Community group fights underage drinking with stickers at liquor stores

Old Lyme — Community Action for Substance Free Youth (CASFY) launched a “sticker shock” campaign last week at area stores where alcohol is sold.

The stickers warn adults that providing alcohol to anyone under 21 “can get you 18 months in prison and a $1,500 fine. Please don’t risk it.” Adult volunteers placed the stickers on packs of beer and other alcoholic beverages while youth placed stickers on store bags.

“We particularly want younger adults to think twice about providing alcohol to friends and family who are under age,” said Kathy Bartus, a CASFY member who is also a nurse at Lyme-Old Lyme High School and a parent of a teen.

The campaign is part of a larger effort “to reduce youth access to alcohol and thereby reduce underage drinking,” according to Mary Seidner, director of the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau.

“Our stickers remind all purchasers of their own risks for providing alcohol to our underage children,” Seidner said.

Participating stores include A&P Wine and Spirits, Coffee’s Market, Rogers Lake Liquor Shoppe, Rooney’s Package Store, Andy’s Deli, Cool Moose, and H.L. Reynolds.

Graphic designer Mary Ballachino, of Old Lyme, designed the sticker as well as CASFY’s logo.