NAP- Neighborhood Alliance of Pawtucket

Call the Underage Alcohol Tipline- Red Ribbon Week Awareness

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Substance Abuse Task Force opens underage drinking hotline

on 10-23-2008 00:54


By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — While not making headlines for it as much as some communities, it’s no secret that the age-old problem of underage drinking occurs frequently enough in this city. However, with help from a state grant, the Pawtucket Substance Abuse Task Force (PSATF) has begun some initiatives designed to combat the problem through prevention and education.

As part of its campaign called “Underage Drinking — Not a Minor Problem,” the PSATF is working with the Pawtucket Police Department and other community groups to implement effective prevention techniques and programs that promote positive, healthy choices for Pawtucket’s youth.
In an announcement from Mayor James E. Doyle, the PSATF is also set to launch an anonymous “tip line” for citizens to report underage drinking parties or related incidents.
As far as education goes, the PSATF is once again holding its Red Ribbon Week from Oct. 27-31, where the city’s school children take part in various activities designed to discourage underage drinking as well as illegal drug and tobacco use.
Red Ribbon Week culminates in a ceremony on Oct. 31 at Pawtucket City Hall, where students from the elementary, junior high and high schools will give creative presentations on the dangers of underage drinking.
Students are invited to get their message across through poetry, song, dance, skit, poster or other artistic work. Trophies will be presented to the three most creative presentations at each school level, as well as a special award (the 5th annual Sr. Martha Serbst Award) for the school demonstrating the most spirit.
The tip-line is being set up through the Rhode Island Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Dependence. Residents are encouraged to call the 24-hour, toll-free phone line to report tips about underage drinking parties, people who are supplying alcohol to minors or retailers suspected of serving minors. The tip-line can be reached by calling 1-866-252-3784.
According to the press release from Doyle, this campaign is one of numerous efforts by task forces statewide that are taking action and spreading the prevention messages initially designed by the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). Doyle pointed out that alcohol use is the number one killer of teenagers today.
In addition, he added, it is known that underage drinking can lead to serious health and social problems such as accidental deaths, teen pregnancy, truancy, violence, and legal issues.
“We know — through research — that parents who talk to their children about alcohol greatly reduce these problems. We need the involvement of the whole community to make Pawtucket a safe and healthy place for your youth,” stated Doyle.
Earlier this month, the PSATF also offered its bi-annual Responsible Beverage Server Training sessions for the owners of local restaurants and liquor establishments and their employees. The sessions, held on Oct. 14 and 15 at Pawtucket City Hall, were conducted by Frank Faubert, a licensed trainer and the president of S.T.O.P., which stands for Server Training on Premises.
The four-hour course covers such main focal points as how to check patron identification, how to prevent underage drinking and drunk driving, and a review of the state’s rules and regulations regarding the serving and sale of alcoholic beverages.
Faubert, who has been teaching the course since 1988, said it covers such important areas as body language and personality, both of the underage drinker and of the person who has had too much to drink. Servers are taught how to recognize certain signs and to diffuse various situations, such as when a patron becomes irate after being told they are shut off or will not be allowed to drive drunk. He added that preventing underage drinking and drunk driving “has to be a team effort” on the part of owners and their employees, which even extends to club bouncers or valet parking attendants.
Diane Dufresne, director of the PSATF, noted that the Responsible Beverage Server Training is a legal requirement for anyone who sells, serves or delivers alcoholic beverages. “It’s not optional. It’s the law,” she stated. Now offered by the PSATF twice a year, the training is considered another tool used to educate merchants and others on the many ways they can help prevent underage drinking.
“It’s amazing how many ways a person can spot a fake ID. Everything from noticing missing holograms in state licenses, to reading the body language of kids who are trying to get served,” noted Dufresne. “The training gives servers the information they need to know to keep alcohol out of the hands of kids. Unfortunately, all you need is one or two stores that don’t properly check ID and word travels fast,” she added.
Pawtucket Police Maj. Arthur Martins, who works closely with the PSATF, said he thinks the tip line will be helpful in his department’s constant efforts to battle underage drinking, especially as it pertains to drinking parties and establishments serving minors.
Martins said that now, when complaints come in about a store or establishment serving minors, the police have been successful in using teenagers or undercover police officers to conduct “sting” operations. “Also, whenever we become aware of parties involving young kids who might be drinking, we investigate. But we don't always hear of these incidents.”
Martins said the undercover operations are also used to curb the sale of tobacco products to minors. He said while it is not a major problem in the city, “It’s not zero, where I’d like it to be.”