Three stores in The Villages caught selling alcohol to undercover minor

[The Gazette]

An investigation into convenience stores in Sumter County selling alcohol to minors has revealed multiple stores violated state law, including three stores in The Villages. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office was prompted to launch a special investigation after receiving multiple complaints of underage alcohol purchases from convenience stores throughout the county. In an effort to

More... (https://www.gazettenewsthevillages.com/three-stores-in-the-villages-caught-selling-alcohol-to-undercover-minor/)

[retiredguy123]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking?

[Bill14564]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking?

Won't stop underage drinking but will reduce it.

Taking the position that enforcing laws won't stop people from committing crimes anyway so why waste time and money to enforce them in the first place seems like a bad idea.

[retiredguy123]

Won't stop underage drinking but will reduce it.

Taking the position that enforcing laws won't stop people from committing crimes anyway so why waste time and money to enforce them in the first place seems like a bad idea.
I agree, but the money could be better spent enforcing speeding and drunk driving, both of which are not enforced enough.

[ElDiabloJoe]

I agree, but the money could be better spent enforcing speeding and drunk driving, both of which are not enforced enough.

Speeding and DUI are probably not enforced enough because the money could be better spent enforcing assault, burglary, robbery, and murders, all of which are not enforced enough. Your personal preference of speeding and DUI enforcement falls under the "Safety and quality of life" umbrella similar to underage drinking. FWIW, these decoy sting operations are usually funded by a state or federal grant, so they are not spending much money there that "could be better spent enforcing" something else.

[MrFlorida]

I agree, but the money could be better spent enforcing speeding and drunk driving, both of which are not enforced enough.

So you think a 16 year old that just bought a 6 pack is not going to drive ?

[retiredguy123]

So you think a 16 year old that just bought a 6 pack is not going to drive ?
Maybe, maybe not. But, spending money to prosecute a convenience store clerk for selling beer seems misguided. A 16-year old has no problem getting beer.

[tophcfa]

I agree, but the money could be better spent enforcing speeding and drunk driving, both of which are not enforced enough.

The better way to make the roads safer would be to strictly enforce and penalize people for driving while starring at their cell phone.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking?

I'll use the same logic to come to a different conclusion.

We should get rid of drunk driving laws, traffic violations, drug possession crimes, unarmed robbery, non-violent crimes of all types, including illegal immigration. Why? Because the time and money can be better spent on violent crimes.

Hm - that seems like it's not a good idea. Maybe we should just continue enforcing what we enforce, and try to enforce more of what we should enforce.

[retiredguy123]

My comment was about wasting time and money. The same laws were in effect when I was a teenager, but they never prevented me from drinking beer. I don't believe that law enforcement has made any progress in this area in the past 60 years. But, they continue to waste taxpayer money. My opinion.

[ThirdOfFive]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking?
I think it is called contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

[Win1894]

I think a more effective approach would be to have the underage booze purchaser spend a week or so in jail, especially if they committed fraud by using a fake ID to make the purchase. That could be more effective than punishing the seller.

[retiredguy123]

I think a more effective approach would be to have the underage booze purchaser spend a week or so in jail, especially if they committed fraud by using a fake ID to make the purchase. That could be more effective than punishing the seller.
I agree, but they have been doing the same thing for at least 60 years and it doesn't work. They are just ripping off the taxpayers. Conducting a "sting" is ridiculous. If anyone thinks a teenager cannot get beer, I have a bridge to sell them.

[Stu from NYC]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking?

It will probably reduce it some and who knows might even save a life or two.

[jimhoward]

In Tennessee, where I am from, they scan everyone’s license on every alcohol purchase. In Florida and particularly in the villages they don’t seem to do that. The clerk uses their judgement. An obvious villagers retiree does not get asked for ID. But it only takes a few seconds to scan the IDs. If all purchases have a birthdate on them then underage sales are reduced because the clerk can’t just look the other way, they have to actually enter a fraudulent date.

I wish they would just scan licenses 100%.

[Berwin]

LOL, thinking back to my youth in Texas where the drinking age was 18.

[Nordhagen]

An investigation into convenience stores in Sumter County selling alcohol to minors has revealed multiple stores violated state law, including three stores in The Villages. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office was prompted to launch a special investigation after receiving multiple complaints of underage alcohol purchases from convenience stores throughout the county. In an effort to

More... (https://www.gazettenewsthevillages.com/three-stores-in-the-villages-caught-selling-alcohol-to-undercover-minor/)
First of all, I’m not condoning liquor sales to minors. With that said, I don’t understand how law enforcement can break the law to get you to break the law. It is illegal for a minor to purchase liquor, yet they use a minor to do just that.
Sounds like entrapment.

