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If you’re a retailer who sells alcohol, how do you know what to watch for when it comes to selling to minors? A local non-profit outreach group has been holding seminars for the town’s most prominent liquor businesses. KSMU’s Matthew Barnes has details about the event.
The alcohol retailer training has been provided by the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, or CPO, for almost ten years. Chris Davis at the CPO works to prevent substance abuse.
“We’re providing an alcohol retailer training for area alcohol retailers to help them identify what the laws are related to alcohol sales, show them how to identify fake IDs and how to refuse alcohol sales to minors and intoxicated peoples,” says Davis.
Employees from alcohol retailers like Price Cutter, Harter House and Brown Derby all sit at attention in the Library Center auditorium taking notes and asking questions as Davis describes some of the tricks minors use to obtain alcohol and how to spot them when they enter your store.
“There are several things looking, their physical appearance would be one if somebody looks very young you may want to double check to make sure that they are of age. There are some different telltale signs in IDs that are fake that look different from the Missouri IDs that we provide in this training we share differences in real IDs and fake IDs. And the last thing is just the behavior of the person sometimes they are overly confident or overly nervous, so anything that is out of character,” says Davis.
According to Davis, most minors trying to get away with buying alcohol borrow IDs from older people, or buy fake IDs. Checking the nose, eye color and the shape of the person’s lips can help determine if he or she is the actual owner of the ID. Also, air bubbles in the lamination or if the card is too flexible can be signs that the ID maybe fake. There are many other red flags, too, he said.
A recent report shows that more underage drinkers are getting their alcohol from parties at private homes. One of the businesses attending the training, Greg Lee, owns the Alco-haul liquor delivery service. It’s a relatively new business, and he was in the front row at the seminar.
“There is no possible or legal way for us to ID everyone in someone’s house…that’s why we make sure to sell to individuals rather than groups. As well as, the person that orders is the person that takes delivery of it. We conduct transactions one on one outside of the house. The person that orders also signs a waiver stating that they are twenty one won’t provide this alcohol to a minor,” says Lee.
Lee says that he hopes to continue a healthy relationship with the local community and the CPO.
For KSMU News, I’m Matthew Barnes.
