underage persons; spirituous
liquor
DPA |
Committee on Judiciary |
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Committee on Transportation |
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Caucus and COW |
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Third Read |
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As Passed the House |
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HB 2467 makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor (up to 4 months jail/$750 fine) for a person under the age of 21 years to have any spirituous liquor in their body.
HB 2467 was amended in the Judiciary Committee to make consuming alcohol as part of a religious practice or for medicinal purposes a defense to the violation.
In 1975 the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in The State of Arizona v. Barreras that the fact that the defendant may have taken some heroin did not in and of itself support conviction for possession. The court ruled that having a substance within a person’s body does not constitute “constructive possession.” The Court cited another case in The State Of Washington v. Callahan in which the court stated that “actual possession” means that the goods are in the personal custody of the person charged with possession; whereas, “constructive possession” means that the goods are not in actual, physical possession, but that the person charged with possession has dominion and control over the goods. The same standard has been applied by the courts to cases where persons under the legal drinking age have consumed alcohol and been charged with a violation of A.R.S. 4-244. Under current law a person under the legal drinking age is prohibited to buy, receive, have in their possession or consume spirituous liquor [A.R.S. § 4-244 (9)].
A.R.S. § 4-101 (16) defines "legal drinking age" to mean a person who is twenty-one years of age or older.
"Spirituous liquor" is defined in A.R.S. § 4-101 (29) as “alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, tequila, mescal, gin, wine, porter, ale, beer, any malt liquor or malt beverage, absinthe, a compound or mixture of any of them or of any of them with any vegetable or other substance, alcohol bitters, bitters containing alcohol, any liquid mixture or preparation, whether patented or otherwise, which produces intoxication, fruits preserved in ardent spirits, and beverages containing more than one-half of one per cent of alcohol by volume.”
Among other statutorily prohibited activities involving spirituous liquor and persons under the legal drinking age, current statute provides that it is unlawful for a person under the age of twenty-one years to drive or be in physical control of a motor vehicle or a water craft that is underway while there is any spirituous liquor in the person's body [A.R.S. § 4-244 (33)(34)].
A.R.S. § 4-246 prescribes a class two misdemeanor as the general penalty for liquor violations, except that an underage person possessing, consuming or operating a motor vehicle with any spirituous liquor in their body is guilty of a class one misdemeanor. There is also a general exemption for religious services allowed pursuant to A.R.S. § 4-249 which permits the dispensing to or possession or consumption of spirituous liquor by a person under the legal drinking age in the performance of a religious service or ceremony.
All states have enacted “zero tolerance” laws for persons under the legal drinking age in compliance with the National Highway Systems Designation Act of 1995 in order to avoid loss of federal highway funds. This means that states must provide for primary enforcement of zero tolerance laws that apply to all persons under twenty-one years of age, and that state law must provide for prosecution of persons under the legal drinking age operating a motor vehicle with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.02 or more.
· Makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor for a person under the age of 21 years to have any spirituous liquor in their body.
HB 2467 was amended in the Judiciary
Committee as follows:
§ Makes consuming alcohol as part of a religious practice or for medicinal purposes a defense to the violation.
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45th Legislature
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Second Regular Session 2 March
25, 2002
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