[Chamo]

Everybody has an opinion on what to do. I guess it’s cheaper than getting Therapy in an office.

[barbnick]

It’s a law. Obey the law

[Angelhug52]

I think a more effective approach would be to have the underage booze purchaser spend a week or so in jail, especially if they committed fraud by using a fake ID to make the purchase. That could be more effective than punishing the seller.
And put their parent or grandparents in jail with them. Unfortunately our civilized culture today doesn't have the same values or respect like it did 50, 60, 70 years ago. When so called adults allow youngsters to not follow law and rules what do you think happens.

[maggie1]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking?

Probably not, but it has to begin somewhere. It matters little if Mom and Dad preach the evils of underage drinking because kids hardly listen to what old folks have to say until it comes back to bite them in the butt.

I was an Ohio State Trooper for 28 years, and the toughest part of the job was to deliver a death message to a parent of an underage drinker who was killed in a traffic crash, and I delivered my fair share of that news. I think the laws should be stronger against both parties (kids and salespeople) instead of rationalizing that kids are going to drink anyway, so why use this money to penalize the salespeople who sell it to them? Perhaps Publix has an answer for that. Here are some 2022 statistics on juveniles involved in traffic fatalities and injuries while under the influence of alcohol. If this doesn't prompt a change in some thinking, I don't know what will.

"According to Ohio State Highway Patrol data, around 14% of teen fatalities in Ohio involved alcohol, while 42% of teen fatalities involved operating a vehicle while impaired, indicating a significant presence of impaired juvenile drivers in traffic crashes within the state; further, teen drivers are involved in a substantial portion of crashes overall, with 27% of crashes involving teens resulting in injuries."

Does anyone know if the next driver approaching them is a drunk juvenile, or a drunk driver, period? The answer is no.

[SaucyJim]

An investigation into convenience stores in Sumter County selling alcohol to minors has revealed multiple stores violated state law, including three stores in The Villages. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office was prompted to launch a special investigation after receiving multiple complaints of underage alcohol purchases from convenience stores throughout the county. In an effort to

More... (https://www.gazettenewsthevillages.com/three-stores-in-the-villages-caught-selling-alcohol-to-undercover-minor/)

I'd be outraged, but need to know the age. If they are 18 or older, they are old enough to be sent to war. If that's the case, they are old enough to drink. The government should not have it both ways. Either you're an adult or you are not.

Now, if they are five years old, that's another story. LOL!!

[ElDiabloJoe]

First of all, I’m not condoning liquor sales to minors. With that said, I don’t understand how law enforcement can break the law to get you to break the law. It is illegal for a minor to purchase liquor, yet they use a minor to do just that.
Sounds like entrapment.

So a cop can't speed to catch up to a speeder? Can't "Lights N Siren" their way through an intersection to catch up to someone who ran a red light? They gotta sit and wait for it to turn green before they can give chase - not violating the speed limit while they do so?

They are not breaking the law by sending in a minor - an "agent of the government." They are presenting the clerk with the opportunity for them to break the law. No law against a minor TRYING to buy alcohol.

Yeah- makes perfect sense.

[aces_04]

The clerks are trained to look at ID before selling. There are reminders at every cash register. We know the obvious older customers but sometimes we are busy and it slips our mind. It’s still the law and we are ultimately responsible. Let me repeat that the employee is responsible. I feel bad for the employee. First of all, I’m not condoning liquor sales to minors. With that said, I don’t understand how law enforcement can break the law to get you to break the law. It is illegal for a minor to purchase liquor, yet they use a minor to do just that.
Sounds like entrapment.

[schwarz]

They should go after bartenders that serve much too much alcohol to individuals. They create drunk drivers

[Two Bills]

It's a dumb law that should have been changed years ago.
18yo is more realistic, and 16-17 with a meal when accompanied by an adult.
That law works fine all over UK.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

My comment was about wasting time and money. The same laws were in effect when I was a teenager, but they never prevented me from drinking beer. I don't believe that law enforcement has made any progress in this area in the past 60 years. But, they continue to waste taxpayer money. My opinion.

Let's just eliminate the drinking age entirely. You want a shot of whiskey, little 10-year-old kid? No problem. What's that, 15-year-old kid who doesn't have a drivers license yet? You want a case of beer? Sure thing. Because everyone knows you're mature enough to handle it.

