The Hollister Police Department has received information from
the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control about current trends
involving minors purchasing alcoholic beverages that are commonly
mistaken for energy drinks, according to a press release.
The Hollister Police Department has received information from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control about current trends involving minors purchasing alcoholic beverages that are commonly mistaken for energy drinks, according to a press release.
“Alcopops,” a combination of the words “alcohol” and “pops,” come in various forms, from hard lemonade to alcoholic energy drinks that are made to look just like non-alcoholic energy drinks. They are popular among underage drinkers because some of them are not easily recognized as alcoholic drinks, though some may contain as much alcohol as a regular beer, according to police.
Inattentive or unsuspecting clerks may sometimes sell these alcoholic drinks to underage customers, mistaking the product to be non-alcoholic. State law requires that these “alcopops” be displayed separately from the non-alcoholic versions. Selling or providing any type of alcoholic beverage to a minor is a misdemeanor.
All merchants, as well as parents and others, are asked to be aware of the nature of all beverages that are sold or provided to minors. Statistics have shown that young people under age 21 have a higher rate of drunken driving fatalities than the regular adult population.
