State agencies, law enforcement, communities and parents recently went on the offensive to battle the ongoing problem of underage drinking. The 10-day “Out of Their Hands” enforcement and education campaign ran April 2-11 throughout South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services Prevention Coordinator Michelle Nienhius says a huge focus of the campaign by Alcohol Enforcement Teams statewide was finding where underage drinkers were obtaining their alcohol. Nienhius says not surprisingly large numbers of young people get alcohol through illegal purchases.
“Some of those are through stores and illegal sales so they went out and conducted compliance check operations. We had 750 of those operations conducted across he state looking at stores that sell to minors and that was up from the 115 operations conducted last year.”
The program is designed to promote a safe end to the school year and a safe prom season in order to curb the loss of life and injuries that result from minors drinking and driving.
Nienhius says a new feature during this year’s campaign were the so-called “shoulder tap” operations where the Alcohol Enforcement Teams spent time observing persons under 21 attempting to recruit adults near selected stores to purchase alcohol for them. “Over 95 shoulder tap operations were conducted throughout the state and we’re glad that most of those individuals that were approached did not buy. There were some violations but only a very small percentage, so we were excited about those results.”
