Debate on kegs to land on floor

Chapel Hill Town Council members aren’t the only ones hoping to curb underage drinking through a law implementing a statewide keg registration policy.

A bill proposed by Sen. Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg, would require the purchaser of a keg to provide information including his name, address, telephone number, birth date, the keg’s identification number and the address where the alcohol will be consumed.

The proposal was born from a legislative request by the Charlotte City Council.

But when members of Chapel Hill’s council made a similar request during their annual legislative breakfast March 4, they were told that such a policy would probably be unpopular in the legislature.

Chapel Hill’s council has not yet weighed in on Graham’s proposal.

If the bill succeeds, North Carolina would be the 24th state to implement keg registration.

Jim Ward, the Chapel Hill Town Council member who initiated talks locally about a statewide keg registration, said the policy is key to ending underage drinking and driving.

“Underage drinking is a serious problem both in terms of the safety of the underage folks and the people who might get in their way behind the wheel,” he said.

“Getting alcohol via a keg party is a popular way because it’s a … high-volume, low-cost party ingredient that allows one legal-aged adult to provide alcohol to hundreds of potentially underage kids.”

Ward said states that regulate keg sales produce young adults who are less likely to become binge drinkers in college.

And if the statewide measure fails to pass, the council might still be interested in a local keg registration law, he said. But a local requirement would be less effective, as buyers could easily leave town limits to purchase kegs.

“I would still be a supporter of it at the town level,” Ward said. “But it obviously would be minimally effective because of the small area that is Chapel Hill.”

Graham said the Charlotte City Council requested the measure for many of the same reasons as Chapel Hill officials did.

“It’s a public safety issue for the people of Charlotte,” he said. “(We want to make) sure our teenaged population doesn’t engage in underage drinking and driving.”

Charlotte City Council member John Tabor said the council was responding to a request by the police department. “What the police department is asking for is a little accountability,” he said. “It’s to help save lives, to help save kids’ lives.”

Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, said that she isn’t sure if Orange County will sign onto Graham’s legislation, but that she will show the bill to Chapel Hill council members and wait for their replies.

Though she hasn’t formed an opinion on the issue, Kinnaird said she’s willing to put forth similar legislation to meet Chapel Hill needs.

“What we do is what our local governments ask us to do. … I’ll do what they want us to do,” she said.

“That’s what we do.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.