Police officers in Bethesda, Maryland, were called to a wild college fraternity party. When officers pulled up in front of the house, they saw two young men carrying an intoxicated 18-year-old woman to an Uber car. She was taken to the hospital to be treated for alcohol poisoning. Police discovered 200 partygoers just on the first floor. Another 50 to 75 people were huddled in the garage. Underage drinkers hid in closets, under beds and anywhere they could find when officers moved in. The house was so packed, investigators estimated the air temperature to be 100 degrees.
The inside of the house was trashed during the party, with beer seeping through the floor into the basement. Alcohol was so abundant, a preliminary breath test registered .09, just in the ambient air. That’s above the legal level of intoxication for a Maryland driver.
Alcohol citations were given to more than 100 underage drinkers. Providing alcohol to minors is not a criminal offense in the state of Maryland, so the 22-year-old who was leasing the house was charged with civil offenses and faces fines up to $2,500 per underage partygoer, though he’s unlikely to get a $275,000 penalty. The 22-year-old president of the fraternity was arrested for striking a police officer in the chest and eye. [1]
Proverbs 20:1 – “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”
Proverbs 23:30-35 – “Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. ‘They hit me,’ you will say, ‘but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?’”
________
[1] © 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.