Package stores due for a crackdown

5/8/07
The law is clear: People under 21 aren’t allowed to buy alcohol. The signs are posted everywhere in stores and markets that sell liquor, and anyone even slightly young-looking ought to be expected to produce identification. Customers know it and retailers had better know it.
So how did all 15 Ansonia establishments that sell alcohol fail random tests?
The retailers have been advised, in the strongest sense of the word, to attend an educational workshop the state is putting on to refresh their memories about the law. But you could really boil the class down to a few words: Don’t sell alcohol to minors.
Young people have been trying to get around drinking laws for ages, and there are bound to be some violations that slip through the cracks. But all 15 establishments? That has to set some kind of record for futility.
Even worse, only one store even asked to see identification. Another clerk let the tester slide because the person "looked 25." It would be troubling if Ansonia got the reputation as the place to go for young people looking to buy beer.
There will be penalties, up to and including suspension of liquor licenses and temporary closings. The particular clerks who were cited have been charged with selling alcohol to a minor. And while the refresher course is a good idea, further compliance checks should be conducted around the city for as long as it takes to get the message across.
Underage drinking is a scourge around the country, and it’s never more dangerous than in a suburban environment when people need a car to get from place to place. We don’t need to see any more young people killed in drunken-driving accidents, and we don’t want to find out those kids bought their alcohol illegally at a local package store.
It’s not complicated — ask to see identification. Can those three seconds saved by not asking really be all that important?