The point, is that they're not supposed to be drinking alcohol outside of the assumed safety of their own home, with parental supervision. Kids are kids - many of them just don't know any better, they're immature - because - they're kids. They're supposed to be immature. Adults are supposed to know better, and are supposed to be the responsible ones in the situation. And so - adults in the relationship of "person who wants to buy a drug in a bottle that can cause intoxication and death versus person who has the drug in the bottle and makes money selling it" - are made responsible for the outcome of that relationship.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I agree, but they have been doing the same thing for at least 60 years and it doesn't work. They are just ripping off the taxpayers. Conducting a "sting" is ridiculous. If anyone thinks a teenager cannot get beer, I have a bridge to sell them.

If anyone thinks a drug addict can't get drugs, I have a bridge to sell them. So let's just legalize heroin and fentanyl. They're no more addictive than alcohol, and all three of these things can kill someone who uses too much.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

In Tennessee, where I am from, they scan everyone’s license on every alcohol purchase. In Florida and particularly in the villages they don’t seem to do that. The clerk uses their judgement. An obvious villagers retiree does not get asked for ID. But it only takes a few seconds to scan the IDs. If all purchases have a birthdate on them then underage sales are reduced because the clerk can’t just look the other way, they have to actually enter a fraudulent date.

I wish they would just scan licenses 100%.

In Connecticut, we were required to check everyone's ID because the law was - you have to present one in order to buy booze. So any cashier who did NOT check - was breaking the law, and any customer who bought booze without showing their ID - no matter how old they were - was also breaking the law.

It's not a "close-down" violation, it's a citation as long as the person buying is over 21. But cashier have absolutely been given citations for NOT checking a customer's ID, regardless of how old they looked.

No ID, no service.

[ElDiabloJoe]

...So let's just legalize heroin and fentanyl. They're no more addictive than alcohol, and all three of these things can kill someone who uses too much.

Yes, yes they are. They may not be as damaging (societaly, economically, etc.) as alcohol as alcohol abuse is far more prevalent, but it is certainly NOT more addictive.

7 Most Addictive Drugs | Drug Addiction Treatment | MA (https://www.washburnhouse.com/addiction-recovery-blog/most-addictive-drugs/)

The 5 Most Addictive Substances On Earth (https://www.addictioncenter.com/community/these-are-the-5-most-addictive-substances-on-earth/)

[JMintzer]

So a cop can't speed to catch up to a speeder? Can't "Lights N Siren" their way through an intersection to catch up to someone who ran a red light? They gotta sit and wait for it to turn green before they can give chase - not violating the speed limit while they do so?

They are not breaking the law by sending in a minor - an "agent of the government." They are presenting the clerk with the opportunity for them to break the law. No law against a minor TRYING to buy alcohol.

Yeah- makes perfect sense.

None of your examples are cops "breaking the law"...

They are specifically given the legal authority to exceed the speed limit and use their lights to go thru intersections (just like ambulances can and do)...

[JMintzer]

If anyone thinks a drug addict can't get drugs, I have a bridge to sell them. So let's just legalize heroin and fentanyl. They're no more addictive than alcohol, and all three of these things can kill someone who uses too much.

No more addictive that alcohol? That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read...

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Yes, yes they are. They may not be as damaging (societaly, economically, etc.) as alcohol as alcohol abuse is far more prevalent, but it is certainly NOT more addictive.

7 Most Addictive Drugs | Drug Addiction Treatment | MA (https://www.washburnhouse.com/addiction-recovery-blog/most-addictive-drugs/)

The 5 Most Addictive Substances On Earth (https://www.addictioncenter.com/community/these-are-the-5-most-addictive-substances-on-earth/)

Addiction isn't a level of severity. It's an on-off toggle. Anyone can become addicted to any addictive substance, upon the very first exposure to it. There are plenty of alcoholics who became alcoholics before they finished drinking their very first drink. There are also plenty of patients who have had fentanyl prescribed and used to treat their pain, who never became addicted.

You're more likely to find similarities in "addictive personalities" than you are in "levels of severity of addictive substances."

