Date: August 26, 2002
Contact:
Renee Hoffman
CCPS Public Affairs Director
(919) 733-5027
(ext. 231)
| For Release: Immediate
Date: August 26, 2002 |
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Contact:
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A.L.E. AGENTS AND WINSTON-SALEM POLICE CHARGE 36 IN OPERATION |
WINSTON-SALEM -- North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) Agents and Winston-Salem Police Officers working jointly in a four night Cops In Shops operation charged 36 persons with alcohol and drug violations between Wednesday, August 21, and early Sunday, August 25, 2002. This operation was conducted in the northern section of Winston-Salem. Twenty-nine of the 36 were identified as returning Wake Forest University students.
Alcohol, which kills 6.5 times more young people under the age of 21 than all other illicit drugs combined, is the drug of choice for underage persons in this state. Statistics released by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services are startling. Seventy-five percent (75%) of all high school students drink alcohol; 24% of them are binge drinkers. Even more alarming, 33% of middle school students began drinking before age 11.
At the national level, U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that underage consumption of alcohol costs taxpayers $58 billion annually as a result of traffic crashes, violent crimes, burns, drownings, suicide attempts, alcohol poisoning, and alcohol abuse treatment costs. In North Carolina alone, underage consumption of alcohol cost taxpayers $1.1 billion annually.
Alcohol is one of the most common contributors of injury, death and criminal behavior among our youth. According to the N.C. Governor's Institute on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, 95% of all violent crimes committed on college campuses are alcohol related. In 2001, approximately 10 percent of all alcohol related fatal crashes in North Carolina involved an underage driver.
ALE, a Division of the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, is charged by the General Statutes with enforcing alcohol beverage control and drug laws. The Division puts special emphasis on the possession and use of alcohol by underage persons, and the prevention of violent crime due to alcohol and drug abuse.
Additional information may be obtained from ALE District Supervisor Chet W. Jessup at 336/896-7033.
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