Effective
Prevention Strategies:
What Others Are Doing
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States and localities
are employing many prevention strategies to tackle the underage drinking
problem.
- Minnesota
recently passed new legislation that strengthens advocates’ ability
to limit youth access to alcohol.
-
California
has implemented a program to discourage adults from buying alcohol for
minors.
- Kentucky
uses the “Cops in Shops” initiative to publicize and strengthen
its enforcement efforts.
Health advocates in
Minnesota are pleased with the outcome of the 1999 legislative session
that ended in May 1999. Two important regulations were passed that community
groups and public health and law enforcement agencies can use to fight
underage drinking. Community groups, including the Minnesota
Join Together Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, were involved
in advocating for these bills.
First, Minnesota’s
Omnibus Crime Bill provided first-time funding to help local authorities
conduct compliance checks of establishments selling alcohol to insure
they do not sell alcohol to minors. The Minnesota Department of Public
Safety’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) will distribute
$150,000 in grants to local enforcement agencies to help pay for the costs
of conducting alcohol compliance checks.
Second, Minnesota
legislature passed a bill that makes it a felony to give alcohol to minors
who become drunk and are involved in an injury-causing or deadly accident.
Previously, only non-commercial adults who sold alcohol to youth in these
situations could face felony charges. The bill, known as the “Brockway
Bill,” came in response to a request from Tom Brockway of St. Paul,
whose 16-year-old son, Kevin, was killed in a 1997 New Year’s Eve crash
after leaving a party. At the time, prosecutors could charge the man who
provided alcohol to Brockway’s son only with a gross misdemeanor.
Both of these regulations
are useful tools for reducing youth access to alcohol. The Training Center
recommends routine, comprehensive compliance checks as a key strategy
for deterring commercial alcohol sales to minors. Research on compliance
checks has found this strategy sharply reduces illegal sales to minors.
(See Regulatory Strategies for Preventing Youth Access to Alcohol).
For more information
on these Minnesota regulations, contact Jeff Nachbar at Minnesota Join
Together Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, 612-427-5310, E-mail:
In June 1999, the
Los Angeles Police Department announced it will be conducting undercover
“Shoulder Tap” operations that target adults who furnish alcoholic
beverages to people under age 21. The California Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control (ABC) is funding the police department’s activities.
The initiative involves the use of a minor as a decoy, who, under the
direct supervision of a police officer, will ask adults to purchase alcoholic
beverages for him or her. “These operations are designed to reduce
the number of deaths and injuries due to teen drunk driving. Furnishing
alcohol to a minor is a serious offense,” said ABC Director Jay Stroh.
Under this California
law that became effective in January 1998, an adult who furnishes alcohol
to a minor faces a $1,000 fine and a minimum 24 hours of community service.
Furthermore, any adult who furnishes alcohol to a minor who then injures
or kills him or herself or anyone else faces a minimum 6 months in the
county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both imprisonment and a fine.
The Shoulder Tap program helps publicize the seriousness of providing
alcohol to a minor.
Recent “Shoulder
Tap” operations conducted in California’s Wilshire and West Valley
Areas found that between 50 and 60 percent of adults who are approached
outside local liquor and convenience stores will accommodate a minor’s
request for an alcoholic beverage.
The Training Center
recommends implementing strategies to limit noncommercial sources of alcohol
to youth, including the “Shoulder Tap” program. The Training
Center also suggests informing retailers about the practice of shoulder
tapping by youth. Retailers who witness a shoulder-tapping incident should
report it to appropriate law enforcement officials. Further responsible
beverage service programs should include “shoulder-tapping prevention”
as a retailer responsibility.
Source: “Police
initiative targets adults giving alcohol to minors,” 6/18/99. Join
Together Online
More information about the CA ABC: http://www.abc.ca.gov/
During September 1999,
Kentucky’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) implemented
the “Cops in Shops” program to generate publicity about underage
drinking and the enforcement of minimum alcohol purchase age laws. The
“Cops in Shops” initiative is an undercover operation, in which
law enforcement officers pose as clerks at liquor and convenience stories.
In Kentucky, the officers concentrated their efforts in college towns.
The program was publicized
on local news media, which educated citizens about the program and warned
underage drinkers to stay away from the liquor stores. But even so, in
one night, law enforcement officers arrested and cited almost 200 minors
and legally drunk adults who were attempting to purchase alcohol.
The Kentucky ABC began
the program in 1995 to publicize its enforcement programs and let underage
drinkers and merchants know it means business. Over the past 4 years,
the program has grown from 14 to 22 counties. In its first year, “Cops
in Shops” needed 1,019 citations and arrests. That number has dropped
through the years, even as more counties have joined the program.
The Training Center
recommends that States utilize the “Cops in Shops” program as
only one piece of a comprehensive enforcement plan. The program is often
a good method to establish a working relationship with retailers and is
useful in targeting retail outlets popular with minors. The Kentucky ABC
uses other enforcement strategies as well to complement “Cops in
Shops”. It also performs compliance checks with undercover minors
who attempt to purchase alcohol.
Source:
- Lasseter, T. ID
is not only thing that’s fake; clerk is too. Cops in Shops sting nets
underage drinkers. Lexington Herald-Leader, 9/3/99.
Full story: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/090399/statedocs/03copsinshops.htm
- Lasseter, T. Cops
in shops net violators. 195 cited, arrested in initiative against underage
drinking. Lexington Herald-Leader, 9/4/99.
Full story:
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/090499/statedocs/04underage.htm
Is your organization implementing an effective strategy to prevent underage
drinking? If so, consider sharing your story with others on the Training
Center Web site. Contact [email protected] with
details.
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