New initiative educates alcohol vendors

Staff from the Garrett County Health Department recently started a new initiative to help educate alcohol vendors about current laws and ways to help them keep their patrons safe. With support from the Garrett County Liquor Control Board, health department staff trained several Maryland State Police officers as well as members of the Accident Community Planning Group/Garrett County Drug-Free Communities Coalition Action Team.

The goal of the training was to educate participants about various alcohol related topics in preparation for them to share the information with alcohol retailers in the county. The training included educational components about: checking IDs; compliance checks; consequence of failing compliance checks; not selling alcohol to intoxicated customers; and future trainings. Participants also learned that adults over the age of 21 often provide alcohol to minors; some even stand outside a store waiting for youth to ask them to purchase alcohol.

Following the training, the participants visited Brenda’s Pizzeria, Traders Coffee House, and Aces Run and shared the responsible alcohol sales information with them. Other alcohol retailers will be contacted within the next two-months to schedule a visit.

According to the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2016) Garrett County’s underage drinking trends are slowly decreasing, but they are still consistently higher than the state’s rates. For Garrett County high school youth, 36% drank alcohol in the past 30 days compared to 25.5% for Maryland, and 23% reported binge drinking in the past 30 days compared to 13% for Maryland.

“Educating our retail alcohol beverage establishments with practical information on selling and serving alcoholic beverages safely, responsibly, and legally, helps to reduce underage drinking,” said Sandy Miller, Prevention Supervisor at the Garrett County Health Department.

For more information about the program call the Health Department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-3111.

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department