HOW IT ALL BEGAN...

In 2002, members of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office, Fruita Police Department and Build A Generation came together in an integrated effort to reduce underage drinking through development of The Mesa County Underage Drinking Prevention Task Force. The impetus for this task force was the 60 transports to the emergency room during the 2001 County Jam Music Festival and only three underage drinking citations issued.   The Sheriff’s Office, in consultation with the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Chief District Attorney at that time, organized a law enforcement team to specifically target underage drinking at Country Jam while maintaining a peaceful and safe environment for the music fans.  The Task Force initiated an intense media campaign that warned of the new measures and the increased enforcement towards underage drinking at this event.  It was highly successful and in 2002, only one juvenile was transported to the hospital, and 152 citations were issued.   In the next four years, there were no transports to the Emergency Room for medical issues related to youth and alcohol.  The Task Force pioneered environmental strategies to limit underage access to alcohol and received a National Award from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention at the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Conference in Atlanta in 2005.

The Mesa County Underage Drinking Prevention Task Force also increased in size to include judges, state liquor enforcement investigators, health organizations, educators, elected officials, and concerned citizens.   Currently, there are over 100 members with five active committees; Community Committee, Enforcement Committee, Youth Committee, Treatment Committee and the leadership venue which is the Steering Committee that work with professionals and community members all over Mesa County to address the issue of underage drinking. 

Some of the work of this Task Force is funded through the Colorado Prevention Partnership Grant, which has identified underage drinking as a primary focus for community action.  Other funds that support the work of the committees are through Drug Free Communities Grant, LEAF Grant, and EUDL funds geared towards enforcement efforts.  In January 2008 a large multi-media campaign; CHOOSE NOT BOOZE was launched and a community wide educational program began in hopes of bringing new understanding to the effects of alcohol on teens and impacts that occur in other areas of their life.  The website www.youthisallthat.org was designed to provide up-to-date information and be a resource to the community on this issue.  Through the work of this Task Force, Mesa County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with all local law enforcement agencies, has expanded its efforts year round (not just focusing on a once a year event ) realizing that prevention and intervention efforts are effective only when they are supported and sustainable.   The primary focus for enforcement efforts deal with not only targeting the youth that consume and/or possess alcohol but also the adults that provide or sell alcohol to youth.