Santa Barbara Police Department Working to Eradicate Under-age Drinking

July 21st, 2012 | Add a Comment

As of July 1, 2012, the Santa Barbara Police Department will be conducting an on-going series of operations and investigations to enforce laws surrounding the solicitation of alcohol to minors in hopes of curbing underage drinking and the illicit sale of alcohol.

Operations include minor decoy operations, which focuses on businesses that sell alcohol to minors, shoulder tap operations, which focus on adults who supply alcohol to minors and IMPACT inspections which enforce licensees accountable to the laws regarding the selling of alcohol.What does this mean for the underage drinkers of Santa Barbara? Most likely nothing. Drinking laws don’t keep the underage crowd from drinking; they simply keep them from being able to buy alcohol legally. Drinking laws force the underage crowd to get someone else to buy it for them or they simply turn to a variety of different drugs. These days, it’s easier for the average teenager to score a bag of coke or a couple Vicodin than a 40 of Mickey’s.

Santa Barbara is notorious for being a college town that loves its’ liquor, particularly the area of Isla Vista, where a large number of UCSB students reside and party. If the 18 year-old freshmen can’t acquire a bottle of whiskey on their own, they can certainly persuade a friend or acquaintance to get them hooked up with great ease.

The only outcomes I can foresee as a result of these operations are the loss of some business owners’ licenses and a small handful of people getting arrested. Underage drinking won’t be curbed. Remember – this is a college town full of smart kids; smart kids who like to drink and can easily work around a system that does no good in the first place – and why the crackdown on alcohol? Most of the Santa Barbara party scene is probably too stoned and busy trying to find a burrito joint or hopped up on Adderall and studying all night to give a damn about buying some beer.

In my opinion I find this an absolute waste of time and a waste of taxpayers’ money….get more creative Santa Barbara, because the students certainly are. Again is alcohol really the problem here, can there be a happy medium? Maybe it should start with the environment that these students are raised in? Media definitely takes a huge role in underage drinking. What do you think; citizens of Santa Barbara…..

By Cameron C.