Over the past three years, the Prevention WINS coalition has been fortunate to have the Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB) as a strong community partner. Lt. Susan Blaker, Regional Government Liaison, has been an active member of the coalition's Enforcement & Consequences Roundtable, a group that gets together regularly with the goal of increasing communication and cooperation between enforcement agencies, courts, and probation.Lt. Blaker recently emailed me to tell me about the work Seattle Liquor Control Officers are doing. She wrote:
I took an informal poll of our officers asking for an approximate number of MIP’s (Minor In Possession) they have written this past summer. Our Seattle team reports 73 . These citations are above the officer’s regular duties performed inside licensed premises. The officers report contacting intoxicated juveniles as young as 14 years of age in high crime areas of Capitol Hill.
We have an amazing high energy group and I wanted you to be aware of their efforts in this area of public safety.
In northeast Seattle, the LCB has been working with the Seattle Police Department to remove the liquor license from a local mini-mart that has a long history of selling alcohol to minors.
The LCB has been supportive of statewide prevention, as well. As I've blogged about previously, the LCB is in the process of changing rules regarding alcohol advertising to reduce youth exposure to them.
Preventing underage drinking and youth substance abuse is a community-wide endeavor that includes students, parents, schools, community organizations and agencies. We are fortunate to have dedicated partners like the LCB and other enforcement agencies.
