Prohibit Allowing Minors To Have Alcohol

While it is against the law in Alaska to rent a hotel room for the purposes of providing alcohol to underage persons (AS 04.16.055) there is no provision in statute that makes it illegal to allow underage drinking in a home. This appears to be a significant oversight in statute since a home is the most commonly cited place underage people consume alcohol.

House Bill 118 closes this gap in statute by making it a non-criminal violation to permit underage persons to possess alcohol in your home. A parent allowing their own child to possess alcohol is not subject to the violation because they are allowed to provide alcohol to their children under AS 04.16.050. Under HB 118 however, a person throwing a party where an underage person possess alcohol (even if they were not responsible for providing the alcohol) would face a $500 fine.

Alcohol is the drug of choice for young people in Alaska and has very serious impacts on our families, our institutions and our society. HB 118 closes a significant gap in our statutes and gives law enforcement an important tool to deter people from providing a venue for underage drinking.