Dive Brief:
- California has passed a law allowing college students under the legal drinking age of 21 to imbibe under very limited circumstances, for educational purposes.
- The law, dubbed “Sip and Spit,” allows students in winemaking and beer-brewing courses to drink alcohol in class, as long as they don’t swallow it.
- Several other states already allow minors to sample their alcoholic coursework, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Dive Insight:
The law takes effect next year, and it raises the question of how sipping and spitting would ever be verified by police, short of a blood alcohol breath test. Students in wine and beer making classes in California have been handicapped by not being able to taste their work, and at least one university has scheduled its tasting classes for the final semester for undergrads, when they are likely to be of legal drinking age. The law applies only to public institutions with beer and wine degree programs, and to students pursuing those degrees.