Lynn booze sting nets 36 pct. of those approached

LYNN – Supplying alcohol to minors is a well-known crime.However, it seems to be a crime some people in Lynn are less concerned about than they used to be.Girls Inc. and Lynn Police implemented a Shoulder Tap Survey at liquor stores last week to see how many adults would buy minors alcohol.Thirty-six percent of adults who were asked said yes to the underage kids, according to the survey results. In the past, the percentage of adults who said yes ranged from 8 to 20 percent.”The recent survey results are very disturbing,” said Girls Inc. Coordinator of Substance Abuse Prevention Programs Cassandra Haughton. “Underage drinking leads to many risky behaviors for teens, including drunk driving, alcohol poisoning and risky sexual decisions. Adults should be protecting teens by not providing them with alcohol.”Adults who said no to the teens received a small green card thanking them, but the ones that said yes received a red card educating them on the consequences for providing alcohol to minors.”It was really frustrating to see so many red cards,” said Haughton, who was with the teens during the survey. “So many were being given out. You want them to do the right thing and say no, but that doesn’t always happen.”Haughton admits she doesn’t know why there was such in increase this year.”Maybe it is because it is prom and graduation season and adults think they are helping the kids out,” speculated Haughton.Of the adults that agreed to purchase alcohol for the minors, 41 percent were men and 23 percent were females.At first, she thought it may have something do with the girls asking for alcohol.”I thought at first men more willing because young girls were asking. However, we had a good mixture of boys and girls asking,” said Haughton.In a survey conducted last year, 37 percent of high school students and 19 percent of middle school students reported using alcohol in the last 30 days.Girls Inc. has been doing these type of surveys since June 2006.”We were finding out teens were getting alcohol from social outlets like parents and friends. We wanted to find out if that was true and to educate adults about the risks,” said Haughton.There were mixed reactions from the adults who received red cards.”Many people thought they were going to get in trouble and that’s not what we are here for,” said Haughton. “Some people thought it was great even when they said yes. They thanked us.”