Seeking to curb "power hour" alcohol binges, the North Dakota Senate has approved legislation that says a bar customer must wait until 8 a.m. on his or her 21st birthday to be legally served a drink.

"Nobody in this chamber likes taking away individual rights," said Sen. Joel Heitkamp, D-Hankinson. "But I can tell you that when it comes to this, it seems like waiting that hour might save a life."

North Dakota law now allows a bar customer to be served after midnight on his or her 21st birthday. The state has a 1 a.m. bar closing time. The gap has prompted the "power hour" binge, in which a person attempts to drink 21 shots of alcohol before closing time.

In the last three years, one Fargo man, Jason Reinhardt, died of alcohol poisoning on his 21st birthday, and a West Fargo man, Lance Jerstad, suffered acute alcohol poisoning. Jerstad spent almost three weeks recovering.

Reinhardt's death in March 2004 gave momentum to legislative proposals to stop power hours. The North Dakota Legislature is considering two, one of which is included in legislation that would give local governments the option of allowing bars to stay open until 2 a.m.

Senators voted 42-5 on Wednesday to approve the change in the legal drinking age. The bill now goes to the House for its review.

"You've got one hour before the bar closes, and they're hitting it too hard. They're partying too much, too quick," Heitkamp said. "If you pass (the bill), there is no more power hour. There is no more pressure to … cram everything into that one hour."

Sen. Russell Thane, R-Wahpeton, spoke against the bill. He sympathized with parents whose children have suffered alcohol poisoning, but 21-year-olds should already know better, Thane said.

"I would almost think that the time they've reached that age, they've been most of the way through college, if that's where they are," Thane said. "They should have learned some personal responsibility, to take care of themselves."

The bill is SB2067.