Minnesota Stopping Illegal Alcohol Sales to Teens A license to sell alcohol is a privilege, not a right. To keep this privilege, alcohol establishments must follow certain rules. One of these rules is "DO NOT SELL ALCOHOL TO INDIVIDUALS UNDER AGE 21." Under state law, it is a gross misdemeanor to sell alcohol to an underage person.1 Our communities are filled with many responsible alcohol establishments that follow this rule. Unfortunately, many establishments do not follow the rule and sell alcohol to teens and young adults.2,3 Our young people can easily obtain alcohol from alcohol establishments. What youth tell us: Twenty percent of 18-20-year-olds in Minnesota and Wisconsin bought alcohol from a licensed establishment the last time they used alcohol.4 Only 3% of these young adults had used a false ID in the last month. Students as young as age 14 report buying alcohol from licensed establishments.5 Once they obtain alcohol, young people often then share it with other underage youth.6 What research tells us: Young people can buy alcohol in nearly 1 out of every 2 tries.2,3 Communities throughout Minnesota are checking their alcohol establishments and finding that many of their alcohol establishments will sell to an underage person.   Percentage of Establishments that Sold to Underage People  St. James  Carlton County  Itasca County Minneapolis  Sherburne Co.  Tower   72% 38%   36% 36%   44%  80%   How do we stop illegal alcohol sales to teens? Communities that conduct periodic compliance checks of all alcohol establishments -- not just those they have received complaints about -- prevent illegal sales to underage youth. During compliance checks, youth under age 21 are sent into licensed alcohol establishments to buy alcohol. The young people are instructed: not to try to look older not to use false age identification, and to state their true age if asked. Often, law enforcement agencies first do research compliance checks to find out how many bars and liquor stores illegally sell alcohol to underage people. The next waves of compliance checks include penalties against those retail establishments that break the law. Alcohol establishments that follow the law do not face any fines or penalties, but rather are congratulated for helping protect the community. In some communities, the alcohol merchants are working together to conduct compliance checks on themselves. This self-monitoring is commendable and should be encouraged, but is not enough. Compliance checks are most likely to be effective if accompanied by penalties for failure to comply with the law. Also, not all establishments may be willing to participate in the self-monitoring program. Self-monitoring programs complement but should not replace community compliance checks.   What are appropriate penalties for illegal alcohol sales to youth? Penalties should: Hold the licensees responsible for behavior of their employees. Be administrative or civil fines that can be applied by the city council rather than a court system. Given to both the license holder and the individual seller or clerk that made the illegal alcohol sale. Be graduated so that the penalty increases with each failed compliance check. The penalty for a first offense is usually smaller to increase the likelihood that the law will be enforced. The penalty for the third offense is usually a suspension of the license. Include license revocation for chronic offenders.   Do compliance checks really work? YES! Communities that have conducted multiple waves of compliance checks have seen a dramatic reduction in the number of establishments that sell to young people. After two waves of compliance checks, the sales rate to underage youth in Sherburne County, Minnesota dropped from 44% to 4.6%. After four waves of compliance checks, the sales rate in Clinton County, New York, dropped from 45% to 3.5%. In a review of 70 cities that conducted compliance checks, Thomas Radecki of Doctors & Lawyers for a Drug Free Youth found that 12 cities that conducted 2 to 6 waves annually had an average underage buy rate of 15%. For more information on and model ordinances for compliance checks and administrative penalties, see http://www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol.
		References 1Minnesota State Statute §340A.702. 2Forster, J.L., McGovern, P., Wagenaar, A. C., Wolfson, M., Perry C.L. & Anstine P.S. The ability of young people to purchase alcohol without age identification. Addiction, 89:699-705, 1994. 3Forster, J.L., Murray, D.M., Wolfson, M. & Wagenaar, A.C. Commercial availability of alcohol to young people: Results of alcohol purchase attempts. Preventive Medicine, 24:342-347, 1995. 4University of Minnesota. Unpublished data from Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol. 5Wagenaar, A.C., Toomey, T.L., Murray, D.M., Short, B.J. Wolfson, M. & Jones-Webb, R. Sources of alcohol for underage youth. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 57(3):325-333, 1996. 6Short, B., Wolfson, M., Toomey, T.L., Wagenaar, A.C., Forster, J. Youth who provide alcohol to their peers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. Under review. 3/26/98
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