[retiredguy123]

If anyone thinks a drug addict can't get drugs, I have a bridge to sell them. So let's just legalize heroin and fentanyl. They're no more addictive than alcohol, and all three of these things can kill someone who uses too much.
Your posts go way beyond anything I said. My comment was about wasting taxpayer money to enforce a law that they have never been able to enforce in my lifetime. Period. My posts didn't say anything about heroin, fentanyl, drugs addicts, or drunk driving. Conducting a sting operation to punish a sales clerk doesn't do anything to prevent minors from drinking alcohol. Taxpayer money should be spent wisely, not wasted on things that have never worked.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Your posts go way beyond anything I said. My comment was about wasting taxpayer money to enforce a law that they have never been able to enforce in my lifetime. Period. My posts didn't say anything about heroin, fentanyl, drugs addicts, or drunk driving. Conducting a sting operation to punish a sales clerk doesn't do anything to prevent minors from drinking alcohol. Taxpayer money should be spent wisely, not wasted on things that have never worked.

The War on Drugs is also a failure. They haven't stopped drugs from ruining the lives of millions of addicts or their families. Your comment is exactly as you say: wasting taxpayer money to enforce a law they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime.

There are LOTS of laws they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime. You seem to be stuck on this one individual law, and are ignoring the parameters you yourself have set for your part in the conversation.

Bicycles, golf carts, and cars rolling through intersections at stop signs? Speeding? Shoplifting? Mass shooting? Wife-beating? All of these things are "laws that they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime." But you don't seem to feel that THEY aren't a waste of money. Why not? Why is this one law - selling booze to minors - a waste, when the inability to enforce other laws are also not a waste?

[retiredguy123]

The War on Drugs is also a failure. They haven't stopped drugs from ruining the lives of millions of addicts or their families. Your comment is exactly as you say: wasting taxpayer money to enforce a law they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime.

There are LOTS of laws they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime. You seem to be stuck on this one individual law, and are ignoring the parameters you yourself have set for your part in the conversation.

Bicycles, golf carts, and cars rolling through intersections at stop signs? Speeding? Shoplifting? Mass shooting? Wife-beating? All of these things are "laws that they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime." But you don't seem to feel that THEY aren't a waste of money. Why not? Why is this one law - selling booze to minors - a waste, when the inability to enforce other laws are also not a waste?
I'm glad you agreed with my comment. I only commented on the original post. Nothing else.

[Topspinmo]

LOL, thinking back to my youth in Texas where the drinking age was 18.

Same Kansas 3.2 beer use to jump border beings I lived close and go bar hopping in Kansas. For beer Back then Kansas was 18, Nebraska was 20, and Missouri was 2I, lived close to Kansas Nebraska Missouri lines.

[Topspinmo]

The War on Drugs is also a failure. They haven't stopped drugs from ruining the lives of millions of addicts or their families. Your comment is exactly as you say: wasting taxpayer money to enforce a law they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime.

There are LOTS of laws they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime. You seem to be stuck on this one individual law, and are ignoring the parameters you yourself have set for your part in the conversation.

Bicycles, golf carts, and cars rolling through intersections at stop signs? Speeding? Shoplifting? Mass shooting? Wife-beating? All of these things are "laws that they haven't ever been able to enforce in your lifetime." But you don't seem to feel that THEY aren't a waste of money. Why not? Why is this one law - selling booze to minors - a waste, when the inability to enforce other laws are also not a waste?

Maybe the druggies need to take little responsibility? But just like smokers they rarely can stop even in their death bed.

[Topspinmo]

First of all, I’m not condoning liquor sales to minors. With that said, I don’t understand how law enforcement can break the law to get you to break the law. It is illegal for a minor to purchase liquor, yet they use a minor to do just that.
Sounds like entrapment.


I don’t know if they use minor but the ID cards have big clue’s the buyer underaged, the clerks are either too lazy to thoroughly check ID or get complacent?

[Dougmudge]

What a waste of time and money. Who thinks that enforcing illegal sales to minors will stop underage drinking? Agreed, it wont/ kids will just have to do what we did back in the day, get an adult to buy for them.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I'm glad you agreed with my comment. I only commented on the original post. Nothing else.

I don't think it's a waste. Minors shouldn't be buying booze. It's against the law. Whether you agree with the law or not, it's a law. It's not merely a law, it's a law in every single state in this country. Every adult who works in a place that sells booze agrees to obey the law when they accept the job. If they aren't prepared to obey the law and card everyone who attempts to buy booze, then they shouldn't take the job. OR - they have to accept that some day, they might get caught breaking the law, and have to pay the consequences.

It's just some crazy thing that adults do, when they become adults. It's called adulting.