Think before you let them drink

North Vancouver, BC – The third annual North Shore Anti-bootlegging campaign launched today with an urgent message to all adults – Do your part: Keep alcohol out of the hands of minors. 

The campaign serves to remind North Shore parents that alcohol is a psychoactive substance with serious dangers associated with its use. Its goal is to reduce alcohol sales and accessibility to minors, especially with grad and the summer party season looming.

“We’re concerned about how North Shore youth are affected by alcohol and how adults are contributing to underage drinking,” said Kerrie Watt, an Alcohol and Drug Prevention Educator with Vancouver Coastal Health. “The fact that drinking is considered a normal activity is, in part, what makes it one of the most dangerous drugs out there.”

At the heart of this year’s anti-bootlegging campaign is a single, sobering fact -- 80 per cent of North Shore youth recently surveyed indicated that they obtained their alcohol from an adult.

This year’s campaign launched at Lonsdale Quay with a talk by Katy Hutchison. Hutchison, whose husband, Bob McIntosh, was beaten to death at an alcohol-fueled teen party in 1997, speaks from experience. Her journey, which began on that day, took her from grief through anger to recovery -- and to emotional places she never imagined. This included her controversial choice to work together with her husband’s killer to spread a message of caution, accountability and forgiveness, through talks and grassroots work with Restorative Justice.

"The role of parenting is not always popular,” said Hutchison. “It is not our job to be our teenagers’ friends; we need to take responsibility for modeling a healthy lifestyle and for setting boundaries with meaningful consequences for crossing them. Young people need to be guided and supported when it comes to making alcohol-free choices for themselves.”

Also sharing her story was Dayle George, a young woman whose relationship with alcohol at an early age had far reaching consequences and eventually led her to entre recovery and become a community role model for other youth.

Alcohol remains the most commonly used substance among youth of all ages. It is also the number one killer of youth aged 15 to 24. Although alcohol is viewed by adults as a way to enhance activity, youth view alcohol quite differently. For them, drinking alcohol IS the activity.

Underage drinking can also lead to long-term addiction. In fact, youth who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are six-times more likely to develop alcohol problems than those who begin drinking at age 21. Parents and other adults need to know that providing alcohol to minors can expose them for issues related to use of psychoactive substances in the future.

Not only does alcohol pose health and safety risks to minors, but it also carries with it some consequences to those who choose to supply minors with alcohol. Providing alcohol to a minor carries with it a fine not less than $500, and minors found in possession of alcohol are subject to fines of $230.

The campaign is in its third year and is a partnership initiative of Vancouver Coastal Health, the North Vancouver RCMP, the West Vancouver Police Department, the North and West Vancouver School District, and the North Shore Action on Prevention Task Force. It’s also endorsed by the Bowen Island RCMP.

The campaign runs through to the end of August, but its messages are applicable all year long. 

VCH is responsible for the delivery of $3 billion in community, hospital and residential care to more than one million people in communities, including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.

Media Contact

Trudi Beutel
Public Affairs Officer
Vancouver Coastal Health
Phone: 604-708-5282
Cell: 604-812-1847