Pseudo-Underage Students' Access to Alcohol Surrounding Three College Campuses

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine underage college students' ability to purchase alcohol in their immediate campus environment. Approximately 25% of off-site (e.g., liquor stores) and on-site (e.g., bars) outlets surrounding 3 college campuses were selected for this study. At each campus, one male and one female auditor, age 21 or 22 years, conducted alcohol access audits (audits) by attempting to purchase alcohol without identification. Audits resulted in the purchase of alcohol without identification at 2 to 15 off-site outlets (5%–13.9%) and 0 to 19 of on-site outlets (0%–21.6%), with no significant differences among campuses (P = .36 and P = .16), respectively. This is the first report of alcohol access in the college environment. The rate of successful purchase was lower than previously reported for other environments (range 26%–73%).

Keywords:

• alcohol
• college
• environment
• students

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by State Agricultural Experiment Station North Central Research Project NC1028/NC1193 and UDSA NIFA NRI Grant 2009-55215-05460. The authors thank Dr. Taisia Huckle for her contribution to this research.