{"id":178201,"date":"2024-04-18T03:53:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T08:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=178201"},"modified":"2024-04-18T03:54:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T08:54:11","slug":"state-agencies-issue-spring-reminder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/04\/18\/state-agencies-issue-spring-reminder\/","title":{"rendered":"State agencies issue spring reminder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we approach prom and graduation season, the Ohio Investigative Unit and the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control are reminding high school students and their parents to make safe, responsible and legal choices as they plan celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, it\u2019s important that parents and teens both understand Ohio\u2019s underage drinking laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents should not host or provide their house or elsewhere a \u201csafe environment\u201d for their child\u2019s friends to drink. This prohibition applies even if the other parents provide permission. If convicted of selling or providing alcohol to an underage person, the seller can face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and\/or a $1,000 fine for each offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, if someone under 21 is caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration of at least .02, a level that can be reached after just one or two drinks, they can be arrested. Those individuals could face a 90-day to two-year suspension of their driver license as well as four points added to their driving record. All drivers should know it\u2019s illegal to have an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carry-outs and drive-through establishments are urged to be on alert for underage individuals attempting to purchase alcohol. The DOLC reminds permit holders and liquor agency stores of their responsibility to ensure they aren\u2019t selling to or serving anyone under the age of 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe quick buck that can be made by selling to an underage individual is not worth it; liquor permit holders have a legal obligation to ensure those under the legal drinking age are not served alcohol,\u201d said Paul Kulwinski, DOLC Interim Superintendent and Director of Licensing. \u201cNot only does serving alcohol to underage persons jeopardize their liquor permit, it also could result in criminal charges brought against both the person who made the sale as well as the underage person who made the purchase. Aside from the legal consequences, it\u2019s critically important that permit holders understand they are putting the underage person\u2019s safety \u2014 and possibly life \u2014 at risk by engaging in this activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The best way to prevent underage sales is for liquor permit holders and agency stores and their staff to thoroughly check the identification of all young people attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages. They should always ask for a photo ID and carefully compare it to the person seeking to make a purchase. If a photo ID can\u2019t be provided, or if it\u2019s not clear the ID belongs to the person who presented it, the sale should be refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, OIU agents recommend limo companies review policies with their drivers to ensure they understand they could be charged with permitting underage consumption if alcohol is consumed by underage individuals in their vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can stop senseless tragedies associated with irresponsible and illegal underage alcohol consumption,\u201d OIU Senior Enforcement Commander Erik Lockhart said. \u201cEveryone must work together to eliminate opportunities for underage individuals to purchase and consume alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohioans who have information about a bar, store or carry-out selling beer or liquor to individuals under the age of 21, or about an underage house party, should notify the Ohio Investigative Unit by calling #677 on their cell phone to have their complaint investigated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent staff\/submitted information As we approach prom and graduation season, the Ohio Investigative Unit and the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control are reminding high school students and their parents to make safe, responsible and legal choices as they plan celebrations. First and foremost, it\u2019s important that parents and teens both understand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 01:18:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178201"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178219,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178201\/revisions\/178219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}