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Police target adults buying alcohol for minors in booze blitz

Thunder Bay Police this past weekend were on an all-out blitz to keep booze out of the hands of minors.
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Police laid five charges of knowingly supplying liquor to persons under 19 during a weekend undercover operation at the Thunder Centre LCBO.

Thunder Bay Police this past weekend were on an all-out blitz to keep booze out of the hands of minors.

Police laid several charges following a covert operation at the Thunder Centre LCBO, including five Part 3 summonses for knowingly supplying liquor to persons under 19 years and persons under 19 having liquor.

The operation also led to three provincial offences tickets being levied for persons under 19 years having liquor and consuming liquor in other than licensed premises, residence or private play.

Const. Julie Tilbury said it’s an ongoing battle keeping the city’s youth and alcohol apart.

“From time to time we are aware of situations where there are a lot of issues with youths drinking as well as what we were specifically looking at for this (investigation), which is people supplying liquor to minors,” Tilbury said.

“They’ll go into the liquor stores, purchase it for them and provide it to them out in the parking lot.”

She added this isn’t the first time the department’s Aboriginal liaison unit, which spearheaded the weekend campaign, and the focused enforcement team, have teamed up to address the issue.

“It’s one of those things we keep our eyes on and if we do see a spike in an area we will put some of our teams together and have them go into the community and try to address those issues.”

The bottom line, Tilbury said, is for adults to recognize the danger of buying alcohol for minors and not break the law.

“We really want to encourage people not to take part in this because you never know what the outcome is going to be. It can be dangerous for people under the age of 19 to consume alcohol when they don’t quite know what their limits are or what the outcome is going to be,” Tilbury said.

LCBO spokesman Chris Layton, reached by phone on Monday, said it's an issue the company takes seriously. Layton said staff are continuously trained and evaluated on serving practices, including being aware of what's going on outside the store. Telltale signs of youth looking for second-party purchasers are underagers hanging around outside the store or seeing money changing hands.

The responsible service training walks them through how to handle each situation, Layton said.

"There's nothing that's 100 per cent foolproof," he said, "but we train our staff to watch out for second-party purchasers."

He added often youngsters turn to adults when they've been refused service themselves. Layton also said certain types of alcohol purchases can also be a tip-off, brands and types of booze favoured by teens. The LCBO heightens awareness of second-party  purchasing at different times of the year, particularly high-school graduation time.

"You can get an increase in the number of young people trying to purchase alcohol or second-party purchasers," Layton said.
 



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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