Community seeks to prevent minors from access to alcohol

By Staff Writer

Recent research has suggested that teens may not have difficulty obtaining alcohol. One method of acquiring the substance is to get it from older friends and siblings. In an effort to curtail this practice, the Beacon Coalition - which is run by the Newburyport, Massachusetts Youth Services department - is launching a campaign aimed at preventing 20- to- 25-year-olds from providing alcohol to minors, Newburyport News reports.

The coalition recently received a $625,000, five-year grant from the federal Drug-Free Communities Support Program.

"One of the philosophies of the Beacon Coalition is to implement environmental strategies as opposed to direct-service strategies," Andrea Egmont, director of Youth Services, told the news source. "The idea is to change the overall fabric of the community and try to reduce access and increase barriers if needed."

She added that there are a number of different types of environmental strategies, but the idea is that they affect the community as a whole.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, early drinkers and experimenters were more likely than non-drinkers to report academic problems, substance abuse and delinquent behavior in both middle school and high school.