Chief Michael P. Murphy
150 Park St.
North Reading, MA 01864
For Immediate Release
Friday, May 19, 2017
North Reading Police Department to conduct alcohol compliance checks
North Reading – Over the next several months, in accordance with Massachusetts State Law, the North Reading Police Department will be conducting Alcohol Compliance Checks with local liquor establishments. This is an ongoing endeavor to keep the community of North Reading safe.
Why conduct alcohol compliance checks? According to a 2016 report to Congress, Massachusetts had 150,000 kids from the ages of 12-20 indicated that they had binge used alcohol in the past month. 250,000 admitted to have used alcohol in that same time period. The same report stated that Massachusetts also had 54 alcohol-attributable deaths of kids under 21.
With prom season and cookouts upon us, we want to make sure our local liquor establishments are only selling to adults. We hope that this will significantly reduce the number of alcohol related accidents in our younger population.
We remind everyone that the legal drinking age in Massachusetts is 21 and that it takes a community effort to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors.