TO THE EDITOR:
In response to the Apr. 18 editorial “End ALE this year,” I feel that dismantling the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement division would harm the public health of the state.
The Daily Tar Heel’s lack of statistics to back up their position shows they don’t care about the public health implications of eliminating ALE or about underage drinking issues. It’s also clear that they’ve never interviewed an ALE agent.
If the seller asks for an ID, the young person working with ALE never pushes. They apologize for not having an ID and walk out. How is that coercion?
The editorial went on to say ALE develops a culture of fear rather than respect. It’s not bad if fear motivates behavior, especially if the modified behavior allows us to lead longer and healthier lives.
The DTH needs to inform itself on the public health model and understand that alcohol citations are the wrong metric to judge preventing underage drinking efforts.
We would be better to use rates of alcoholism, alcohol-related illnesses and the financial burden underage drinking puts on our state. The science says society has many more public health problems when younger people are allowed to drink.
Current alcohol laws are based on science and protecting public health. They aren’t about young people’s responsibility.
Underage drinking, not the enforcement of laws, is what’s costing us money and lives.
