TAMPA - In the midst of spring break season, the Hillsborough chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving celebrates its 20th anniversary, and local law enforcement is teaming with a youth organization and the distributor of Anheuser-Busch to target adults who buy alcohol for minors.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, representatives from Youth in Action, MADD, and officials from Pepin Distributing Co. gathered Thursday morning at a Circle K near the University of South Florida to announce their partnership. Pepin is distributing hundreds of red signs that warn it's illegal for adults - overage college students included - to purchase alcohol for anyone under 21.
The signs will be placed on convenience store coolers, windows and front doors. The new effort is an offshoot of the Operation I.D., the 9-year-old program that educates retailers about underage drinking laws and how to spot fake IDs. More than 400 retailers in the county participate each year.
"Being so close to USF, the college students don't hesitate to buy for their younger friends," said Youth in Action member Stephanie Stroh, 18, a first-year student at USF. "So maybe if they see we're getting the cops involved, they'll stop."
