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OLCC may allow older teens into music venues with booze
07:15 AM PST on Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission will consider whether to allow minors to enter live music clubs that sell alcohol.
Those with ties to the Portland music scene seem to largely support the proposal, as do minors who like the jazz and indie-rock bands that play clubs rather than arenas.
"I've reached the age where most of my friends are over 21, and they get to go to all this stuff and I don't, which is really frustrating," said Alice Kersting, a 20-year-old fan of indie rock who co-chairs the Multnomah Youth Commission, which held a hearing on the issue Monday at Portland City Hall.
State rules limit minors to the few concert venues that don't serve alcohol and places that are large enough to keep drinkers physically separate from minors.
The proposed rule change, which the OLCC will consider next month, would allow minors and drinkers together at clubs as long as the venue has a plan, such as the use of wristbands, to limit minors' access to alcohol.
"They do see a place to stick their foot in, to get young people into these venues for these concerts," said OLCC spokesman Ken Palke of industry supporters. But "we have to make sure the booze and the young kids don't get together."
Alicia J. Rose, the talent booker at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, told The Oregonian newspaper that she supports the change because it would allow older teens in the venue, where the focus is music, not alcohol.
The clubs could handle the changes and the responsibilities entailed, she said. Doug Fir, for example, could put on shows that allowed in music fans 18 and older, or younger if accompanied by an adult.
"I personally don't want 12-year-olds wandering around at midnight," she said.
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