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What can we do to p�event unde�age d�in king ? Restrict the supply and reduce the demand. There is no doubt that underage alcohol use is an extremely serious public health and safety concern in Hennepin County. Most intervention efforts to reduce underage drinlcing have focused on youth education and prevention techniques, often simply trying to convince young people not to drink. The use of this program model has had limited success because it has ignored the significant role played by the community and social environment in encour- aging and enabling underage alcohol use34,'6 Prevention efforts must both address the condi- tions that support underage drinking and risky drinking practices, and change the broader social structures and public policies that shape drinking attitudes a n d norms"�48. A comprehensive approach that targets individual and environmen- tal risk factors, and that involves multiple facets of the community is needed to prevent and reduce underage alcohol use. Such an approach needs to reduce the demand for alcohol, by developing community norms and expectations that encour- age Hennepin County youth to remain alcohol- free; and to restrict the supply of alcohol, limiting both the social and commercial provision of alco- hol to underage youth. Most promising strategies for preventing underage drinking. Every strategy for preventing underage alcohol use can contribute to a comprehensive program. However, the most powerful strategies and those that are most relevant to the needs of our local com- munities should receive the greatest emphasis. Therefore, this re ort recommends the four most promisingstrategzes — two t at restrict t e su�ply 0 0 o young people and two that reduce the demand for alcohol. They offer the greatest evi- dence of being particularly effective in reducing and preventing underage drinking and prob- lem@%. In addition, local experts (see the advisory group list) have determined that these selected strategies are the most relevant to the local com- munities' needs. 28 Implement compliance checks at least once per year for all alcohol establishments The use of compliance checks has proven to be an extremely effective strategy for reducing illegal com- mercial sales to underage youth. A success where tried in local communities, compliance checks need to be instituted on a regular basis, countywide. Our supporting evidence includes, but is not limit- ed to the following: Alcohol sales to youth are illegal and a violation of the retailer's license. However, recent compli- ance checks in Hennepin County communitie� reveal that close to one-third to one-half oi licensed establishments sold alcohol to underagE YQU�51-53 Compliance checks have proven to be a extremely effective method for reducing illega commercial sales".�°,�,54 � � Recent local compliance check results showed that after 36 percent of alcohol establishments in Hoplcins failed at the initial check; the rate was reduced to 11 percent through follow-up checks. Sherburne County Minnesota, reported the most successful experience with compliance checks with an initial failure rate of 44 percent, and a follow-up check failure rate of five percents' Compliance checks with prompt penalties are more effective than compliance checks without penalties. The City of Minneapolis conducted compliance checks with penalties in April 1998 with 137 licensed establishments. Of these, 47 percent were out of compliance. The failure rate was reduced to half (23%) in a follow-up series of compliance checks of the same licensed estab- lishments conducted about six months later. However, of those establishments that failed the first compliance checks and were fined, only 13 percent failed in the follow-up compliance checks53 ■ Leading documents on preventive strategies list this strategy as a best practice and a top priority in terms of its effectiveness49�50. Major local coali- tions and organizations have endorsed this strat- egy as wells',56 ■ There are compliance check mandates to enforce the tobacco minimum age of purchase law, an effective policy to reduce teen smoking57��.