Senate passes 'Not a Drop' amendment to suspend licenses of under‑21 drivers with detectable alcohol, adds narrow medical carve‑out

The Utah Senate on the floor approved Senate Bill 185, commonly called "Not a Drop," which imposes driver‑license suspensions on under‑21 drivers who have any detectable alcohol.

Sponsor Senator Beatty described the bill as a public‑safety measure modeled in part on programs in other states that have reduced alcohol‑related crashes among youth. Under the bill as discussed on the floor, a first offense would result in a 90‑day license suspension; repeat offenses would carry stiffer penalties, including a one‑year revocation for a second offense.

During floor debate Senator Craig (Craig Gidderson) urged an amendment to exclude "naturally occurring alcohol" from the bill's detectable‑alcohol standard. He explained that sensitive testing equipment can detect trace endogenous alcohol or minute levels resulting from some medications or metabolic conditions (for example, in people with diabetes), and without such an exclusion the bill could provide no defense for those cases. Senator Beatty and the floor accepted the amendment; the Senate then called the question and the clerk recorded the bill's passage to the third‑reading calendar.

Senator Steele raised concerns from the Liquor Commission about implementation details and asked whether the bill should allow a temporary provisional permit for suspended young drivers with work or school transportation needs; the bill as passed on the floor does not include a provisional‑permit provision and senators acknowledged that point remained to be addressed.

The amendment adopted reads in effect: after the phrase "detectable alcohol," insert "other than naturally occurring alcohol," providing a narrow defense for trace endogenous alcohol. The bill, as amended, passed the floor vote (announced as 22 ayes, 2 nays, 5 absent) and was placed on the third‑reading calendar.