Action held off on teen-drinking bill

The Senate held off voting on a bill that would make underage drinkers guilty of a misdemeanor because of fears it could be applied too broadly.

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, raised the questions about SB205 saying the way it was written, a 2-year old who got into dad's liquor cabinet would be a criminal.

"This seems to be overly broad and far reaching," he said.

"We already have on the books that it's illegal for somebody under 21 to possess alcohol," said Senate Judiciary Chairman Mark Amodei, R-Carson City. "We should probably have a law preventing them from having alcohol internally."

Existing law prohibits minors from possessing alcohol but doesn't prohibit them from "possessing" booze internally.

Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, agreed with Neal that the circumstances under which some teenager could be charged need to be better clarified. He said, for example, teens with a religious reason for imbibing would be exempt while those in other religions would be subject to a citation.

Amodei agreed to hold the legislation at least a day to give them time to satisfy their concerns and possibly offer an amendment.