Students, Police Partner to Combat Underage Drinking

Participants worked side-by-side in local Fas Mart convenience stores.

March 24, 2017

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – For the 11th consecutive year, local students in Martinsville, Virginia, teamed with local police to help combat underage drinking through Project Sticker Shock.

The Martinsville Bulletin writes that earlier this week, members of Communities Helping Improve Local Lives (CHILL) worked with the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Martinsville Police Department in local Fas Mart convenience stores and a Kroger grocery store to place stickers on cases of beer and 12-packs. The stickers cite the penalties associated with purchasing alcohol for underage individuals, such as fines up to $2,500, a year in jail or the loss of a driver’s license for one year.

Amanda Hendricks, CHILL coordinator, told the news source that part of the group’s mission is to educate the community about the dangers associated with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. “We do this to help prevent people from purchasing alcohol for underage kids,” she said.

During the year, CHILL members plan to visit various stores that sell alcohol and present the owners with a booklet of the state’s policies and penalties associated with selling alcohol to underage individuals. “We will also ask [the store owners] to take a pledge to card anyone under the age of 30,” Hendricks told the news source.

CHILL member Madeline Bishop took time out of her spring break to participate in the project. “I’ve seen a lot of the people who have done these things who have had real consequences, so I think it’s important to put these stickers on so maybe they’ll pay attention,” she told the news source. 

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