27 August, 2024
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC), under the direction of State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, has launched Operation Safe Campus. The annual program is designed to target underage drinking on college campuses and in surrounding communities to keep alcoholic beverages out of the hands of underage students and prevent tragedies. This initiative begins each year when students return to colleges and universities throughout Massachusetts.
“Operation Safe Campus helps to start the school year right. It is important to remind college students, servers, and sellers alike the true danger of underage drinking,” said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who oversees the ABCC. “We want to increase awareness and avoid tragedies before they happen while protecting minors and their families from experiencing serious consequences."
The enforcement efforts focus primarily on the parking lots and surrounding streets of liquor stores and bars that have had significant problems with underage individuals purchasing alcoholic beverages with false identification or through adults buying alcoholic beverages for them.
Investigators will also be focusing on delivery apps that provide alcohol. Previously, Investigators found that students ordered and paid for the alcohol through the apps, after which the drivers picked up the alcohol from stores and delivered it to the underage students, who were found to be waiting for the alcohol delivery on street corners with empty duffle bags and suitcases.
The program focuses on front-line prevention, with investigators often calling the underage person’s parents when violations occur. ABCC officials say that most parents are unaware that their children are involved in the use of alcohol, and that the intervention is a powerful tool toward family involvement in addressing the problem of underage drinking.
"Operation Safe Campus focuses on taking immediate action to protect Massachusetts college students and those in the community, while also drawing attention to the dangers of underage drinking," said Jean Lorizio, chairperson of the ABCC. "We hope to ensure underage people become aware of the devastating consequences that drinking alcohol could have for them and their loved ones."
In 2023, ABCC enhanced enforcement found 690 minors in possession or transporting alcoholic beverages, 57 adults procuring alcohol for minors, 157 individuals in possession of false identification, and approximately 328 cases of beer and 203 bottles of alcohol were confiscated by Investigators, preventing delivery to approximately 3342 underage individuals. In addition, bars and liquor stores were charged with 324 counts of sale to underage persons.
Since 2005 these programs have resulted in the following cumulative results: 12,951 minors in possession or transporting alcoholic beverages; 3626 adults procuring alcohol for minors; 1842 individuals in possession of false identification; and approximately 5835 cases of beer and 4883 bottles of alcohol were confiscated, preventing delivery to approximately 77,602 underage individuals.
Annually, approximately 1,519 college students between the aged 18 to 24 die from alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes, 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, and 14 percent of college students meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder. In Massachusetts alone, the overall annual cost of alcohol abuse by youth is estimated at $1.4 billion.
Massachusetts IMPACT impaired driving data shows that 10% of all traffic fatalities involve drivers under the age of 21.
Massachusetts is among the top ten states for binge drinking, with more than 1 in 4 (27.75%) adults age 18 or older reporting they binged on alcohol in 2020. Among young people ages 12 to 20, 20.77% reported alcohol use in the past month and 11.81% reported binge alcohol use in the past month in Massachusetts. The national averages were 17.32% and 10.14%, respectively.
One in three (33.86%) substance abuse treatment admissions among persons aged 12 and older in 2019 in Massachusetts were alcohol related.
