By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- Village officials are looking at a “social host” law that would make it illegal for adults to host minors consuming illegal drugs and alcohol, but some trustees are weary of its necessity.

The proposed law would punish adults with possible fines and jail time who “knowingly or unknowingly” allow people under age 21 to consume drugs on their property, Massena Drug Free Coalition Coordinator Felicia Neahr told the board. She attended Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting to stump for the bill.

Neahr clarified her use of “unknowingly” to mean “they should have known.”

Trustee Tim Ahlfeld pointed out existing laws governing such conduct.

“Don’t we already have laws on the books now?” he said.

“There’s unlawfully dealing with a minor, but it’s a lot more narrow,” said Mayor Tim Currier, a former police chief.

“[With a social host law] it seems to be easier to charge somebody because you don’t have to prove who provided the alcohol,” Neahr said.

“What are the advantages? Are we going to arrest someone because their 19 or 20-year-old daughter is home from the military and has a glass of wine?” Ahlfeld questioned.

“I would be satisfied if there is an unmet need in the current laws,” Trustee Matt Lebire said. “I would be very interested in looking at the unintended consequence. Are we getting out into the weeds, overreaching someplace we shouldn’t be getting involved in?”

Trustee Francis Carvel supports the idea.

“I myself think it’s a good idea. Addiction starts in the teenage years,” he said. “The brain isn’t fully developed. It’s different if the person waits until it’s fully developed.”

"It acts as a deterent," Neahr said.

Trustee Albert Deshaies worried that the proposed penalties may be too stiff. They include up to 15 days in jail and a $100 to $250 fine for a first offense, $150 to $300 fine for a second offense and $250 to $500 fine for a third offense.

Acting Massena Police Chief Adam Love said it’s up to judicial discretion how the penalize a case.

“This is what could happen to them. It’s up to the judge,” he said.

Neahr said a Drug Free Coalition survey shows there is a desire in the community for a social host law, but information from the National Science Foundation says the results could be questionable.

She said in their survey that seeks views on alcohol use in the community, 6.2 percent of respondents said they disagreed with a social host law, which dropped to 3.3 percent in 2013 and 2.2 percent in 2014. The rest either said they agreed or strongly agreed with the idea, Neahr said.

“Few people in the community disagree that there should be a social host law,” she said.

She said survey respondents were self-selected, meaning they did not craft a scientific sampling model. Anyone who wanted to take the survey and had access to it could.

According to the NSF, the results may not be an accurate measure of public opinion.

“Representative samples must be selected carefully and without bias,” the NSF says on a section of their website talking about surveys. “For example, samples made up of self-selected responders, such as people who participate in a survey or poll by calling an 800 number, are almost certainly biased samples. In a scientific survey, researchers choose samples through some random process that is usually mentioned in the survey background materials.”

The full document is available at http://1.usa.gov/203o3Ls.

The board took no formal action on the law and decided to hear more at a future meeting.

“We want to tailor this to Massena,” Love said.