According to an investigation meant to find out just how easily alcohol is available to minors, at least 58 percent of NYC stores are selling alcohol to minors at the moment. This is directly correlated with the whopping proportion of underage drinking that has been observed in NYC and the entire US in the last years.
The investigation was conducted by the New York Health Department, that invested $147,000 in an undercover investigation performed last year over a period of six months. The investigators sent in undercover minors who tried to purchase alcohol from a wide range of places, including bodegas, grocery stores, liquor stores, pharmacies and bars.
Ironically, the investigation included 911 stores throughout its entire development, which represent 10 percent of the total retail stores that posses a liquor license. And the results did not fail to meet the suspicions of the Health Department, relaying that up to 58 percent of the retailers that the young undercover agents walked into ended up selling them alcohol.
The spokesman of the investigation further explained that undercover minors did not even use fake ID’s, and that the minors produced ID’s that were correspondent to their real age, that is in the case that they were even asked for identification to begin with.
It is precisely the fact that the $147,000 could not account for an undercover operation like the complex ones seen in Hollywood movies, that gives credibility to the investigation. Is is unclear though how much the minors used by the Health Department were paid.
As for the consequences, the fines for selling alcohol to minors start at $2,500 and can reach $10,000 in more severe offenses, such as repeated selling of alcohol to minors.
Binge drinking is an ever growing problem of the current generation and it is commonly known that despite the legal drinking age of 21, there is always a possibility to score booze even if you are a lot younger than that.
It has actually come to the point where it is laughable to not be able to get alcohol as a minor, because the possibilities are endless. From fake ID’s, to willing older friends or siblings, to, apparently, the mild-mannered clerk from around this corner or the other, there are options out there and when there’s a will, there’s a way.
Underage drinking is associated with drunk driving and considered to be a predisposing factor of considerably more serious problems that teenagers are faced with, such as rape and suicide. Therefore, if 58 percent of NYC stores are selling alcohol to minors, then this greatly contributes to the actions of these wayward teenagers.
Image Source: rehabs.com
Ryan Harris
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