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November 28, 2003 - Image 11

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 2003-11-28

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

n

D

D•E•S•

• G•N

Cheers For Tough Drinking Law

he
Michigan
Senate
recently
passed a measure that
would put some bite
into underage drink-
ing laws. It provides
for jail time for
GEORGE
minors who test with
CANTOR
a 0.02 blood alcohol
Reality Check level in their system.
I think this is a ter-
rific piece of legislation, one that
seriously addresses a serious prob-
lem. For the last five years, I have
spoken to I don't know how many
school groups and organizations
1 about resisting peer pressure to
I drink and the need to confront
1 underage alcohol consumption on
college campuses.
Those who know anything about
my family don't have to
ask why. My daughter
Courtney died in 1998
1 in a fall from her dor-
mitory window after
being illegally served
1 alcohol, some of it with
1 laced with the so-called
"date-rape" drug GHB,
at a fraternity party.
She was an 18-year-old
freshman and her death
rips at my heart every
day of my life.
But one local colum-
Courtney
nist thinks this legislation
was written by a bunch
of spoilsports. They all
probably had a few beers when they
were under the age of 21, he wrote
recently. Why do they want to land
on a bunch of inoffensive college
kids now?
At the time of my daughter's
death, this same columnist wrote
that it was the result of an unfortu-
nate accident.
No, it was not an accident. It was
the result of a deliberate violation of
the law.
If the law is a stupid law, then
maybe we should change it and
lower the drinking age to 18. That
I would remove some of the mystique
from underage drinking. But as long
as the people of Michigan want the

George Cantor, a West Bloomfield

resident, is a native Detroiter and
longtime Detroit journalist. His e-mail
address is gcantor@thejewishnews.com

drinking age to be 21, then the law
should be enforced. Otherwise, there
will be many more Courtneys. There
already have been too many.
There was never a hint of a sub-
stance abuse problem with my
daughter. She was just a kid ar her
first sorority party who wanted to be
accepted as one of the gang. So she
drank when she shouldn't have.
Wrist slaps for those who provided
the alcohol resulted. There should
have been much, much more.
I tell kids that there are many oth-
ers like them; those who don't want
to drink, but succumb to the pres-
sure because they think they are
alone. They must not believe that,
and universities should initiate pro-
grams that present abstention as a
socially cool decision.
The notion that underage drink-
ing is not a Jewish problem should
have been shattered
years ago. If your col-
lege freshman is home
for this holiday week-
end, talk to him or
her. Reinforce your
beliefs about drink-
ing. I can't tell you
how many times I
wished that I'd had
just one more talk like
that with Courtney.
The book I wrote
about her, Courtney's
Legacy, has circulated
Cantor
widely and, I hope,
has reached some fam-
ilies and changed
some lives.
You don't ever recover from the
death of a child. You get used to it,
but the pain is never really far away.
I'll be watching some stupid com-
mercial about cell phones and sud-
denly a daddy on a business trip will
be seen talking to his little girl as if
she were sitting right next to him.
And I'll have to leave the room
because the image just cuts too
close. No family should ever go
through this sort of anguish.
I hope the Legislature and Gov.
Jennifer Granholm complete the job
and turn this bill into law. Some
columnists may be slow learners, but
there are many of us who under-
stand the need for it. ❑

LIIFFIYE 48 E

N EW YORK 1

TRUNK SHOW
Spring 2004

,

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11/28

=<

2003

II

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