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DRAPER — Police say more local businesses are failing compliance checks for underage alcohol sales this year than in years past.
It could be a seasonal trend, but "it is concerning," said Utah Department of Public Safety Sgt. Jalaine Hawkes, who heads up the state's Alcohol Enforcement Team.
"We just cannot make it permissible for our salespeople to sell alcohol to minors," Draper Deputy Police Chief John Eining told a gathering of Draper business owners and employees.
Eining said police send minors into retail establishments where alcohol is sold or served in order to ensure those businesses are following Utah law.
As an alcoholic beverage control state, Utah strictly manages the wholesale and retail distribution and sale of liquor, wine and beer. The state Legislature makes laws and policies based on principles that attempt to ensure public safety, curb overconsumption and prevent underage drinking.
In all, the state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has doled out 1,845 liquor licenses to on-premise bars and restaurants, golf courses and clubs, and to off-premise gas locations throughout the state. Hawkes promotes continuous trainings and conducts compliance checks up to four times each year at each location.
The concerns for underage drinking and keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors come from medical research that shows dynamic changes occur in the brain during adolescence, up to age 21, and alcohol can seriously damage growth patterns and alter behavior. The American Medical Association advises that damage from alcohol use at a young age can be long term and irreversible.
The average age people in Utah take their first drink is about 12, with many starting younger, according to a biennial survey of Utah students. Binge drinking seems to start in middle school among respondents.
"Kids don't drink for social reasons. They drink to get drunk, to be under the influence and that results in binge drinking that can be very dangerous for our youth and the community," said Draper Police Chief Bryan Roberts.
The underlying goal for officials and police is to "prevent underage drinking and reduce the number of youth who participate in that type of behavior," Roberts said.
The younger a person is when they begin drinking, the greater the probability that they'll become alcohol-dependent or use illicit drugs, said Doug Murakami, alcohol education director at the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and chairman of a prevention work group that oversees the Parents Empowered outreach campaign.
"It has a different effect on an adult," he said, adding that the research alone is enough to motivate not only public officials, but parents and teens themselves.
Drinking rates are lower in Utah than across the nation, with 13.6 percent of high school seniors reporting in 2015 to have used alcohol in the past 30 days. Eighteen percent of all respondents in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades reported trying alcohol in their lifetime.
Utah laws attempt to shield children from alcohol use in restaurants and impose penalties when children are caught drinking. Businesses caught selling to minors are also penalized, including jail time and fines for employees and the establishment.
It is enough for Katie Hollingshead, co-owner at Guadalahonky's restaurant and Donkey Tails Cantina in Draper, to take extra precaution when training employees and making sure policies are in place to check and double-check identification for patrons buying alcohol.
"We don't want to add to the epidemic and problems associated with drinking at any age," Hollingshead said. "And the last thing we want is a penalty.
"The more we can keep alcohol out of the hands of kids, the less problem drinkers we'll have down the road," she added.
Hollingshead and a group of her employees, along with representatives from about 40 other local businesses, took a pledge Wednesday to help the city and police curtail underage drinking.
In addition to the pledge, new decals on police vehicles indicating the danger of underage drinking and other educational efforts are the result of a minigrant from Parents Empowered and is organized by the Draper Communities That Care Coalition.
At least 10 cities throughout Utah — Murray announced a similar program earlier this year — are utilizing such grants to improve the situation regarding underage drinking in their communities.
"Information truly is power," said Draper Mayor Troy Walker. "Any teenager can understand the concepts surrounding brain deformities and abnormalities that underage drinking can cause. And once you understand that, it makes it easier to say 'no.'"
