Most stores comply with law, but kids say it’s simple to
bypass
Gilroy – Above the register of Van Nguyen’s 7-Eleven on First Street is a large red sign reading “We card.”
Behind the glass refrigerator doors glisten gold and silver cans of beer – designated off limits for the underage.
“They know we ask for identification so they don’t try (to buy)” Nguyen said. “If they look under 35 we ask for identification. It’s not worth it – one can of beer. It’s not worth it for us to get in trouble.”
But Gilroy teens say it’s not difficult to get alcohol.
“It’s pretty easy nowadays. Liquor stores don’t even card. I guess if your selling they don’t care who they hurt,” said Gilroy High School freshman Sarah Dryden. “I haven’t heard of anyone having a fake ID because you don’t need it here.”
Ricardo, a 16-year-old sophomore who declined to give his last name, explained that teens will often ask strangers to purchase alcohol for them.
“You just ask people and they’ll buy it for you. Sometimes they’ll do it for free,” he said.
Gilroy Police Sgt. John Sheedy believes most underage drinkers in town get alcohol in this manner of shoulder tapping.
“Alcohol is easy to get in any community,” he said. “What happens is that youngsters approach people who are 21 to buy alcohol for them.”
A sweep of 22 area liquor stores by the Gilroy Police Department and the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control revealed that most were in compliance regarding sales to minors, issuing just four citations in December.
Similar operations are conducted throughout the year. Individuals younger than 21 are not given fake IDs – they use their own if asked for one by store clerks.
“The who thing is not trickery, it’s just straight up – are you following the rules?” Sheedy said. “If you fail to follow the rules you will get cited.”
Businesses caught selling alcohol to minors face both financial and civil penalties – even possible loss of its liquor license. ABC officials warn that individuals older than 21 who purchase alcohol for minors are breaking the law. But despite the punishment, local teens are getting their hands on booze.
Some teens reported that parents and siblings will sometimes provide alcohol for underage drinkers at parties.
“It’s really easy to get alcohol,” said a 16-year-old sophomore who asked to remain anonymous.
He estimated that a lot teens get “wasted” every weekend out of boredom.
“In Gilroy there’s nothing to do,” he said. “A lot of people drink and drive, now that I think about it.”
Local teens are drinking at alarmingly high rates – 71 percent of juniors reported using alcohol in the past and 49 percent admitted to being sick after consuming alcohol, according to the fall 2005 results of the California Healthy Kids Survey.
And they’re not just partying at home.
Survey results indicate 13 percent of freshman and 28 percent of juniors reported being either drunk or high on school property.
Perhaps more frightening is that a quarter of all freshman and 39 percent of juniors said they had either driven after drinking or ridden in a car with a driver who was under the influence.
With graduation parties in the months ahead and summer on the horizon, California Highway Patrol officials have started issuing warnings to parents and teen drivers to be careful when driving – especially when alcohol is involved.
ABC supervising investigator Summer Robertson believes parents need to be responsible when it comes to providing alcohol to underage drinkers.
“In my opinion, condoning alcohol at home sends the same message outside,” she said.
For the stores and individuals willing to take the risk and purchase alcohol for the underage, luckily there are others out there who won’t be persuaded by the profit.
Suzie Asfour, owner and operator of Westside Market and Liquors on First Street, is on of them.
“I’m very strict about carding. They don’t play games with me,” she said. “I’m very glad that police are working on this because it’s really important for our community that kids do the right thing.”
