Nassau County Legislator Tom McKevitt and the members of the Legislative Majority introduced new legislation to help combat the opioid epidemic. The new legislation will expand Nassau County’s current social host law to apply to controlled substances, including opioids.
By including “controlled substances” within the Nassau County social host law, owners of private residences, including parents, guardians, and others, will be held accountable for knowingly allowing the consumption of controlled substances or alcohol by anyone under age twenty-one on the premises or failing to take reasonable corrective action upon learning of the consumption of drugs or alcohol. Violation of the social host law is considered an unclassified misdemeanor. The fine for a first offense is $250. A second offense will accrue a fine of $500, and a third offense, and all offenses thereafter will be $1,000 and/or imprisonment not to exceed one year.
The original Social Host law was passed by the Nassau County Legislature on July 9, 2007, applied only to alcohol consumption. The Legislature will vote on the new version of the law in March.