Santa Cruz County cracks down on teen alcohol abuse

Fed-up with alcohol abuse among teens, Santa Cruz County is cracking down on youth binge drinking. Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson works with the county on alcohol prevention. A mother of two, she says she’s fed up hearing about kids dying at the hands of drugs and alcohol.

“It’s a parent’s worst nightmare,” said Kalantari-Johnson.

Kalantari-Johnson’s job is to determine the problem areas in the county. Currently, she’s focusing on the Pajaro Valley, specifically Watsonville. New data shows 75 percent of high school juniors inPajaro Valley said alcohol is fairly easy to get.

To change that, county leadersare talking with the community.

“Consistently, the story is, ‘yes I live in a neighborhood where there arelots of outlets and yes I see the crime. I see inebriated folks, I see them coming out, I see my kids being affected by it,’ so those stories are there,” said Kalantari-Johnson.

On Sunday, Watsonville residents saw first-hand the dangers of drinking and driving when three teensdied in acrash in Aptos.

“There was alcohol, broken bottles, and full bottles and half-empty bottles found in the car,” said Officer Bradley Sadez with the California Highway Patrol.

Kalantari-Johnson said preventing tragedies like the crash in Aptos is a community effort that involves policy change, education, and environment.

“If there’s a bar, if there’s a restaurant that serves late night which turns into a dance club and then our young people, our 16-years-olds, are seeing people come out and spill out inebriated and acting violently, what’s the message that we are giving them?” said Kalantari-Johnson.

According to a state survey, morePajaro Valleyteens have consistently reported usingalcohol in thepast 30 daysthan the average California youth. But with the recent deadly crash, the county hopes the tragic event will serve as a lesson for many.