Members of the Community Alcohol Coalition (CAC) and the Licensed Beverage Association updated the St. Mary's County Alcohol Beverage Board on outreach and prevention activities aimed at reducing underage alcohol access and misuse among young adults.

David Dent of the Licensed Beverage Association reminded licensees about the Tipsy Taxi program and said the military on base has a similar program that provides rides home for service members. "It's a program of last resort to try to make sure everybody gets home safe for the holidays," Dent said.

Jacqueline Shaw, operations specialist at MedStar Saint Mary's Hospital and CAC co‑chair, introduced Jenna Mullican, the CAC's new half‑time coordinator funded by the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration grant. Shaw said the CAC has scheduled a fraudulent‑ID training by Martin Johnson for Nov. 13 at the Higher Education Center: law enforcement training 9 a.m.–1 p.m. and a retailers' session 2 p.m.–4 p.m., with a networking lunch in between.

Shaw also described an upcoming county RAS training for licensees called by the board and said the CAC will launch a marketing campaign, "Can You Afford It?," featuring billboards, posters and theater ads to reach teens, parents and retailers. "The concept of 'Can You Afford It?' is that there's consequences behind misuse of alcohol or... selling to minors," Shaw said.

The CAC said it will research what happens in district court to employees cited for underage sales, to better understand whether employees face consequences beyond employer discipline. The coalition invited the board to participate in creating a matrix for consistent responses to violations in the future and invited board members to the CAC meeting on Oct. 23.

The board thanked coalition representatives and noted the CAC's work complements enforcement and licensing efforts.