Area JCYC members warn adults not to buy alcohol for minors

Tuesday morning saw a group of area high school girls from Holton and Jackson Heights visiting two Holton liquor stores — but not to do business, of course.

Their visit to the liquor stores — and to local convenience and grocery stores that sell beer and cereal malt beverages — was to convince store managers to help them remind adults not to buy alcoholic beverages for people under 21 who plan to party on New Year’s Eve — or at any other time.

“It’s for any time of the year, really,” said Debbie Harshaw of Holton while working with the group of young volunteers on the eighth Project Sticker Shock, a collaboration between the Jackson County Communities That Care Coalition (JCCTCC) and the Jackson County Youth Coalition (JCYC) to remind adults of the consequences of putting such beverages in minors’ hands.

Harshaw said the volunteers, representing all three Jackson County high schools, received more than 2,500 stickers alerting beer and liquor buyers to the consequences of buying for minors. In most cases, beverage sellers allowed the young people to place stickers directly onto packages of beer without actually handling the packages, she noted.

Some store owners opted to place the stickers themselves, rather than allowing the young people to do it, and post signs at store entrances and cash registers. Regardless of how the stickers and signs were placed, or who placed them, Harshaw said she and coalition leaders were grateful for those businesses that participated in the campaign.

“I don’t know if you can really measure how effective it is, since we only do it once a year,” she said. “But it serves as a good reminder. It certainly doesn’t hurt anything.”

Alcohol has continued to be identified as the number one drug of choice among Jackson County youth, and according to local youth, one of the easiest substances to obtain. Local youth have reported that the most common means for minors to obtain alcohol is from an adult.

The campaign’s aim, Harshaw noted, is to remind adults that they face a minimum fine of $200 for furnishing alcoholic beverages to minors. Furthermore, adults who unlawfully host minors consuming alcoholic beverages face a fine of at least $1,000. Furnishing and hosting are both misdemeanors, according to Kansas law.