Employee Training Makes a Difference in Alcohol Sales

Did you know that there are 50,000-60,000 driver’s license suspensions each year in Georgia because of a DUI? While the Blood Alcohol Level for a DUI is set at 0.08 for drivers at least 21 years of age, even at 0.05, most people are significantly impaired with issues in their visual acuity, vigilance, drowsiness, psychomotor skills and information processing.

Research has also shown that approximately 90% of alcohol consumption by youth under 21 is through binge drinking. We know that teens and underage young adults often purchase alcoholic energy drinks and other beverages with a high alcohol content, making binge drinking more likely.

One way to positively impact these statistics is for establishments that sell and serve alcohol to adequately train employees on how to check customer’s IDs. These trainings include fundamental information about checking IDs, such as:

· It is the law to verify age by ID.

· The ID must have a photograph of the person attempting to purchase alcohol.

· The ID must be a form that is legally valid in the state of Georgia.

· Any Georgia resident under the age of 21 will have a vertical ID.

· It is illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 21 and/or a visibly intoxicated person.

· They need to compare features such as eye, ear and nose shape and placement as well as height with the picture on the ID.

· They need to take note of the date of birth and expiration date on the ID.

· Failure to verify age by valid identification could result in fines for the server, restaurant or establishment providing or selling the alcohol.

When employees are trained on these basics, it assists in reducing and preventing the number of DUIs and alcohol sales to those under the age of 21, making our community safer. Thank you to the following compliant retailers who did NOT sell alcohol to the underage decoys when checked by the Gwinnett County Police Department in July, August and September 2015:

Azalea Food Mart, 2087 Azalea Dr, Lawrenceville

Quick Mart, 2360 Buford Dr, Lawrenceville

Racetrac #206, 2682 Buford Dr, Lawrenceville

Shell Convenience, 1490 Buford Dr, Lawrenceville

Walgreens #6088, 2365 Buford Dr, Lawrenceville

Super Mercado Exito, 1135 Herrington Dr, Lawrenceville

Norcross Food Mart, 2505 Old Norcross Rd, Lawrenceville

Rain Forest Chevron, 2520 Old Norcross Rd, Lawrenceville

Citgo Food Mart, 1417 Grayson Hwy, Lawrenceville

Kampai Restaurant, 1250 Scenic Hwy, Lawrenceville

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

Gwinnett United In Drug Education (GUIDE, Inc.) and the Gwinnett Coalition for Health and Human Services collaborate with the Gwinnett County Police Department in these prevention activities because we care about young people in our community and want to keep them safe and healthy.

GUIDE, Inc. is a substance abuse prevention agency serving Gwinnett County since 1986. To find out more about us, please connect with us at guideinc.org.