage drinking parties to take place either within their homes or on their private property. We now understand that the consequences of underage drinking reach far beyond that of drinking and driving and we need to do more to prevent the behavior from taking place in the first place. Policies such as a social host law do just that,” says DREAM’s Caroline Newkirk, Statewide Underage Drinking Prevention Coordinator.

Senator David Blount discusses his concerns about parents who host underage drinking parties.