Students from Rancho Buena Vista High School (RBV) and Oceanside High School (OHS) want to remind adults that it’s illegal to purchase alcohol or supply it to minors.
They spent a recent Saturday visiting a dozen markets and liquor stores in Vista and Oceanside as part of a Sticker Shock campaign. The students placed warning stickers on alcohol packages that say, “If they can’t buy it, don’t supply it! Providing alcohol to minors under 21 is against the law.”
The RBV students are part of the Black Student Union. The OHS students belong to a substance-use prevention club called Be the Resistance.
Jaena Johnson said she is participating in Sticker Shock because “Teen alcohol use is a big problem in our community.” Fellow student Gracee Johnson added,
“A lot of youth use alcohol as an escape and don’t build healthy coping mechanisms, so instead, they turn to alcohol.”
According to the 2022-2023 California Healthy Kids survey, 12% of Vista’s 11th graders had used alcohol in the past 30 days. 4% reported binge drinking. While the rate of teen alcohol use has declined over the past decade, it remains a problem.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warns that early initiation of drinking is associated with developing an alcohol use disorder later in life. The CDC says underage drinking also contributes to social and academic problems, legal problems such as driving under the influence or fighting, risky sexual behavior, increased risk for suicide, changes in brain development, alcohol poisoning, and misuse of other substances.
The students say it is way too easy for teens to access alcohol, getting it from stores, parties, and even in their own homes, also through friends and family or people who will sell it to them. Student Michael Rudolph said “…there are homes where parents don’t pay much attention to where they leave alcohol and youth have access to it.”
All cities and unincorporated areas of San Diego County have enacted Social Host Ordinances, which make it illegal for anyone to host a gathering where minors are drinking alcoholic beverages. Vista and Oceanside are among several cities that have added cannabis to their Social Host Ordinance.
Violators may be cited or arrested, fined up to $1,000, incarcerated for up to six months, and may be billed for police services, though specific penalties may vary by city.
Z Market Manager Grace Saco summed it up by saying, “We don’t want adults buying alcohol for teens.”
Resources and services are available to assist with screening, treatment, and recovery for individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD). The Access and Crisis Line is open year-round, 24/7, at (888)724-7240.
Funded by the County of San Diego, Health and Human Services Agency
