Preventing Youth Access to Alcohol and Tobacco

Sources of Alcohol

Inside the home

Unfortunately, sometimes, no matter how hard we try, our children get alcohol from our own homes. To try to prevent this, consider taking these measures:

• Monitor your alcohol: Know how much you have, and where you keep it.
• Lock-up your alcohol: Keep your alcohol locked inside a cabinet or where no one else can access it.
• Don't leave it unattended: It is easy to leave alcohol in the basement or in the garage for storage. But this makes it really easy for someone to access it and use it, without your knowing.

When you talk to your teen about alcohol use in your home, make sure they know you're locking it up or monitoring it not because you don't trust them, but because you want to protect them. You may have a trusting relationship with your child, but if their friends are visiting or spending the night at your house, peer pressure can be hard to resist.

Outside the home:

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), over half (53.4%) of the current underage alcohol users drank at someone else's home the last time they used alcohol.

Shoulder Tapping:

One of the common ways that adolescents get alcohol is by shoulder tapping or "hey mister." Visit the 2005 "Hey Mister" Campaign here (insert pdf of Hey Mister) Shoulder tapping is when an underage youth stands outside of a location that sells liquor and asks someone going in to purchase alcohol for them. In Massachusetts, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) found that 83 of 100 adults asked to buy minors alcohol did so. For more information visit http://www.madd.org.

Watch a YouTube video of an actual shoulder tap!

Where Teens Get Tobacco

• High school smokers say they usually get their cigarettes from:
• Someone who buys cigarettes for them (e.g., shoulder tapping)
• Someone who gives cigarettes to them (e.g., family and friends)
• A retailer who sells cigarettes to them

Sources of Tobacco:

Follow Store Procedures:

• Emphasize to employees that checking IDs is important — no matter how many people are in line
• Remind your employees that state and local enforcement agencies conduct tobacco compliance checks
• Caution employees that store owners and clerks may be cited, which may result in a fine and criminal record

Train your Clerks:

• To ask for ID from anyone who looks younger than age 27
• To accept only valid government-issued IDs
• To CHECK the age on the ID and confirm the customer is over age 18
• How to refuse a sale

Use Reminders and Other Aids

• Display the "Can he buy cigarettes?" and "Warning: Selling tobacco to kids could cost you" posters where employees will read it.
• Place calendars and other age-of-sale reminders by all registers. Many types of calendars are available, including decals, daily paper, and electronic calendars.
• Use register screen pop-ups as reminders to check age.
• Install electronic scanning devices or other age verification devices, and teach employees how to use them and NOT to override them

IMPORTANT: Include time for clerks to practice calculating the age and ways to refuse a sale.

• Observe your clerks and give prompt feedback on what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong
• Conduct periodic secret shopper programs to check on your store's compliance
• Follow through with rewards and consequences

• FDA Tobacco Regulations

Providence Police Department License Enforcement Unit Partnership to Prevent Underage Drinking

The MSAPC has formed a partnership with the Providence Police Department License Enforcement Unit to establish a program aimed at identifying and targeting underage drinking throughout the City of Providence. A multi-faceted plan was put in place identifying the times, locations and methods by which youth are able to obtain and consume alcohol. The License Enforcement Unit is responsible for enforcing underage drinking compliance for 350 licensees that serve liquor (excluding Class P caterers' licenses) in Providence.

Spot Checks at Bars/Clubs. Police in plainclothes enter various liquor license establishments and observe patrons who appear to be under 21 years of age and are in possession of alcoholic beverages. Depending on circumstances, the Police may also have requested that the establishment be brought before the Providence Board of Licenses for a show cause hearing on a liquor license violation.

Surveillance at Liquor Stores- Police in unmarked police vehicles patrol the vicinity of various liquor stores and observe customers as they exit carrying alcoholic beverages. If the individual appears to be under 21, he will be halted by police. If it is determined that the subject is under 21 years of age, he will be charged with 3-8-10 Possession of alcohol by an Underage Person.

Party Patrols. Officers travel throughout the city, especially in areas of off campus college residences and monitor party activity in those locations.

Assistant Doormen. The quality of fraudulent identification cars has improved over the last few years, making it difficult to identify fake IDs. License Enforcement Unit officers position themselves inside various establishments and recheck ID cards. False IDs are seized and the patron is charged with Misrepresentation of Age by Underage Person.

The following are police reported data on these activities:

• The Providence Police conducted 155 compliance checks in 2008 and 2009 to date. The Providence Police Department made 222 arrests in 2008 related to underage drinking. The number of arrests is down from 304 arrests in 2007. Since 2006, the Providence Police have made 824 underage drinking arrests.
• Police conducted a coordinated compliance spot check on multiple bars in March 2009 in the Elmhurst neighborhood, which have a large college aged patron population. They issued 36 citations for underage drinking and fake ID's that night.

In addition to these activities, the annual RI Alcohol Purchase Survey shows a small increase in Providence alcohol sales to minors at 10% of sales based on 100 surveys completed, up from 8.2% in 2006.

Information Here on Stats for Providence Synar and Alcohol

Additional Community Programs to Prevent Youth Access to Substance Abuse

-Sticker Shock Program
Project Sticker Shock is designed to reach adults who might purchase alcohol legally and provide it to minors. Stickers warning about the penalties for furnishing alcohol to minors are placed on all multi-packs of beer, alco-pops, and other alcohol products that might appeal to underage drinkers. The impact of the stickers is increased by media coverage of the event and by longer-lasting signs to be displayed by participating retailers. The project represents a partnership between youth, retailers, concerned parents and community members, prevention professionals, and law enforcement with the goal of educating potential furnishers, raising public awareness about underage drinking, and strengthening the deterrent effect of the law against providing alcohol to minors.

Best Practices for implementing Project Sticker Shock

• Sticker Shock Guide

-Cops in Shops is a partnership between retailers and law enforcement that helps stop illegal underage alcohol sales and prevent adults from buying alcohol for minors. The program is preceded by a public information campaign advising of the forthcoming effort to reduce underage purchase by placing undercover officers in participating retail locations looking for underage buyers.

21 Proof Information:

• 21 Proof Brochure
• 21 Proof Handouts
• 21 Proof Reseach Brief