Dartmouth combats underage drinking with Project Sticker Shock

This holiday season, there will be one lingering question in Dartmouth: What’s up with all the stickers at the liquor store?

This weekend, PROUD (Partners Reducing Underage Drinking) Southcoast aligned with town officials to bring Project Sticker Shock to Dartmouth. The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about underage drinking.

To get the message across, PROUD tasked participants with placing bright green stickers on liquor boxes in package shops. The stickers read: “Know the Law! It is illegal to purchase or provide alcohol for anyone under 21!”

The campaign was pulled off by a veritable supergroup of Dartmouth’s institutions, bringing together Director of Public Health Chris Michaud, Youth Advocate Jennifer Cabral, one or more students from the middle school, high school and UMass Dartmouth, the police department and local business owners.

The group visited Town Liquors on State Road and CV Variety on Russells Mills Road, leaving patrons who wandered in puzzled as to why Officer Scott Affonce was giving a group of minors safety tips in the wine section.

“Last year The Board of Health was approached by the City of New Bedford to see if we’d be interested in signing onto a grant application for substance abuse,” said Michaud. “This is a pilot project, and, hopefully, it’s going to be the beginning of much more.”

He said that, because there’s a major social component in substance abuse, working with the Cabral, who has an extensive background in counseling, has been a beneficial partnership.

“Substance abuse is an issue everywhere,” he said.

PROUD Southcoast provided plenty of data to the young participants about the dangers of underage drinking. According to the American Medical Association, the average age for a child’s first drink is 12 and “nearly 20 percent of 12 to 20 year olds are considered binge drinkers.”

The adolescent brain can experience a variety of ill effects from long-term alcohol use, including an interference with the brain’s ability to form new memories and retain facts, deficiencies in reasoning and increased instances of impulsive behavior.

In addition to affecting the brain, underage drinking is associated with youth violence, property damage, high-risk sex and alcohol dependence.

“There’s a lot of correlation between the age when youth start drinking and other drug use, whether that’s opioids, marijuana, and other substances,” said Samantha Caravana, program coordinator of PROUD.

“Any drug that you start is a gateway to another thing,” said Cabral. “If you’re not getting a high the way you want, you’ll get it somewhere else.”

Cabral said that underage drinking and illicit drug use is happening in Dartmouth and parents should be aware of it.

“We should be talking to our children, not assuming that it’s not happening,” she said.

As the students were hard at work placing stickers on liquor boxes, Yogi Patel, owner of Town Liquors, showed off his vast collection of fake IDs that he’s collected from minors who have tried to purchase alcohol from his store. Patel estimates he’s acquired more than 300 in the 15 years he’s operated the shop. He said his employees are awarded a $10 bounty for every fake card.

Patel said many of the fake IDs in his collection were produced in China and are so sophisticated that they’ll pass through his scanning machine undetected. While he can easily pick out the discrepancies between a real and fake ID, Patel offers a magnifying glass to show others the differences.

“Technology has changed, and we’ve upgraded our eyes with it,” said Patel. “I take it very, very seriously because I live in the community. I want this community to be safe for anybody’s children and anybody’s family because I have family here, too.”

Casey Lee, 15, a sophomore at Dartmouth High, said she’s overheard other students in school bragging about getting drunk and high. While she hears the conversations, Lee said she’s never been asked directly to partake.

“I try to surround myself with people that don’t get under the influence,” said Lee. “Most of my friends are with the music program or they do sports. They’re always busy. I feel like if they’re busy, then they don’t have the time to do that sort of thing.”

Haley Hart, 21, a senior at UMass Dartmouth, said that binge drinking is a problem on campus. She remembers, as a freshmen, her fellow students would gather to drink in their dorm rooms frequently.

“You get a lot of, ‘Oh c’mon! It’s just a party.’ But it’s a party with a bunch of people I don’t know – and I don’t know their ages – and they’re going to get really drunk,” she said.

Hart had this advice for young students: “Stay true to yourself. You can enjoy hanging out with people without having to get massively wasted.”

“And be safe. Seriously.”

For young Dartmouth residents or parents with concerns about underage drinking, the youth advocate can provide support counseling for families or individuals, referrals and resources. Cabral’s office is located in Town Hall in room 118. Her cell phone number is 508-951-9551 and the office line is 508-910-1855.