Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 706, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, entitled:

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to require the suspension of the driver's license of a person under the age of twenty-one who violates laws relating to the consumption, possession, or use of alcohol.

Your Committee finds that alcohol is the number one drug of choice for teens in Hawaii and is commonly recognized as a gateway drug. The continued use of alcohol often leads to illicit drug use. It has been reported that underage drinking cost the State $182,000,000 in 2001.

Excessive amounts of alcohol can impair judgment, provoke risky and violent behavior, and slow down reaction time. An intoxicated person behind the wheel of a car is a lethal weapon on the road. Furthermore, according to the Department of Health, researchers have associated drinking with early sexual intercourse and, as a result, unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. When alcohol is consumed in combination with other drugs, the results can be even more devastating.

Underage drinking is an extremely prevalent problem. It has been estimated that a higher percentage of youths between ages twelve and twenty use alcohol (twenty-nine percent) than use tobacco (23.3 percent) or illicit drugs (14.9 percent). National statistics show that in 2002, about two million minors age twelve to twenty drank five or more drinks on an occasion, five or more times a month. Alcohol consumption is responsible for death and injury in motor vehicle accidents, as well as homicides, suicides, sexual assaults, and unintentional injuries.

A driver's license is the prized possession of teenagers. Knowledge that a conviction for underage possession of alcohol will result in temporary loss of driving privileges is likely to deter many potential underage drinkers from possessing alcohol until they are legally entitled to do so. This measure can save lives by deterring underage drinking and drunk driving.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to January 1, 2007 and making technical, nonsubstantive amendments.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 706, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 706, S.D. 2, H.D. 2, C.D. 1.