Lawrenceville Reports 71% Alcohol Compliance Rate

As part of a continued effort to reduce underage drinking, the Gwinnett County Police Department detectives visited thirty-one alcohol retailers in the Lawrenceville area. Out of thirty-four stores visited, ten stores sold alcohol to an underage decoy.

Law enforcement in Gwinnett County has worked with retailers to reduce the availability of alcohol sold to minors by conducting compliance checks like these. The Department of Health and Human Services, in their 2013 Report to Congress on the Prevention and Reduction of Underage Drinking has called compliance checks “an important community tool for reducing illegal alcohol sales to minors. In the same report, the Department of Health and Human Services referred to compliance checks as helping to “change or reinforce the perception that underage drinking is not acceptable.” In the past eight years, while we have been tracking the results of the compliance checks in Gwinnett County, we have seen a decrease in sales of alcohol to minors by employees of alcohol establishments.

As law enforcement works with these alcohol establishments to reduce retail availability of alcohol sold to minors, Gwinnett County must address the other piece of the puzzle when it comes to underage drinking—social availability. The term social availability refers to alcohol being made available to young people under the age of 21 which includes providing minors with alcohol or allowing unsupervised places for drinking. The latest data shows that most Gwinnett County teens who drink access alcohol in their homes or in the homes of friends.

Addressing the issue of underage drinking requires a layered, community response; relying on law enforcement, retailers, parents and community members to be vigilant when it comes to underage drinking. By being aware of underage consumption of alcohol at home and at parties as well as setting the tone that underage drinking is not permissible.

We would like to thank the following retailers for their continued commitment to preventing underage drinking by checking IDs of those who purchased alcohol from April through June.

Kroger Company, 2100 Riverside Parkway, Lawrenceville

Chevron Food Mart, 3720 Club Drive, Lawrenceville

CVS Pharmacy, 2650 Cruse Rd, Lawrenceville

Kroger #440, 950 Herrington Rd., Lawrenceville

Milk N Stuff, 2948 Five Forks Trickum Rd., Lawrenceville

Oakland Food Mart, 901 Oakland Rd. NW, Lawrenceville

Quick Mart, 3522 Club Drive, Lawrenceville

Quicktrip, 2949 Five Forks Trickum Rd., Lawrenceville

Racetrac #467, 906 Pleasant Hill Rd., Lawrenceville

Rite Aid, 2979 Five Forks Trickum Rd., Lawrenceville

Super Mercado Exito, 1135 Herrington Rd. Lawrenceville

Texaco Food Mart, 2815 Club Drive, Lawrenceville

Walgreens, 220 Herrington Rd, Lawrenceville

Walgreens #06638, 2500 Old Norcross Rd., Lawrenceville

Aldi #67, 1225 Scenic Hwy., Lawrenceville

Chevron Food Mart, 1215 Scenic Hwy., Lawrenceville

Franco's Pizza, 1365 Grayson Hwy., Lawrenceville

RaceTrac, 1385 Grayson Hwy., Lawrenceville

Romano's Macaroni Grill, 1350 Scenic Hwy., Lawrenceville

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.