NEWS
April 13, 2011
I applaud the courageous vote of the Maryland state legislature to raise the tax on alcoholic beverages. Aside from the obvious tax windfall, there is evidence from over 110 professional, peer-reviewed papers that such tax increases reduce underage alcohol use. As a pediatrician with a busy practice, I no longer ask teens if they drink. The Youth Risk Behavior Study in Maryland has shown that 82 percent of graduating seniors have used alcohol, and a quarter of them have engaged in binge drinking.
NEWS
By Andrea F. Siegel, The Baltimore Sun | August 17, 2010
A 19-year-old Naval Academy midshipman was cited for underage drinking at downtown Annapolis bar during an enforcement sweep last week, police said Tuesday. Sara James Markwith, a Washington state resident attending the military college, left her seat at the Acme Bar & Grill when police and other city inspectors entered the bar in the 100 block of Main St., police said. Maj. Scott Baker said officers "had to coax her out of the bathroom. " She gave police an incorrect birthdate, and she became argumentative with officers, but later told police she slipped in through a back door when someone else was returning inside.
NEWS
By John Fritze, The Baltimore Sun | January 3, 2012
Rep. Andy Harris came under fire Tuesday for an incident last summer in which an underage intern was allowed to drink alcohol at a farewell party on a veranda of the U.S. Capitol. A spokesman for Harris, Ryan Nawrocki, confirmed that the party took place but said aides in the office did not realize the intern, a senior in college, was under 21. When the incident was brought to light, Harris, a Republican, disciplined his chief of staff, Kevin Reigrut, though Nawrocki would not say what action was taken.
NEWS
By Mike Farabaugh and Mike Farabaugh,Sun Staff Writer | May 7, 1995
In a move designed to stop adults who permit underage drinking parties during the prom and graduation seasons, Harford County Crime Solvers will begin paying rewards for tips leading to criminal charges or civil citations against people providing alcohol to minors."
NEWS
By Larry Carson, The Baltimore Sun | February 14, 2011
A 16-year-old caught drinking beer in a North Laurel restaurant has cost Wild Buffalo Grill owner Maria Marek a $500 fine and a six-day license suspension on two consecutive weekends starting Friday, according to a decision by the Howard County Alcoholic Beverage Association. Howard police Detective Mark Baxter told the board that officers found the youth drinking inside the restaurant the night of Nov. 12. John Curtis, the manager and Marek's brother-in-law, told them a regular patron, age 26, had bought a "bucket" of five beers, and the youth took one, police said.
NEWS
By Don Markus, The Baltimore Sun | December 22, 2010
Police wanted criminal charges filed against a woman who they believed supplied alcohol to underage drinkers at her Ellicott City home the night last year that 17-year-old Steven Dankos was killed in a drunken-driving accident, according to prosecutors. A Howard County District Court commissioner refused, and Linda Stapf was given a citation instead. That procedural dispute led to prosecutors' agreeing Wednesday in Howard County District Court to Judge Mary C. Reese's putting Stapf's case on the inactive docket, where it will stay as long as Stapf attends a victim impact panel hosted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.