A drive thru window at a liquor store - No way!

Do you think a drive thru window at a liquor store would be convenient for you?  Imagine how much more convenient it would be for our young people to obtain alcohol without consequence. We do not need a drive thru liquor store in the city of Springfield.

A special permit request for a drive thru window at a Cottage Street liquor store came before the City Council on Sept. 27 and was sent to committee for further review. We can't sit idly by and let this go forward. City Councilors Melvin Edwards and E. Henry Twiggs have spoken publicly against the measure, and are rallying the support of others. We have to contact our City Councilors and speak out against this before any measures move forward. For contact information for your local City Councilor click here. People need to understand that increased access to alcohol for adults leads to increased access by our youth.

Statistics have shown that alcohol is more of a health risk to young people than drugs.  Alcohol is the most frequently used drug by high school seniors, and its use is increasing.

Let's not make it easier for youth in
Springfield to access alcohol.

According to an American Medical Association report, boys usually try alcohol for the first time at just 11 years old, while the average age for American girls' first drink is 13. In short, the report says, our nation's youth are "flirting with disaster." Consider the facts:

• Underage drinking is a factor in nearly half of all teen automobile crashes, the leading cause of death among teens.
• Alcohol use contributes to youth suicides, homicides and fatal injuries.
• Alcohol abuse is linked to two-thirds of all sexual assaults and date rapes of teens and college students
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• Alcohol is a major factor in unprotected sex among youth, increasing their risk of contracting HIV or other transmitted diseases.

Although we have mandatory compliance checks on liquor sales to minors in Springfield, the compliance rate has been around 75 percent, which is poor. This means that 1 in 4 stores have failed to even ASK a minor for identification.

"Needless to say, the bar is low to pass the checks," Peggy Vezina, coordinator of the Springfield STOP ACCESS campaign, has said. "All the store clerk needs to do is ask for an ID. Once they do, the check is over and the store has passed. How much more difficult will it be to judge the age of or intoxication level of a person in a car? How much more difficult will it be to judge the age of other occupants in the car? How much more difficult will it be for investigators to enforce the law?"

The Mason Square Health Task Force, the Weed and Seed Initiative and Gandara Mental Health's STOP ACCESS Springfield is among several groups here fighting to decrease alcohol access to youth in the Mason Square area and Springfield. Please join us in this effort.