6.05.18.070 SOCIAL HOST VIOLATION DEFINED
Under IMC §4-11-503.1, a social host violation exists when any responsible person or host of a gathering, party or event occurring at a private residence or other private property knows or reasonable should know that an underage person is being served, is in possession of or is consuming an alcoholic beverage. A responsible person or host shall be presumed to have knowledge that an underage person is being served, was in possession of or was consuming an alcoholic beverage at a party, gathering or event if the responsible person or host did not take all reasonable steps to prevent such activity from occurring.

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In 1995, the Irvine Prevention Coalition came together as a formal collaboration to address alcohol, tobacco and other drug and violence prevention related issues in the community. Together, the partners developed and implemented multiple school and community based strategies that have had an enduring effect. Still, the issue of underage drinking persists at unacceptable levels and remains a priority among our partners.

In 2004, the City of Irvine commissioned Children and Family Futures to conduct a three year study to identify key issues that affect children, youth and families in Irvine. His report identified six indicators to focus on, including underage drinking.

In 2007, the City of Irvine developed the City of Irvine's Strategic Plan for Children Youth and Families. As part of this process, the City of Irvine convened the Underage Drinking Prevention Task Force, represented by multiple sectors of the community, to identify strategies to prevent and reduce underage drinking in Irvine. The task force reviewed current strategies employed at the city, school and community levels. One key finding of the group was the need for a social host ordinance that would hold adults who furnish alcohol to minors accountable. In addition, the group identified gaps in services and strategies to address these needs, including:

• Expanding the Social Norms Campaign to promote positive, healthy social norms in order to reduce underage drinking:  Research has shown that promoting the true norm (most teens do not drink alcohol) leads to a reduction in use since human beings are influenced by the behaviors of others, real or perceived.
• Focusing on Parent Education, especially brain based research, as the main reason to delay the onset of use until at least the legal age of 21. Research has shown that this delay significantly reduces the chance of addiction in the long term and has other positive short term outcomes.
• Promoting Merchant Education in order to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors is an important strategy. ICDP and our partners encourage business owners to require participation in a responsible beverage server training by their management and serving staff. There is evidence that this effort both prevents the sale of alcohol to minors and the over sale of alcohol to adults. This strategy is complimented when the City of Irvine uses conditional use permits to ensure responsible businesses practices and increased enforcement by Irvine Police Department and the State of California's Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC).