Two of the 21 Santa Monica liquor stores visited as part of the sting sold alcohol to the undercover minor, a 90 percent enforcement rate, which is considerably better than the national average of 82 percent, according to MADD.
“You can’t complain with a 90-percent compliance rate,” said Pasco, whose 21-year-old sister was killed by a drunk driver. “The rest of the country needs to aspire to what Santa Monica is doing.”
Undercover minors prepped and monitored by local police forces flooded nearly 900 liquor stores in 21 cities — from Dallas to Honolulu — as part of MADD’s “Night of Compliance” event marking the 21st anniversary of the current minimum drinking age law, which was passed during the Reagan administration.
The two local liquor stores cited for underage alcohol sales — which police declined to name — were both first-time offenders and will likely be fined up to $3,000 apiece. The establishments won’t lose their liquor licenses, said Rudy Flores, a vice detective with the SMPD.
“Usually, all you’ll have to do is issue a citation and they’ll get the message,” said Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr.
A second offense would likely result in liquor license suspension, a third in revocation.
“Drunk driving is a big problem that affects us all,” said Juan Azcarate, a MADD spokesperson.
Azcarate was hit by a drunk driver in 1984 after he pulled onto the emergency lane along the 405 freeway. Though more than two decades have passed since the accident, reminders of the late-night crash cover much of Azcarate’s body. The loan consultant rolled up his sleeves as he addressed the small crowd of TV broadcasters and cameramen gathered at the morning press conference to reveal massive scarring along his forearm.
“It’s not about taking fun away from anybody, it’s about saving lives.” — -- TINA PASCO Executive director, Los Angeles branch of MADD
“I will always have these scars,” Azcarate said after the press conference, before leaving for work.
Though he said little can be done to stop teen drinking, Azcarate hopes that with education, young people would call a friend or their parents for a ride rather than driving while intoxicated.
“I’m not going to say ‘don’t drink,’ that’s like saying ‘don’t have sex,’” he said. “But at least we can stop (minors) from drinking and driving.”
Representatives from MADD took a different approach, stressing the importance of keeping liquor out of the hands of minors.
“The law says you have to be 21 years of age to consume alcohol. MADD supports the law,” Pasco said. “MADD does-n’t put forth a mixed message.”
MADD — currently one of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations with more than 600 chapters across the country — was started in 1980 by a group of women frustrated with lax drunk driving laws.
Many of the group’s founders have since left MADD, complaining that the organization has moved away from its original goal of combating drunk driving, adopting instead a “neo-prohibitionist” agenda.
Friday’s sting in Santa Monica was funded by a $100,000 grant geared toward curbing alcohol sales to minors. Much of the funding — which was awarded last year by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control — is used to educate local liquor shop employees and young people about underage drinking laws, said Cody Green, a vice detective with the SMPD.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 19, 2005. Read the original PDF.