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Campaign launched on reasons not to buy alcohol for minors |
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Thursday, 28 December 2006 |
The timing, unfortunately for Miss Teen USA, was just right as the Safe Kids Safe Communities (SKSC) program through the Pondera County Health Department which launched a program on reasons why not to buy alcohol for minors.
You may have seen on the news or read that this week, the organization of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has severed ties with 18-year-old Katie Blair of Billings, Miss Teen USA.
MADD, in the past, has teamed with Miss Teen USA to raise awareness about the serious and often fatal consequences of underage drinking.
The action came about after news reports surfaced that Blair, and then underage Miss USA Tara Connor who was not of legal age at the time, were doing some seriously hard partying in New York nightclubs.
Connor did turn 21 on Dec. 18.
County Health Nurse Cynthia Grubb, and SKSC program coordinator Jackie Bonser administer the local campaign.
Mayor John Shevlin helped with the program by taking posters to local vendors that sell alcohol.
The posters give reasons why individuals of legal age should not buy alcohol for minors.
The poster also urges friends, parents and retailers not to be a party to underage drinking.
Buying alcohol for a minor could be costly if an individual is caught. You may be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, You may be fined up to $500 per person you buy for and potentially punished with up to six months of jail time.
In addition, if the minor you bought the “six pack” for does get in a crash, you could be held responsible.
Montana, unfortunately, is one of 10 states to make the deadly Fatal Fifteen list for three years straight. The Fatal Fifteen are states in which 41 percent or more of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related.
Montana ranks fourth at 49.40 percent and has been in the top five for at least the last three years. Washington, DC ranks first at 54 percent, Hawaii is second at 50.71 percent and Rhode Island is just ahead of Montana at 49.43 percent.
“Too many people still don’t understand that alcohol and driving don’t mix,” says Grubb. “Driving impaired or riding with someone who is impaired is not worth the risk.” She went on to add, “The consequences are serious and real.”
Statistics show that last year, nearly 17,000 motorists were killed nationwide in alcohol-related traffic crashes. Over 4,300 of those fatalities took place in the Fatal Fifteen states.
Numbers and statistics however do not begin to tell the story of the real pain and destruction caused by impaired drivers.
Doctors and first responders treat both impaired drivers and their victims at roadside crash scenes and in ER rooms.
There is nothing as gut-wrenching as having to tell a parent that their young son or daughter is never coming home again.
An updated project on the costs of underage drinking has been prepared by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The document shows that while raising the purchase age for alcohol to 21, has been a successful strategy, young people still drink.
The project reported that total cost of alcohol by youth was $52.8 billion in 1996, which would be the equivalent of $200 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. and that each year, the U.S. government spends between $900 million and $1 billion on alcohol prevention services for people of all ages.
The medical care costs of alcohol-attributable traffic crashes involving underage drinkers, just in Montanan, came in $4.506,600 in 1998 dollars, the study showed.
If you would like more information on this program, contact the County Health Department at 271-3247. |
