A British study explored how adolescents in the United Kingdom buy alcohol, to understand vendor's attitudes about alcohol sales to adolescents, and to evaluate a police intervention intended to reduce underage alcohol sales. In two urban locations, pairs of 13 and 16 year old boys and girls were trained to try to purchase different types of alcohol (beer, cider, wine) from different types of retail outlets. The assessment was repeated, with the omission of the 13 year old boys, following a police intervention consisting of warning letters and visits to vendors.
In phase 1, sales resulted from 88.1% of purchase attempts by 16 year old girls, 77% of attempts by 16 year old boys, 41.6% of 13 year old girls and 4.1% of 13 year old boys. Refusals were more likely when another vendor was present. Eighty percent of sales to 16 year olds and 65% of sales to 13 year olds were made without challenge. “Prove-It” ID card checking was requested in fewer than 12% of purchase attempts in both age groups.
Overall, there was no evidence that the police intervention reduced sales of alcohol to 16 year olds. There was a hint that the intervention may have caused a very short lasting decrease in sales to 13 year olds, but this was contained within an overall increase in sales to this group. Alcohol vendors reported that they rarely encountered underage customers or refused sale though 90% of vendors said that if they became suspicious, they would request ID. These data suggest that 16 year olds, and girls as young as 13, have little difficulty in purchasing alcohol. Vendors perceive little risk in selling alcohol to adolescents. The fact that the police intervention failed to decrease sales suggests that vendors do not change their behavior in response to the threat of legal action. The higher rate of sale of alcohol to 13 year old girls may suggest an important focus for future law enforcement and public education efforts.
If you are interested in reading the complete study, please pick up a copy of:
Willner, Paul et al. "Alcohol Sales to Underage Adolescents: An Unobtrusive Observational Field Study and Evaluation of a Police Intervention." Addiction (2000) 95(9). 1373-1388.
