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Hubbard County Youth
Drug and Alcohol
Task Force
322 Main Ave S Suite 2
P.O. Box 853
Park Rapids, MN 56470
218-237-4114
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Youth Access to Alcohol...It is An Issue of Influence.
There has been quite a buzz about the recent round of Compliance Checks done in the Park Rapids Area. I have to say, I was taken aback by the fact that over 50% of the off-sale establishments checked failed. In my position working for the Hubbard County Youth Drug and Alcohol Task Force, I am guided by a mission “To significantly reduce underage use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs for the youth living and attending school in Hubbard County.” I am also guided by my experience watching area youth struggle with substance use and abuse or substance abuse in their families. Alcoholism touches all of us in one way or another. It is very hard to find someone who does not have alcoholism or drug use somewhere in their extended, if not immediate, family these days.
I don’t want to see any more youth struggle with drinking to fit in or to cope with their daily stressors, much less with alcoholism and addiction. That is why I do what I do. Substance use, including alcohol during the time that the brain develops (ages birth to 25 years), can significantly change brain development and increase the risk of addiction for youth up to four times that of someone who uses after age 25. It is just a bad idea to drink during the time the brain is developing.
Research shows that removing youth access to alcohol and drugs is a significant way to reduce abuse. Compliance Checks are designed as a gauge on area compliance to the law not to sell or serve alcoholic beverages to youth under the age of 21. The drinking age is not a random number. It is based on many things, including safety data. Safety data shows a significant decline in accidents after the age of 21. Recent research about the age brain development is completed, as mentioned above, shows the age of brain efficiency to be 25, give or take. The part of the brain that develops last is the portion involved in understanding consequences and using decision making skills well. With this information in hand, it makes sense for youth not to have access to a chemical that further interrupts solid decision making until the legal drinking age.
Compliance checks also serve as a deterrent to those who would choose to sell alcohol to a minor despite the research evidence. The cost of the penalty is high, but so is the cost of the lives of our area youth. Many establishments have policies to card those who look 30 or under, some even older than that. Selling and serving alcohol comes with the responsibility to follow the laws that apply. The bottom line is that reducing access to alcohol will help us reduce alcohol abuse in our area youth.
Why did so many of those checked sell to a young adult of questionable age without checking ID? Is it due to a lack of education on what the penalties of selling to a minor are? A gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1000 fine is a significant penalty to be aware of. Is it because there is needed education on how harmful alcohol is to a developing brain or how the ability of a youth to consider consequences is not fully developed, especially when further impaired by a chemical substance? Why did our area do so poorly on the check?
The results of the first round of compliance checks were used to determine if there was a problem of youth access to alcohol at the point of sale in our area. The results seem to show a problem exists. The County Attorney’s office, County Sheriff’s Office, Park Rapids Police Department and the Hubbard County Youth Drug and Alcohol Task Force support the need for further education of the laws and penalties associated with selling or serving alcohol to a minor. The group has chosen to sponsor two free training sessions on September 28th at the Park Rapids American Legion that will educate any person who sells or serves alcoholic beverages. The training sessions will also cover third party liability. In addition, a representative from the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Department, the Park Rapids Police or the Hubbard County Attorney’s office will be present to go over the recent compliance checks and how they will be run in the future as well as a presentation by the Hubbard County Youth Drug and Alcohol Task Force on the dangers of introducing alcohol into a developing brain and how energy drinks are affecting the industry and our area youth. The trainings will run from 8am-12 noon and 4pm-8pm. For more information or to register for a training session, call the Hubbard County Youth Drug and Alcohol Task Force at 218-237-4114.
It is an Issue of Influence...
For more information contact 218-237-4114 or go to www.hubbardcountydrugfree.org.
info@hubbardcountydrugfree.org