Two 18-year-olds walk into a restaurant and order a couple of beers. The waitress doesn't ask them for identification to see if they meet the legal age requirement of 21. Instead of drinking the alcoholic beverages, however, the two teens leave the restaurant and empty their beers in nearby bushes. Shortly thereafter two agents from the Criminal Investigations Bureau enter the restaurant and issue the waitress a citation for selling alcohol to minors.
This scenario has been repeated numerous times since 1998 when the Department of Public Safety started the Covert Underage Buying (CUB) program to crack down on businesses selling alcohol to anyone under 21.
The CUB program has borne considerable fruit. When it started, the violation rate was around 50 percent. Now, the violation rate is estimated to be 25 percent, the national average for underage alcohol sales. Those involved with the program are to be commended for not only reducing the amount of alcohol consumed by minors but for also lowering the amount of damage that results from the illegal consumption of alcohol.
"When we started this program in 1998, one out of every two places would sell to you," said Sgt. Lee Perry, CUB spokesman. But on two recent missions, only three establishments out of 22 sold to the undercover agents.
Thanks in large part to the undercover operation, businesses are becoming more aware of the need to strictly observe the law. The teenager illegally purchasing an alcoholic beverage may be one of the teens in the CUB program. Establishments that illegally sell alcohol can lose their liquor license for at least five days.
Part of the problem is that some employees who serve alcohol lack training. The Governor's Council on Driving Under the Influence is wisely going to ask the Legislature to strengthen the law that requires those who serve alcoholic beverages to undergo sufficient training.
Some places of business where alcohol is served, like the Delta Center, are taking their own steps to make sure their employees comply with the law. Everyone from janitors to food servers receives instruction on how to enforce liquor laws at the Delta Center.
The battle against teenage drinking isn't over, but thanks to efforts like those of the CUB program some victories already have been won.