N.J. moves to reinstate penalties for underage public drinking, weed consumption

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Two years after decriminalizing public drinking for young people under 21, New Jersey is on the verge of reinstating penalties because too many minors have been “flouting the law.”

On Thursday, a state Senate panel approved a bill that imposes a $50 fine on people under 21 found with booze or marijuana, and for police to notify parents or guardians of those under 18.

The bill, S3954, would repeal a controversial part of the laws legalizing marijuana for people 21 and older in 2021. Lawmakers at that time downgraded marijuana and alcohol possession offenses for minors, out of concern that Black people are three times as likely than whites to be arrested for drug possession, even though rates of consumption are the same. Social justice advocates urged lawmakers to shield minors from this disproportionate treatment, as well.

The 2021 law says police officers could only issue written warnings to youth under 21 found with marijuana or alcohol but not notify their parents unless there was a subsequent offense. The law also threatened police officers caught searching a minor for weed or alcohol with a criminal charge of deprivation of civil rights. It carries fines and prison time of three to five years.

Lawmakers, many of them parents, were never quite comfortable with the law.

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee approved the bill by an 8-0 vote with four abstentions, just a week after the Senate Judiciary Committee approved it by 9-2 vote. The bill, which passed the Assembly without any no votes in June, needs to clear the full 40-member Senate before it goes to the governor’s desk.

“Suburban kids are flouting this. If we don’t do something we might as well say you can drink openly as a teenager,” said Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, the committee chair.

The bill also limits the scenarios under which an officer may be charged with depriving someone of their civil rights. The officer would have had to act “with the purpose to intimidate or discriminate against the underage person or group of persons in order to be guilty of the crime,” according to the bill.

But social justice advocates warned the committee that undoing the 2021 law, imposing fines and requiring a minor appear in municipal court would unnecessarily burden low-income families and thrust young people of color into the criminal justice system.

“It has been shown time and time again with youth and substances — this is not the first time they have seen each other,” said Austin Edwards, senior policy counsel for Salvation and Social Justice, a community nonprofit. “The fines and fees don’t necessarily deter youth from engaging with these substances.”

It makes more sense to emulate his organization’s work with Trenton city officials to address the root causes of substance abuse on the neighborhood level, he said.

Charlene Walker, executive director for Faith in New Jersey, said parents have told her they cannot afford the $50 fine and the loss of a day’s pay that comes with appearing in court. “This is something that is really going to set back Black, brown and poor families across this entire state,” she said.

Robert Nixon, a lobbyist for the State PBA, the largest police union in New Jersey, said the changes were necessary to protect both youth and police officers just trying to do their jobs. He suggested lowering the fine if that was a sticking point.

“These children are not stupid. They know what the law is. They know the officers have their hands tied,” Nixon said. He urged the committee to pass the bill, “for the interest of not only these kids’ safety and health,” and “the reality you need to unshackle the police just to come in and protect those kids.”

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Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.