Treasurer Goldberg Announces Impact of 2024 "Operation Safe Campus"

An Effort to Keep Students Safe from Alcohol-Related Harm

BOSTON — The Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC), under the direction of State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, implemented Operation Safe Campus in September. The annual program is designed to target underage drinking on college campuses and in surrounding communities when students return to colleges and universities throughout Massachusetts. The goal of the program is to keep alcoholic beverages out of the hands of underage students and prevent tragedies.

“Operation Safe Campus helps to start the school year right. It is important to remind college students, servers, and sellers alike the true danger of underage drinking,” said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who oversees the ABCC. “We want to increase awareness and avoid tragedies before they happen while protecting minors and their families from experiencing serious consequences."

During the run of the program, approximately 157 cases of beer and 153 bottles of alcohol were confiscated by Investigators, preventing delivery to an estimated 2,100 underage individuals. Operation Safe Campus enforcement efforts found:

·         302 minors in possession, transporting or attempting to purchase alcoholic beverages,

·         21 adults procuring alcohol for minors, and

·         108 individuals in possession of false identification.

"This operation focuses on the immediate safety of Massachusetts college students and the surrounding communities while drawing attention to the dangers of underage drinking," said Jean Lorizio, chairperson of the ABCC. "We want to make sure that underage people are aware that drinking alcohol can have devastating consequences upon them and those they love."

Enforcement efforts focus primarily on the parking lots and surrounding streets of liquor stores and bars that have had significant problems with underage individuals purchasing alcoholic beverages with false identification or through adults buying alcoholic beverages for them. In Worcester, ABCC Investigators worked in partnership with the Worcester Police Department’s Alcohol Enforcement Unit.

Several bars and liquor stores will face charges related to the sale to, or possession of, alcoholic beverages by individuals under the age of twenty-one. The businesses include McGovern’s Package Store, Broadway Wine & Liquors, Creed, Ju’s and White Eagle of Worcester; Teele Square Liquors and The Pub of Somerville; Uptown Tap & Grille of Amherst, Scott’s Fine Wines & Spirits of Easton; Chansky’s, Quick Pick Convenience, Bijou and Two Saints of Boston.

Annually, approximately 1,519 college students between the ages of 18 to 24 die from alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes, 696,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking, and 14 percent of college students meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder. In Massachusetts alone, the overall annual cost of alcohol abuse by youth is estimated at $1.4 billion.

In addition, Massachusetts IMPACT impaired driving data shows that 10% of all traffic fatalities involve drivers under the age of 21. Massachusetts is among the top ten states for binge drinking, with more than 1 in 4 (27.75%) adults age 18 or older reporting they binged on alcohol in 2020. Among young people ages 12 to 20, 20.77% reported alcohol use in the past month and 11.81% reported binge alcohol use in the past month in Massachusetts. The national averages were 17.32% and 10.14%, respectively.

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