KIDS AND ALCOHOL DON'T MIX

A 22-year-old man will be insulted. A 30-year-old woman will be flattered. A
19-year-old will smile sheepishly and put the six-pack of beer back on the
shelf.

``Carding'' people who buy alcoholic beverages is a time-honored
responsibility for check-out clerks, an expected hassle for customers.
Stores that conscientiously require proof of age from everyone who looks 25
years old or younger -- and that scrutinize every ID for obvious signs that
it's fake -- aren't likely to sell alcohol illegally to minors. Stores that
are sloppy are going to break the law. If they break the law, they ought to
pay the price.

In California, the price is steep: A store that gets caught selling to
minors three times in three years can lose its license.

Organizations that represent those who make and sell alcohol think the price
is too steep, and they are pushing legislation that would weaken the
``three-strikes'' law. SB 1696, which passed the Senate and is now before
the Assembly, would allow retailers to erase a ``strike'' if they promise to
train their employees to check IDs and install electronic scanners that read
IDs and spot fakes. It would be like going to traffic school to erase a
speeding ticket.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego, also would divert
resources from the one enforcement program that really works against illegal
sales.

Police departments and youth advocates are furious about SB 1696 -- for good
reason. Even with a three-strikes law, it's extremely difficult to close
down retailers who consistently sell booze to minors. SB 1696 would make it
virtually impossible.

About the only way to catch stores that sell to minors is with under-age
decoys. These teens, usually younger than 19, work with police departments.
They go into stores and try to buy booze. They are forbidden to lie. If
they are asked for ID, they produce driver's licenses that clearly show they
are under age. Yet sometimes clerks sell to them anyway, and those clerks
are reported to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Because
ABC is short-staffed, it can be months before any action is taken.

If SB 1696 passes, ABC will take even longer to process complaints because
it will be bogged down with new paperwork. And teen-decoy programs will be
weakened. That's because the bill requires police departments to use as much
of their resources catching kids who buy alcohol as they do catching clerks
who sell to them. Decoys catch clerks, not kids. Who would want to divert
resources from a program that really works? The liquor industry, of course.

Supporters of this bill say the current law unfairly penalizes clerks who
make honest mistakes. Yet in the four years since the law went into effect,
only six stores in the state have lost their liquor licenses. If there were
a problem with the law, there would be a lot more cases.

Selling liquor is a privilege, and with it comes responsibility. Responsible
retailers train employees to read IDs, to add 21 to a birth year and figure
out who's legal and who's not. They impress on employees the importance of
carding anyone who doesn't have gray hair and wrinkles. They fire clerks who
can't figure it out.

Responsible retailers don't need SB 1696. And the community doesn't need
irresponsible retailers.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"